Tab button

Ahhh, I'm sorry for posting so many Help topics guys, but I really need help again :cry:

Usually when writing an email or just writing text on a webpage, like now, I can press Tab to move along a bit (instead of spacebar, y'know what I mean).

However if I press Tab now it just goes down to another item on the page, for example the checkboxes below where I am posting, then the submit thread button and so on.

Can anyone help? Sorry I'm so clueless (you wouldn't believe I studied IT would you :p)

Tab has always gone to the next form element or link for me. I'v enever used tab to move further down a page. "Page Up", "Page Down" and the space bar will also do the trick just as long as your cursor isn't in a text field.

EDIT: Sorry, I misunderstood what you said. Disregard what I said about moving around a page with the other buttons.

Even if you somehow manage to insert a tab into a form element, like by copy/pasting them, when HTML is parsed all whitespace is compressed into a single space. So it wouldn't even show up.

Here are 10 spaces between the quotes:

" "

Here are 10 tabs I copy/pasted:

" "

See, doesn't show up. Most browsers override the behavior of the Tab key anyways to affect the browser window rather than insert a Tab character, like Flying Mullet said.

The ASCII Tab character is the stupidest thing every created anyways. Variable-width characters = headache. Take a tab-indented document from one computer and put it on another and chances are good that it looks like total crap because the tabs are different sizes.

Hmmm it used to work in emails though, but if it wouldn't show up anyway I guess it doesn't matter..

It's just that when my mum writes emails she likes to set it out like a letter so tab helps there..maybe it didn't work before though and I'm just thinking of writing stuff on Word.

gah...I can't use ctrl-tab or whatever key combo to make tabs work in a box. Whatever...

Use tables xD

Ctrl-tab is usually for changing between subwindows/tabs in the same program, Alt-tab for changing between programs.

When you're in Word or writing an email in Outlook, etc., pressing the Tab button will advance you however many spaces that you have it set up for. When you are out of Word (like in EoFF or when you're filling out forms, etc.), Tab advances you to the next available field, etc.

Ah right, it was probably Hotmail that it didn't work in then, and I was thinking of Outlook Express. Thanks everyone :)