Ok, so I know this all sounds so complicated, but once you start to do it you will see that it is really simple.

First, a little bit about the basics.  Everything you see that is in <brackets> like this is what is called "HTML Code."  Basically, it is what all web pages are written from, including your bio!  These instructions are an easy way to use an "HTML Editor" or "HTML Code Writer" to do all the hard work for you to created the "HTML Code" necessary to create your bio :o)  The "HTML Code" is what you will eventually copy & paste into your knot bio in order to "update" your bio.

To create/edit your bio, you'll need to download the "HTML Editor" program called Nvu.  Click here to go to the Nvu website, and then click on the Windows or Mac links to download the program.

If you already have a bio and want to edit it in this program
Open up the Notepad program. If you don't how to open Notepad, click on your Start menu --> All Programs --> Accessories --> Notepad. Then copy and paste your bio code from the Knot into the Notepad document.  Not sure where you bio code is? Click on your knot name from a post on the board, then go to where you would normally click on "View full page" to view the bio full page, but instead click on "edit".

Then click "File ---> Save As" and then save your file as "bio.html" (or whatever you want to call it, just make sure it has the file extension .html)

Then when you open Nvu, just click on the "Open" button on the toolbar, and you should be able to open your html document and edit from there. Now skip down to the section labeled "In the Nvu program" but instead of seeing a blank page, you should see your existing bio on the screen.

If you do NOT already have a bio and you're starting from scratch, start here:
Ok, let's get started then.  First, you need a "host-site" for your pictures.  There are many places you can do this but I have found that Shutterfly is the easiest to use.  Click here to go to Shutterfly and open an account.

Once you have signed up for an account click on the "Add Pictures" tab to start adding pictures to your Shutterfly album.

*** SPECIAL NOTE: Do not use Kodak or Yahoo as your hosting sites. These sites utilize floating URLs (meaning the URL for your photo will alternate/change with time). If you use these sites, the pictures will initially show up in your bio, but after a certain amount of time, all you will see is a big red X.


In the Nvu Program
Now, start up the Nvu program and you should see a blank page.  If not, click on the button in the upper left hand corner that says "New."  This program will work very similar to Microsoft Word and should make creating your bio much easier.  You'll notice tools in the toolbar up top like the increase/decrease font size buttons, align left/center/align left, and bold/italics/underline that you are used to using in Word.

Note the tabs at the bottom of the screen.  You should see 4: Normal, HTML Tags, Source, and Preview.  When you are editing your bio, make sure you have clicked on and are working within the "Normal" tab.

Ok, now let's get started on that bio :o)

Just start like you would a Word document.  You can type a title, and center it by clicking on the "center" button on the toolbar just like you would in Word.

In Shutterfly
Ok, now let's say you want to add some pictures.  Here's where you will need to get the URL or link for your Shutterfly pictures.
Back to the Nvu Program
Click on the "Image" icon on the toolbar at the top.

Under "Image Location," paste your Shutterfly URL.

Then choose "Don't use alternate text" and then click on the "OK" button.  Or, in the box that says "Alternate Text" you can put a short description of the picture.  The text you enter will appear on the web page if your image has trouble loading so that knotties will know what the image was supposed to be.

Voila! You have now successfully added a picture to your bio.  If you are not using Shutterfly, your images may appear a bit larger than normal.  Just click on the image like you would in a Word document and click on the corner of the image and drag it inward to shrink the image to your desired size.  You can also use this feature and drag the image outward to enlarge it if your original image is small, but the picture may come out blurry due to poorer picture resolution.

Once you finished putting everything together, save your file so that you can come back to it and edit it in the future. You are now ready to update your knot bio!

Click on the tab at the bottom of the screen that says "Source."

Highlight everything (click Ctrl + A) and then copy it (click Ctrl + C or go to Edit--->Copy)

In the Knot
First make sure you are logged in :o)

From the message boards, find a post that you have created and click on your knot name.  Then go to where you would normally click on "View full page" to view the bio full page, but instead click on "edit".

Go to the bottom of the message board to the search box, enter in your knot name, then choose "Find Knottie / Nestie Bio."  Click on your knot name.  Then go to where you would normally click on "View full page" to view the bio full page, but instead click on "edit".

You will then see a big blank box.  Paste what you copied from the Nvu program and then click the "Save Changes" button.

And voila! You should now have a bio :o)

Ok, so now that you have a basic bio, want to doll it up a little more? Add a background color or change your text colors?

*** SPECIAL NOTE: The Knot is a little weird in that its default text colors are blue and not black. Therefore, even though your text appears black in Nvu, when you add it to your bio, it may be blue. Just follow the directions below to make your text black (or whatever color you prefer).

To add a background color, at the top, click on "Format ---> Page Colors and Background"
To change your text colors, click on "Format ---> Text Color" and then start typing away, or highlight the text you want to change first, then choose your color.

To add a link, highlight the text you would like to link and then click on the "Link" icon at the top of the toolbar.  Then just paste your URL into the box and click OK. Make sure you have the pre-fix http:// at the beginning of your link (i.e. http://www.theknot.com instead of just www.theknot.com) because otherwise your link won't work. If you want your link to open in a new window instead of the existing window, then under "Target" check the box that says "Link is to opened" and make sure "in a new window" appears in the drop down menu.

To create "Quick Clicks" to jump back and forth within your bio, you need to create what are called anchors. Let's say you want people to be able to jump to the bottom of your bio where your dress pics are. Go to that section of your bio and next to your title "Dress Pics" click on the "Anchor" icon that is next to the "Link" icon on your toolbar. It will ask you to name your anchor. In this case, you could call it something like "Dress" (what you call it doesn't really matter, as long as you know what it is referring to). Now at the top of your bio you can type "Dress Pics," then highlight it and click on the "Link" icon at the top of your toolbar. This time, instead of entering in a URL, you can just select from the pulldown menu. Click on and select "#Dress" from the pulldown menu. Now, when people visit your bio and click on "Dress Pics" it will automatically jump down to that section of your bio.

To create borders around your bio you'll need to create tables within each other.  First, go to "table --> insert--> table" then click on just one box in the upper left hand corner to choose a "1x1" (just one cell) table.  Then right click in the middle of the table and select "table or cell background color."   The color you choose here will be your "Border."

Then insert another table inside your first table, again just 1x1.  Again,  right click in the middle of the table and select "table or cell background color."  The  color you pick here will be the color of the main part of your bio.

Finally, C&P your bio content into this table.  Your bio should now have a border around it similar to the one seen on this page.


The program is pretty used friendly, so have fun and be creative with your bio!!!

I hope that this page can help some of you with starting your bios!! If you have any suggestions on how to make these instructions more user-friendly, please email me and let me know! My address is hawaiianwedding05 [at] yahoo [dot] com

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Also, don't forget to visit my planning bio (animal_lover).  What’s in my planning bio?

* A great list of links: info about who to tip & how much, creating your own ceremony script, choosing your wedding music, invitation wording, where to buy paper for your DIY projects, what goes in a program, when the sun sets on your wedding day, wedding timelines, where to buy your shoes, using a travel agent, and the list goes on and on...

* A list of pink & green bios!

* Information on wedding venues on Oahu

* And a whole lot more!!! ;o)

REI