Text Boxes

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Creating a Text Box
• Rich Text vs. Unrestricted Format
• Editor Tool Bar
  • Editor Tool Bar Components (Left to Right)

Creating a Text Box

To create a text box while editing a page, look for the button that says "Add Text." When you click it (not the drop-down arrow next to it), a text box will appear.

Rich Text vs. Unrestricted Format

When you create a text box or edit an existing text box, you will noticed that where it says "Text Format," you can either select "Unrestricted Format" or "Rich Text." 

Editor Tool Bar

Here is the editor tool bar, which is visible whenever you are editing a text box that is in Rich Text format. See below for an explanation for what each of the features does. 

Editor Tool Bar Components (Left to Right)

Bold Text: Highlight the text you want in bold font and click this button. Conversely, to unbold text that has been made bold, highlight it and click the Bold Text button again.

Italicize Text: Highlight the text you want to emphasize in italics, then click this button. to remove italics, highlight the italicized text and click the button again.

Strike-through Text: Please do not use this feature. There would be no reason to type text on a web page, only to draw lines through it.

Superscript and Subscript: Use to put text above or below the typed line. Possible uses include "TM" (trademark) symbol or footnote symbols. (This is not commonly used.)

Remove Formatting: Highlight text that already has formatting (bold, italics, whatever) and click this button to remove the formatting. (This is not a commonly used tool.)

Link Tools: Highlight the text you want to hyperlink to another page or document, then click the left button (the chain without the "x"). Paste the link into the URL field. To make the link open in a different tab, click "Advanced" and check the box next to where it says "Open in new window/tab." Make sure to always check this box when linking to external sites (sites that do not begin with lesley.edu/).

To break a hyperlink, highlight the linked text and click the chain with the "x" (right side). See this article for more important information on linking.

Bulleted (Unordered) and Numbered (Ordered) Lists: To create a bulleted or numbered list on the page, click either icon, then start typing. Hit return to make a new bullet (or next number) in the list.

Block Quote:  Usually, one would use this feature to indent a long quote on a page. (Note: We use the Quote Pattern Block for quotes from students and alumni, so we don't anticipate you'd need this Block Quote feature too much.)

Table: Use this to make a table of columns and rows on a page. Once you select this tool, follow the prompts to decide how many columns and rows you will need. Then, put your curser in each table block and start typing.

Horizontal Line: Use to insert a horizontal line on the page, as a way to separate long sections and provide a sort of "break".

Media Browser: Use if you plan to insert an image in the body of the page, and NOT in a gallery. If you plan to use this tool, be sure that the width of the photo does not exceed 1300 pixels and that you reduce the file size in terms of dpi (dots per inch) to no more than 300 dpi, but 72 may be sufficient for web. Read this related article on how to optimize and upload images on the website.

Format: Use the options in the drop down to create headings and subheadings that are in larger font on your page. Various sizes are available. You would typically use a "Heading 2" (known as "h2") for the very first header on the page (most prominent) and Heading 3 (known as "h3") for subheadings. "Normal" is what you would use for text within paragraphs on the page.

Highlight the text, then choose a heading from the list to apply it.

Show (Paragraph) Block: Not a commonly used tool. Choose this to see all the paragraphs on a page.

Source: Choose to see and edit the page via the html code, if you know html basics. (Read this related article on html code basics, if you wish to learn.)

Here's what the "Source" looks like on a page:

Anchor Tags: We do not use anchors too often on the website. On our old site, we used to have many "anchors" that would be hyperlinked text that would drop down to another section of the page.