Text Editor User's Guide

Contents

This is an in-depth reference on using the embedded WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) Text Editor. For other information and tips, please visit the Using the Text Editor topic page.

Toolbar Quick Reference
 (see also Table of Contents below)

 

Text Editor Table of Contents

Text Editor Overview

The Text Editor is a lightweight text editor used for writing web pages. It provides most of the commonly used text and graphic functions. Using the Text Editor you can write text, format it, create tables and much more.

The User's Guide is documentation for all the features of the Text Editor.

Functions explained in this guide usually come with a screenshot and an example. The examples are always placed in a framed box with "Example:" before it.

Example:

Notice that the editor interface can have  different  colors, icons and formats. This guide is based on the default editor interface.

Interface

The Text Editor provides a clean and simple user interface which should be familiar to users who work on common desktop text editors like Microsoft Word or Open Office. It consists of four distinct elements:

• Toolbar - the area at the top of the editor, which contains  buttons and drop down menus.
• Editing Area - the area below the toolbar. This is the place where you type your text in.
• Context Menu - a menu which appears when you right click inside the editing area.
• Dialogs - small windows that appear when some of the functions are activates, used to provide the necessary information to accomplish that function.
   

Toolbar

The Toolbar is the area in the Text Editor where you can activate most of the editor features. There are simple functions for basic text formatting and more advanced features like creation of links and tables.

To use the buttons in the toolbar you must move your mouse pointer over the button. The button will highlight and a message with information about the button function will appear. Click on the button to execute its function.

Besides the toolbars buttons there are also toolbar combos (drop down boxes). The combos are the white areas with a litlle arrow on its side. They can be easily accessed by clicking on the white area or the little arrow. Once clicked the menu will expand so you can choose from one of its available options. To execute one of them, simply click on it.
 

Editing Area

The Editing Area is the space where you will type in your text and format your document.

If your document will be longer than the available space in the Editing Area, a scrollbar will appear. The scrollbar will allow you to go up and down through your text. You may also move inside the text by using your keyboard keys, for example PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN, HOME, END and ARROW KEYS.

Another important function while editing is text selection To select the text, press your mouse left button, hold it and go to the direction you want to highlight the text. Just release the button and the text will remain selected.
 

Context Menu

Once you start working with text, the context menu becomes very useful. It's a menu which will appear when you click the right button of your mouse anywhere inside the editing area or on an existing object.

Example:    

As its name indicates, the menu is context sensitive, which means that the available items depend on the place you click. For example, the following options may appear if you click inside a table:

 

Click the menu item to execute its function. Some of the functions maybe disabled. For example, the cut and copy options will be disabled if there is no text highlighted.
 

Common Tasks

Writing

Writing in the Text Editor is as simple as writing on desktop text editors, like Microsoft Word, or Open Office. There is an important difference to be considered though.

Desktop word processors are used to create printed (or printed like) content, limited to physical pages. The Text Editor is used to create text to be published on Internet, and to be read by using web browsers. This is important to consider and keep in mind.

The most important thing to consider are:

• On Internet, pages have no physical limits. They can grow infinitely.
• The same content can look different on different computers, or different web browsers. Text lines can contain more or less words, depending on the computer features and configurations.
• User with visual or motorial disabilities may want to read your text. Keep it in mind, and look for ways to better satisfy their particular needs.
• Web sites and their pages have severe technical limits. They are created by programmers, using different "computer languages". Those "languages" are powerful on many aspects, but have also limits that are difficult to understand by people used to the flexibility of desktop text processors. With time, you will get used to those limits, and will be able to properly produce quality text that works for the Internet.

The Enter Key

The first thing you should know about editing the text is the usage of the keyboard key ENTER or in some computers called RETURN. If you press the key the editor will create a new paragraph. You can also use ENTER with a combination with the SHIFT key. Pressing the SHIFT+ENTER keys simultaneously will just break the line in the same paragraph.

