I think many Mudcatters misunderstand how to close italics and other HTML tags. They use </> - use </i> to close italics, </b> to close bold, </u> to close underline, and so forth. In general, to close an HTML command, repeat the command, but with a slash in front of it - but be sure to specify which command you're closing. As far as I know, </> doesn't do anything.
There's one Mudcatter who tells me that </> always works for him. I suppose it does seem that way - because there always seems to be some alert JoeClone to drop in and correct his mistakes.
-Joe Offer-