Using <PRE> is a natural thing to do, especially if you don't realize the wondrous power of the PerlMonks <CODE> tag and how different it is from the regular HTML equivalent. I certainly didn't expect it to work the way it does. It's completely counterintuitive.

It might be advisable to staple a handy "PerlMonks-HTML" reference chart to the bottom of the composition window. There's a whole lot of space there considering how long the right sidebar trails on. That should be the easiest to implement, by far.