User's Manual |
Article Editor
Short Description
The Article Editor works like a simple word processor, you can insert images and tables, lists, links and anchors.
See Also:
The Article Editor is regularly updated to incorporate new or improved features. While some changes may not immediately be apparent, there may be some differences in button placement. These changes are kept to a minimum.
Select a button to learn more about it's use.
Save 
The save button will store all changes to the article into the current system. If the article is already inserted onto a page then the page will be updated to reflect the changes. Alterations to your page will not be saved if the window close button has been selected.
Please Note:
As this is an online editor, please ensure that your Internet connection is active when you click the 'Save' button. Clicking 'Save' will close this window. If you are not connected to the Aplinx server some information may be lost.
Templates 
If you're looking at a blank page and not sure where to start, the Template Library can give you a few options.
Warning:
Using the template manager will clear the current article and remove any changes made. It should only be used when starting a new article.
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Selecting the |
Cut 
If you would like to remove some text, an image or a table from the screen and place it elsewhere, highlight the area you want to move from and click the cut button. Click where you want to move your data to and click the Paste button. Your text has now been moved.
The keyboard shortcut for Cut is CTRL-X
Copy 
Unlike Cut, Copy does not remove the original text, table or image from the article. Instead the original is kept and copied to another location when you click the Paste button.
The keyboard shortcut for Copy is CTRL-C
Paste 
The paste command will duplicate any data currently on your Operating System's clipboard into the article. The clipboard is a hidden location where copied or cut data is placed temporarily for use somewhere else - like in the editor.
The keyboard shortcut for Paste is CTRL-V
Insert Text 
When you need to Paste data into the editor, it will attempt to copy it exactly with all formatting intact. If you don't want to retain formatting like colours, font-sizes and tables, use the insert text command. Insert text prevents the system from using up excess space with formatting from programs like Microsoft Word.
Insert Word Formatted Text 
When you copy text from Microsoft Office applications such as Word or Excel extra formatting may be carried across which increases the size of your data and adds complex non-conformist styles to the rest of the system. Using the Paste from Word button reduces the size of the data being imported into the article and helps make editing at later stages easier.
Spellcheck 
Before you save, select this button to check the spelling in your document.
Undo 
The undo command can be used when you change something you didn't intend to or the changes you made were not as desirable as the original. By clicking undo you reverse these changes and return to the older state. This button is disabled if no changes have been made to an article.
Redo 
If you have used the undo command accidentally or were not happy with the rolled-back version of the article you can re-do changes by clicking the re-do command. This button is disabled if the undo command has not been used.
Format 
Selecting a format will apply a pre-defined style to text. Where H1 is the largest, most important heading on a page and H6 the smallest, least important. The styles used for headings can be modified in Article Styles.
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To create a heading just select some text using your mouse and then use the Format drop-down to apply a heading style. |
Font 
Choose from a list of web-safe fonts that have been predefined for you.
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Highlight the text to be modified and select a font from the drop-down list. |
Size 
To modify font sizes highlight some text and click the size drop-down list.
Sizes such as 'large', 'small' or 'normal' can help make your site more user-friendly for people with special needs. By choosing a pixel based font-size, (10, 11, 12, 14) you run the risk of turning away the visually impaired because your site is difficult to read.
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The default text size in this article is 'x-small'. Changing the text size with this method will resize, relative to the default text size. Example of 'small'. Example of 'medium'. Example of 'large'. |
To change the size of text again, re-highlight the required section and select from the drop down.
Source 
People who are familiar with HTML can select this button to edit the HTML directly. This editor generates XHTML compliant code so caution is advised with 'end tags' because the editor will re-write your HTML.
Selecting the 'Source' button will load a new window showing the HTML of the current article. There are no WYSIWYG buttons to use whilst editing the source of your document.
Selecting the 'OK' button will refresh the Article Editor with any changes made in the HTML code. Formatting of your HTML code will take place automatically when you click 'OK'.
