diff --git a/pmd/xdocs/howtowritearule.xml b/pmd/xdocs/howtowritearule.xml
index f60705cc8a..5b2aa3e454 100644
--- a/pmd/xdocs/howtowritearule.xml
+++ b/pmd/xdocs/howtowritearule.xml
@@ -126,8 +126,8 @@ WhileStatement
 ]]>
     </source>
     <p>
-    Ah ha!  We see that the curly braces add a couple more AST elements - a Block and a BlockStatement.  So all we have
-    to do is write a rule to detect a WhileStatement that has a Statement that's not followed by a Block, and we've got a rule violation.
+    Ah ha!  We see that the curly braces add a couple more AST elements - a <code>Block</code> and a <code>BlockStatement</code>.  So all we have
+    to do is write a rule to detect a <code>WhileStatement</code> that has a <code>Statement</code> that's not followed by a <code>Block</code>, and we've got a rule violation.
     </p>
     </subsection>
 
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ public class WhileLoopsMustUseBracesRule extends AbstractRule {
     </source>
     <p>
     That was easy.  PMD works by creating the AST and then traverses it recursively so a rule can get a callback
-    for any type it's interested in.  So let's make sure our rule gets called whenever the AST traversal finds a WhileStatement:
+    for any type it's interested in.  So let's make sure our rule gets called whenever the AST traversal finds a <code>WhileStatement</code>:
     </p>
     <source>
 <![CDATA[
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ public class WhileLoopsMustUseBracesRule extends AbstractRule {
     <subsection name="Put the WhileLoopsMustUseBracesRule rule in a ruleset file">
     <p>
     Now our rule is written - at least, the shell of it is - and now we need to tell PMD about it.  We need
-    to add it to a rule set XML file.  Look at rulesets/basic.xml; it's got lots of rule definitions that look like this:
+    to add it to a rule set XML file.  Look at <code>rulesets/basic.xml</code>; it's got lots of rule definitions that look like this:
     </p>
     <source>
 <![CDATA[
@@ -200,13 +200,13 @@ which should either be acted on or reported.
     </ul>
     </subsection>
     <p>
-    We'll just leave this rule in the rulesets/basic.xml ruleset for now.  If you write rules for your own
-    project that aren't applicable to other projects (rules to catch Thread creation, for example, or rules to catch
-    System.out.println() usages) you might want to make a new ruleset <code>myproject.xml</code> and put your rules in there.
+    We'll just leave this rule in the <code>rulesets/basic.xml</code> ruleset for now.  If you write rules for your own
+    project that aren't applicable to other projects (rules to catch <code>Thread</code> creation, for example, or rules to catch
+    <code>System.out.println()</code> usages) you might want to make a new ruleset <code>myproject.xml</code> and put your rules in there.
     </p>
     <subsection name="Run PMD using your new ruleset">
     <p>
-    Remember when we ran go.bat over the Example.java file?  Do it again.  This time your "hello world" will show up right after the
+    Remember when we ran <code>go.bat</code> over the <code>Example.java</code>?  Do it again.  This time your "hello world" will show up right after the
     AST gets printed out.  If it doesn't, post a message to
     <a href="http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=188192">the forum</a> so we can improve this document :-)
     </p>