The Backspace Key

As you know the BACKSPACE key is used for deleting mistakes, whole words or whole text. You can use a combination of CTRL and BACKSPACE keys. If you press them at the same time you will erase the whole word which was before the cursor.

See Also

See Keyboard Shortcuts for a list of key combinations and shortcuts.
 

Text Formatting

Text formatting determines how your text will look in your document.  We will start with text formatting for bold, italic, underlined fonts.

Bold, Italic, Underlined and Strike-through

• To make your font bold press theon the toolbar. 
• If you want it to be italic press theon the toolbar .
• For underlined press theon the toolbar.
• And finally to strike a line through the text press  on the toolbar.

Example:  

If you choose any of these options you will see that the button on the toolbar highlights. If you want to undo the function press its button again. Of course you can mix these options as much as you want.

Example:  

Notice that if you don't switch the underline option off the underline will go between your spaces.

Example:  

The same thing happens when you use the strike through function.
 

Text Alignment

A paragraph of text can have its lines aligned to either of the sides of the document, as well as centering on it. You may also force the lines to take the entire space available in the document (like aligning to both sides at the same time).

To align your text at the left side of the editing area, press the button on the toolbar.

Example:  

If you want to have the text aligned at the right side of the editing area, just press the button on the toolbar.

Example:  

In order to align your text at the center of the document, press the on your toolbar.

Example:  

The last option is the block alignment. If you want to activate it press on the toolbar. This function is much similar to the left alignment. You also begin typing from the left side of the screen. The difference instead can be noted when writing several lines of text. Each one will have the same length even though they don't have to have the same amount of words or letters. The lines will just expand and the text will be equally long so that the lines will end in the same place.

Example:  

 
 

Paragraph Format

Another very important function which you will probably use in your text is the Format menu in the toolbar:

 

A format is used for organizing your text and to distinguish different parts of your text. For example if you want to start a new chapter or to put different categories and subcategories you use the format menu and choose different headings.

Example:  

 

Fonts

Fonts determine how the letters of your text look. The most commonly used fonts are "Times New Roman" and "Arial". They are used in most documents created in the world.  To choose a font, access the font menu in your toolbar and click on the font you want to use.

Example:    

Examples:

We encourage you to avoid overusing this feature. You can easaly produce a document that looks bad or difficult to read.
 

Text Size

To change your font size, open the "Size" menu in the toolbar. There you will find a range of sizes which were defined by your web site developer.

Example:  

 

Colors

The other option to make your text look different is changing the text color or its background color.

If you want to change your text color press the text color button . Several colors will appear in a menu. If you are not satisfied with the colors available in that panel click "More colors...".

To choose the color you want to use, just click on it.

Example:  

You may also change the text background color using the button. Again you will find a range of colors. Click on the color you want to use.

Example:  

 

Subscript and superscript

Subscript and superscript are usually used for mathematical needs. Subscript is a way to put an index to a letter or to a number. The subscript has a smaller font than the normal text. To activate subscript you must press thebutton on the toolbar.

Example:  

As you can see you can use either a number in a subscript or a letter.

The superscript works in the same way as the subscript but instead of placing the index in the bottom you place it in the top. This function is usually used in mathematical equations to write the "to the power of" function. You can access it from the toolbar using thebutton 

Example:  

You can also mix these two functions:

Example:      

 

Creating Lists

Numbered Lists 

To create a numbered list press on the toolbar. The text which was beside your cursor will automatically be number one on the list.

Example:  

If you want to set another number below just press ENTER and the next number will appear

Example:  

You may also highlight the lines you want to be numbered and then press .

If you want to stop Numbered Listing just press the button again. The text will return to normal.

Properties

If you want to change the list properties click your right mouse button any place inside your list. A context menu will appear:

 

Choose Numbered list Properties.A popup window called "Umbered List Properties" will appear:

 

• Start: the number which you'll put in to this field will determine the beginning number of your list.
• Type: you may choose from several options regarding what type of listing you want to use, for example Large Roman Numerals.
   

