How to Format Articles with HTML Tags in Joomla

By Seamus Bellamy and Steven Holzner from Joomla! For Dummies, 2nd Edition

You can add some pizzazz to an article in the Joomla content management system (CMS) by adding HTML tags while you work with it in the article-editor page. To insert HTML tags with the TinyMCE editor, follow these steps:

With the article you want to format open in the article editor, click the Edit HTML Source button in the middle toolbar.

The HTML Source Editor window opens, displaying the text of your article enclosed in paragraph tags (<p>/</p>).
To enter a heading, type <h1>heading</h1>, where heading is the heading text.

If you are working with the Privacy Policy article, <h1>PRIVACY POLICY</h1>.
Click the Update button.

You see the result in the text window.

Although being able to code in HTML can come in handy, the TinyMCE editor lets you make simple changes, like formatting header text, easy. You could have made the same change by typing the heading text in the text window, selecting it, and then choosing Heading 1 from the Format drop-down menu.

If you insert HTML tags that TinyMCE deems to be nonstandard, such as a <marquee> tag to create a scrolling marquee in Internet Explorer, TinyMCE removes that tag (not the enclosed text). The same goes for JavaScript. If you try to insert an HTML <form> tag for a control like a button in your article, TinyMCE strips the <form> tag out of the article.