diff --git a/commands.py b/commands.py
index 1ace2ea..c2119db 100644
--- a/commands.py
+++ b/commands.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import html_parser
+
 from telegram import Update, InlineKeyboardButton, InlineKeyboardMarkup
 from telegram.constants import ParseMode
 from telegram.ext import ContextTypes
@@ -5,7 +7,7 @@ from telegram.ext import ContextTypes
 
 async def start_command(update: Update, context: ContextTypes.DEFAULT_TYPE) -> None:
     await update.message.reply_text(
-        f"hello, i'm <b>{context.bot.first_name}</b>, an inline image grabber.\n\n"
+        f"hello, i'm {html_parser.bold(context.bot.first_name)}, an inline image grabber.\n\n"
         f"to get help, use /help",
         parse_mode=ParseMode.HTML
     )
@@ -13,9 +15,9 @@ async def start_command(update: Update, context: ContextTypes.DEFAULT_TYPE) -> N
 
 async def help_command(update: Update, context: ContextTypes.DEFAULT_TYPE) -> None:
     await update.message.reply_text(
-        f"<b>how to use {context.bot.first_name}</b>\n\n"
+        f"{html_parser.bold(f"how to use {context.bot.first_name}")}\n\n"
         f"1. open your message box and type:\n"
-        f"<code>@{context.bot.username} &lt;post ID&gt;</code>\n"
+        f"{html_parser.code(f"@{context.bot.username} &lt;post ID&gt;")}\n"
         f"2. click on the box that has popped up\n"
         f"3. ???\n"
         f"4. done!",
@@ -36,11 +38,11 @@ async def about_command(update: Update, context: ContextTypes.DEFAULT_TYPE) -> N
         reply_markup = InlineKeyboardMarkup(keyboard)
 
     await update.message.reply_text(
-        f"<b>about {context.bot.first_name}</b>\n"
+        f"{html_parser.bold(f"about {context.bot.first_name}")}\n"
         f"{context.bot.first_name} is an inline image grabber written in python that grabs images from Danbooru "
         f"(or other similar services).\n\n"
-        f"<b>currently configured instance:</b>\n"
-        f"<i>{config.get('Service', 'Name')}</i> ({config.get('Service', 'Domain')})",
+        f"{html_parser.bold("currently configured instance:")}\n"
+        f"{html_parser.italic(config.get('Service', 'Name'))}  ({config.get('Service', 'Domain')})",
         parse_mode=ParseMode.HTML,
         reply_markup=reply_markup
     )
diff --git a/html_parser.py b/html_parser.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..65b62c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/html_parser.py
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+def bold(s: str) -> str:
+    return f"<b>{s}</b>"
+
+def italic(s: str) -> str:
+    return f"<i>{s}</i>"
+
+def strikethrough(s: str) -> str:
+    return f"<s>{s}</s>"
+
+def hyperlink(s: str, href: str) -> str:
+    return f"<a href='{href}'>{s}</a>"
+
+def code(s: str) -> str:
+    return f"<code>{s}</code>"
\ No newline at end of file