Bulletted Lists 

Bulletted lists work exactly like Numbered Lists but instead of numbers you have dots. To activate/deactivate this function press .

Example:  

Properties

If you want to change the list properties click your right mouse button any place inside your list. A context menu will appear:

Choose Bulleted List Properties. A popup window called "Bulleted List Properties" will appear:

• Type: you may select the shape of the dots you use in your list.
   

Links and E-Mails

Links

To insert a link to a URL address, anchor or an e-mail press the button on the toolbar. A popup window called "Link" will appear.  

 

• Link Type: specifies the type of link you want to put in the document. You can choose from "URL", "Link to anchor in the text" or "E-mail". Depending on which option you choose different options and bookmarks will appear in the window. We will start from the Link Type: URL.

URL Link Info

If you chose Link Type: URL the same options as in the above picture will appear.

• Protocol: specifies the type of protocol you want to use for your link. You can choose from "http://", "https://","ftp://", or "<other>".
• URL: specifies the address you want your link to refer to.

Press "OK" and the link will appear in your document.  

Target

The second tab of the window refers to "Target":

• Target: set's the target of your link. Specifies in what kind of a window a link will appear. You may choose from "<frame>", "New Window" ( _blank ), "Topmost Window" ( _top ), Same Window ( _self ), Parent Window ( _parent).  
• Target Frame Name: in this window you will find the name of the option you have selected in "Target"  

In "Target" you may also choose the <popup window> option. After clicking it you will find that the options in the bookmark have changed:

 

• Popup Window Name: specifies the name of your popup window.  
• Popup Window Features: you can check or uncheck several options pertaining to the appearance of the popup window. Some of the options depend on which browser you're using.  
• Width: specifies the width of the window the linked address will appear in.  
• Height: specifies the width of the window the linked address will appear in.
• Left Position: sets the horizontal position of the window the linked address will appear in, starting from the left side of your screen.  
• Top Position: sets the vertical position of the window the linked address will appear in, starting from the top of your screen.  

Pressing "OK" will insert the link in your document.  

Uploading Files

(for detailed step-by-step instructions for uploading files, please see the separate document How to Upload Files)

The third tab of the link tool refers to "Upload":

• Upload: specifies the location of the file you want to upload. If you don't want to type it manually press "Browse...".
• Send it to Server: sends the file you specified in "Upload" to the server.  

Link to anchor in the text

Within the link tool, if you chose Link Type: Link to anchor in the text new options will appear in the Link Info bookmark.  

 

You may select the link to the anchor in two ways.

• By Anchor Name: selects the anchor by name you have previously specified in anchor properties.
• By Element Id: selects the anchor by Id.

Pressing "OK" will insert the link in your document.  

E-mail

In the link tool, if you chose Link Type: E-mail new options will appear in the Link Info bookmark:

• E-mail Address: specifies the e-mail address to which you want the link to refer to.  
• Message Subject: specifies the subject of the message which will be sent to the e-mail address.  
• Message Body: specifies the text of the message which will be sent to the e-mail address.  

Press "OK" to insert the link in your document.

Advanced options

Whatever Link Type you will choose one tab will remain the same. It is the last tab called "Advanced":

• Id: specifies the ID of the link.  
• Language Direction: sets the language direction from left to right ( LTR ) or from right to left ( RTL ).
• Access Key: sets up an access key to the link.  
• Name: specifies the link name.  
• Language Code: defines the code of the language e.g. en, pt, pt
• Tab Index: defines the tab index.  
• Advisory Title: specifies the description of the target object.
• Advisory Content Type: specifies the MIME type of the target object.  
• Stylesheet Classes: specifies the name of the CSS class.  

• Linked Resource Charset: specifies the charset of the target object.  
• Style: defines the style

Press "OK" to insert the link.
 

