I must admit i had my difficulties with formatting here at the beginning too, i did some html long ago but someone who is totally new might find it difficult: and to be honest i dont read all manuals on a new site, people might be eager to post and get their burning questions answered ...

Maybe it would be fine to just present a "preformatted new message box" which reads something like:

<p> "Write your text here, the "p" tags keep some general formatting on it, you might want to use <br>
(for new lines) or "code" or "c" tags for sample code:
<c> Write your code here </c>
see Writeup Formatting Tips for more information <p> And Please dont forget to use the "preview" button

This box could only be presented to users which did not already have changed their personal nodelets, e.g. use a signature?
Just my 2 ct.
hth
MH

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