What's going on with my page? I used a fancy
font for all my text, but when I looked at it on my friend's computer the page
was completely different. The font didn't show up and all the alignments
were messed up because the text was a different size...
You have just
learned the first frustrating fact about using fonts in your web pages.
Unless the font is resident on the viewer's computer it won't show up when
he/she looks at your page. And that carefully chosen size tag means
nothing unless the viewer has his/her browser's text size set the same as yours!
So how can I have my pages turn out exactly the way I want on everyone's computer?
The simple answer is - you can't, at least not EXACTLY. But you CAN ensure
that they look more or less the same.
Here are a few things to keep in mind if you want to achieve this happy state:
-
Learn which fonts are default fonts for ALL browsers.
-
Learn how to format your <FONT> tag properly.
Then, if the "must use" font you have chosen is not on the viewer's computer there is a second choice for the browser to use, and make sure you test your pages using that second choice font.
-
Learn how to use the <STYLE> tag to control the size of text.
For Explorer text size can be controlled regardless of the viewer's browser settings by using the <STYLE> tag - or better yet - learn how to use Cascading Style Sheets to get almost total control of how your page is displayed.
If you absolutely MUST have that wonderful font that you found for headings on your pages then learn how to "Embed" the font. It's a great way to use a fancy font without resorting to graphics, but you need to know that, like so many other things, it only works with the latest versions of Internet Explorer not with any versions of Netscape. (Don't let that deter you - the majority of people use Explorer, so most of your visitors will see your font!)
There are links to a great article explaining all the intricacies of font usage, a tutorial on embedding fonts and a good discussion about font size and the need to learn about CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) can be found on the Links page under the Fonts heading.
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