Anchors

To insert an anchor in the text place your cursor before the text or section you want to the anchor to refer and press the button on the toolbar. A popup window called "Anchor Properties" will appear:  

• Anchor Name: specifies the anchor name. You will use this name when linking to the anchor.

Press "OK" and the anchor will appear in your document.
 

Inserting Images

IMPORTANT: CURRENTLY ONLY IMAGE UPLOAD IS ENABLED. 

Inserting Images in the Text Editor is very simple. Position the cursor in the location that you want to insert an image and  press the button on the toolbar. A popup window called "Image Properties" will appear.

Image Info  

To insert an image into the editor text you must first upload the image to the server. To Upload an image click the Upload tab.

Upload

 

• Upload: specify the location of the image file on your local hard drive. Use "browse" if you don't want to type the location manually.

Pressing "Send it to the Server" sends the image to the server. After the upload is complete, the Image Info window will reappear with the image shown in the preview area.

• URL: Now shows the URL of the image on the Manyone server. Do not change.
• Alternative Text:includes a description of the image if you want it to be different than the image name.
• Width: specifies image width.  
• Height: specifies image height.

You may lock the image proportions by pressing or you can return to the original image size by pressing .

• Border: specifies the size of the border you want to place around the image.
• HSpace: defines the size of the  horizontal gap.
• VSpace: defines the size of the vertical gap.
• Align: specifies the alignment of the image. You can choose from: Left, Abs Bottom, Abs Middle, Baseline, Bottom, Middle, Right, Text Top or Top.

Pressing "OK" inserts the image with the specified properties. 

Advanced

This tab is only for advanced users:

• Id: specifies the ID of the image.
• Language Direction: sets the language direction from left to right ( LTR ) or from right to left ( RTL ).
• Language Code: specifies the language code e.g. en, pt, pl.
• Long Description URL: specifies the description of the page.  
• Stylesheet Classes: specifies the name of the CSS class.
• Advisory Title: specifies the description of the target object.
• Style: specifies the style.
   

Tables

Creating a table

If you want to create a table in the Text Editor press the "Insert/Edit Table" button on the toolbar.  

After that a popup window called "Table Properties" will appear.  

• Rows: in this field you specifythe number of  rows do you want to have in your table .  
• Columns: in this field you specify how many columns you want your table to have.  
• Border size: sets the thickness of the tables border.  
• Alignment: specifies the alignment of your table. You can set it to left, center or right.  
• Width: sets the width of your table in pixels or percentage. E.g. if you choose 40 percent the table will take 40% of the editing area width.  
• Cell spacing: specifies how thick the cells border will  be.
• Cell padding: sets the hight of the cell.
• Caption: specifies the title of your table. The title will appear in the top of the table.
• Summary: sets a comment on the table. The comment will not appear in the table. It is only for internal reference.

Not all of the options are required to build a table. You have to fill only Rows and Columns. the rest of the fields are optional and you may use them depending on your needs.

Working with the table

After you have created your table you may change its properties. Place your mouse on the table, click the right button and a context menu will appear.  

To change the table properties press "Table Properties" and a popup window will appear. It's the same window that you used for creating the table.

If you want to delete your table simply press "Delete Table".

The other three options are Cell, Row and Column. If you click your mouse on one of them a new menu will appear.

