Add your markup first. Then use something like the following to add your "linebreaks" (which I gather are newlines from reading your problem description): 

s!((?:<span>|</span>|.){80})!$1\n!g;

[download]
That will allow you to treat your markup tags as a single character when trying to decide where to put your newlines. You may need the /s modifier to deal with existing newlines.

Edit: Fixed thinko. I meant /s rather than /m of course.

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";

In reply to Re: highlight and line breaks by sauoq
in thread highlight and line breaks by glwtta

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