Yes, I'm new, and yes, I have a lot to learn... I've looked through past threads but can't find a discussion elementary enough for me to understand.

When I cut/pasted my (very first) comment from Word to the comment submission area, the resulting post had < > stuff in it. I realize that this has to do with "rich text", and am going to learn more. But what I'd like to know is how to avoid that problem right now... aside from re-typing everything into the comment box. I know someone out there can help me since it looks like there are bunches of experts here. Thanks!
Gail

Both copy-and-pasting and HTML code are tricky and often annoying in these forums and the puzzle comments. Personally I can't copy-and-paste at all, as I use firefox which the comments apparently do not support, but you should be alright if you use Notepad instead of Word, as Notepad uses plain text, while Word uses all sorts of strange rich text.

As for the second, nothing which looks like an HTML tag will show in these forums, so things between angled brackets will usually just dissapear (most basic HTML tags will still work, you just can't show the tags).