Cell  

• Insert Cell Before: inserts a new cell before the cell your cursor is currently in.  
• Insert Cell After: inserts a new cell after the cell your cursor is currently in.
• Delete Cells: deletes the cell your cursor is in. You may also highlight more cells and then delete them.
• Merge Cells: merges cells you have highlighted into one cell.
• Split Cell Horizontally: splits a cell in two.One cell is split in two colums.  
• Split Cell Vertically:splits a cell in two.One cells is split in two rows.
• Cell properties: if you click the cell properties a new popup window called "Cell Properties" will appear:

 

• Width: sets the cell width in pixels or in percentage of the table width.
• Height: sets the height of the cell.  
• Word Wrap: turns on/off word wrapping.
• Horizontal Alignment:determines the horizontal alignment of the text in your cell. It can be set to Left, Center or Right.
• Vertical Alignment: determines the vertical alignment of the text in your cell. It can be set to Top, Middle, Bottom or Baseline.
• Rows span: extends vertical rows.
• Columns span:extends cells on a horizontal row (left and right).
• Background color: sets the background color of your cell. You can either select a color or type it manually.
• Border Color: sets the color of your cells border. You can either select a color or type it manually.

Row  

• Insert Row Before: inserts a new row before the row your cursor is currently in.
• Insert Row After: inserts a new row after the row your cursor is currently in.
• Delete Rows: deletes highlighted rows or the row your cursor is currently in.

Column

 

• Insert Column Before: inserts a column before the column your cursor is currently in.
• Insert Column After: inserts a column after the column your cursor is currently in.
• Delete Columns: deletes highlighted columns or the column your cursor is currently in.
   

Cut, Copy and Paste

Cut

To begin cutting the text you should first highlight the fragment you want to cut. After highlighting there are three methods to cut.  

1. by pressing the button on the toolbar.  
2. by pressing the right mouse button on the highlighted area. A context menu will appear. Choose cut.  
3. by pressing the combination of CTRL+X keys.  

Copy

You can copy a highlighted area in three ways.  

1. by pressing the button on the toolbar.  
2. by pressing the right mouse button on the highlighted area. A context menu will appear. Choose copy.  
3. by pressing the combination of CTRL+C keys.  

Paste

There are three options to paste into the text:  

1. by pressing the combination of CTRL+V keys or pressing on the toolbar. This option will paste data from your clipboard. However there's a possibility that because of your security settings in your browser the editor will be enable to paste the data directly from your clipboard. If that happens a popup window will appear with instructions what to do next  

2. by pressing. This option pastes a plain text which you should first paste inside the following box by using the combination of CTRL+V keys.  

3. by pressing . This option pastes  text previously written in MS Word. By using this option you may paste the text from Word ignoring the Font Face definitions or removing Style definitions.To paste the text just press CTRL+V key combination on your keyboard.

 

Templates

A template will allow you to change the page layout and style and to organize your document better. To activate it press  button on the toolbar. A popup window called "Content Templates" will appear:

 

• Image and Title: one main image with a title and text that surround the image.
• Strange Template: a template that defines two columns, each one with title, and some text.
• Text and Table: a title with some text and a table.

To chose a template double-click on it and it will appear in your document.

Example:

 

Other Tasks

Find and Replace

Find

To find a phrase/word in the text  press the  button on the toolbar. After that a popup window called "Find and Replace" will appear:  

 

• Find what: in this field you place the phrase/word you want to find.  
• Match case: if you check this option the program will find only the text with the exact case like e.g. aLberT  
• Match whole word: if you check this option the program will only look for a whole word. It won't look for a phrase.  

After deciding what options you want to use just press "Find" and the program will highlight the first phrase/word it found. If you press "Find" again the program will find the next phrase/word matching your request.  

Replace

To replace a phrase/word in your text press button on your keyboard. A popup window will appear:  

• Find what: in this field you place the phrase/word you want to find  
• Replace with: in this field you place the phrase/word you want to replace your text with.  
• Match case: if you check this option the program will find only the text with the exact cases like e.g. aLberT
• Match whole word: if you check this option the program will only look for a whole word. It won't look for a phrase.  

If you want to replace only one phrase/word press "Replace". The program will find your text and highlight it. Than you should press the "Replace" button again in order to go on with the replacement.  

If you want to replace all the found phrases/words press "Replace All".
 

Undo and Redo

Undo

The undo function is very useful in a situation where you have made a mistake and you want to correct it fast .e.g. you've written your whole text and you have erased it by mistake.  

You can activate the undo function in two ways:  

1. by pressing the button on the toolbar.
2. by pressing the combination of CTRL+Z on the keyboard.

After you activate the function it will go back to the last thing you have made. For example: you've written a whole chapter and you've highlighted it and deleted it by mistake. You activate the "Undo" function and it goes back to the moment when the chapter was highlighted but before the deleting. You may of course go many steps back, not just one step.

Redo

The redo function is the exact opposite of the undo function. If you used the undo function and then for any reason decide to go back to the state before the undo you must use the redo function. To activate it press on the toolbar.
 

Spell Checking 

Spell checking  is a function in the the Text Editor which will allow you to check for mistakes in spelling.

To activate the function simply press on your toolbar. A popup window called "Spell Check" will appear:  

 

In the top of the window you will find a field with your text. The first word which is incorrect will be highlighted and will also appear in the field called "Not in dictionary". To ignore the mistake press "Ignore" or "Ignore All" if you want to ignore the mistake in the whole text. If you want to correct the mistake:  

1. choose the word you had in mind from the list below the "Change to" field. If you pick a word it  will appear in the "Change to" field.  

2. press "Replace" and the highlighted word will be corrected. If you want to correct the same mistake in the whole text press "Replace All"  

When the check spelling will finish an information about the amount of words changed will appear:  

 

Pressing "OK" will end the spell checking procedure.
 

Printing

To print your document press the button on the toolbar. A popup window will appear:

   

In "Name" you can choose which printer would you like to use. You can also define the range of printing. You can print All, print Pages from-to or a selection.You may also define the number of copies you want to print.
 

Source Editor

The Text Editor offers you the ability to view to the text you have written in the editing area in HTML code. To view the HTML code press the button on the toolbar.  

Example:  

 

After pressing   button we can see the HTML code:  

 

If you want to go back to normal text just press again.  

Editing the code in the HTML language is a very difficult feature and it should only be done by advanced users. If you don't have experience in HTML type the text normally.
 

Keyboard Shortcuts

Many functions in the Text Editor have their shortcut keyboard keystrokes. They make the work with the editor faster and easier. Below you will find an alphabetical list with all of the keyboard shortcuts:

• CTRL+A highlights the whole editing area
• CTRL+B changes your font to bold.
• CTRL+C copies the highlighted area to the clipboard.  
• CTRL+I changes your font to italic.
• CTRL+L opens the Link window.
• CTRL+SHIFT+S saves the document.
• CTRL+U changes your font to underlined.
• CTRL+V or SHIFT+INSERT pastes the data from the clipboard
• CTRL+X or SHIFT+DELETE cuts the highlighted area.
• CTRL+Y or CTRL+SHITF+Z starts the redo function.
• CTRL+Z starts the undo function.
• CTRL+ALT+ENTER fits the editor in the browsers window.
• CTRL+TAB shows the source code (for advanced users).
   

Compatibility

Compatible Browsers

Web Browser	Windows	Mac	Linux
Internet Explorer 5.5+	YES	N/A	N/A
Firefox 1.5+	YES	YES	YES
Safari 3.0+	YES	YES	N/A
Opera 9.5+	YES	YES	YES
Netscape 7.1+	YES	YES	YES
Camino 1.0+	N/A	YES	N/A

 

Incompatible Browsers

If you use a browser which is a lower version of the browsers listed in the system requirements, the Text Editor will work with limited features or won't work at all. You may only see the editing area where you can write in  HTML code. The toolbar won't appear at all.

Example:  

If you want to work with all of the Text Editor features, be sure install one of the system compatible browsers listed above.
 

Other Help Resources

• For further information and tips, please visit the Using the Text Editor topic page.
• Also, be sure to check out RELATED ARTICLES found in upper sidebar of this page –>

The above User's Guide is an excerpted and edited version of the User Guide on the FCK website.

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