Selecting 'Cancel' will ignore any changes made to the code in this window.
Table 
Tables are used by many sites to provide specific layout for text and images on a page. For example: use a table if you want to have a two-column layout on a page.
| Column 1 | Column 2 |
In this case the table consists of 1 row and 2 columns.
- To create a table click the location in the article where the table will appear.
- Select the
- The image above shows the default settings applied to each table. Modify the rows and columns to suit your needs:
- Rows are horizontal cells where text such as the words 'Column 1' and 'Column 2' are kept.
- Columns are vertical cells.
- Note: These settings can be adjusted at any time by right-clicking inside the table whilst in the article editor.
- Click 'OK' and start entering values.
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Once the table has been constructed, you can right-click with your mouse inside the table to edit information about a cell, a row or the table itself. To merge two cells (joining them together) highlight two cells and right-click on them. A pop-up menu appears (similar to the image on the right) with an option 'Merge Cells'. You can right-click again for the option 'Split Cells' if you need to undo the change. |
Table borders are measured in pixels. If your table's border is set to zero (0), whilst in the Article Editor the table will appear faded out. This is merely to assist in the editing of your article. When the document is saved and inserted onto a page or Masterpage the border will not be visible.
Table alignment determines the location of the table horizontally in your article. From the dropdown list you may select from 'left', 'center' or 'right'. This will not affect the text alignment inside your table.
To determine the text alignment of objects in each table cell see: left align, center, right align or block alignment at the bottom of this page.
Insert Image 
Select this button to add an image to an article. A new window will load showing the Image Properties.
Selecting 'Browse' in this window will load the Image Manager. Search for the location of the required image in this manager. You may also upload images to the Image Manager at this time if the required image does not yet exist. Select the 'Pick' button above the desired image. The image will appear in the preview box of the Image Properties window next to some dummy-text. The location of the image is written in the URL textbox.
Please Note: Images with rollovers will only appear in articles as the original image. The rollover images do not appear when they have been inserted into an article.
You can modify spacing around an image as well as width, height, border size and where it sits in relation to the text, before it is even placed into the page. The dummy-text is included so changes to the image can be previewed in realtime.
If the image you have selected is to act as a link or button, click on the 'Link' tab to define this.
To select a page within your site to link to, click 'Browse'. The 'Page Manager' will load. Click on the ID number of a page to select this as the destination of the link.
If the page you wish to link to is an external link (on another website) you may instead type in the complete URL in the textbox. Remember to include the http:// infront of the URL when linking to an external webpage. The link will by default open in the same window. To open the link in a different window select an option from the dropdown list. For more information on links in articles see Insert Link.
Horizontal Line 
A Horizontal line divides up large areas of content or different sections of content in a page.
Place the cursor where you wish the line to appear and click the button. This line will default to the width of your article.
Insert Link 
Using the Insert/Edit Link command will allow you to create a link or edit a pre-existing link. Before clicking this button highlight some text or an image to place the link on. When you click the button there are three options to choose from. Select one from the 'Link Type' dropdown list to create that kind of hyperlink.
- Hyperlinks generally link to another page in the site, an image, attachment or another website. Click the 'Browse Pages' button in order to create a link to a page within your site. This will open the Page Manager. Clicking on the ID number of a page to set this as the destination of the link.
- If you would like to link to an attachment selecting the 'Browse Attachments' button will open the Attachments Manager. Select the 'Link' button next to an attachment ID number to set that document or file as the destination of your link.
- To make an image the destination of your link select the 'Browse Images' button. The Image Manager will load. Select the 'Pick' button next to the desired image.
- Alternatively, create a link to another website by typing the URL in the text box. Links to external websites must start with http:// or similar.
Some examples of external links are: - http://www.yoursite.com
- https://www.secure.yoursite.com
- ftp://yoursite.com
- When creating an Hyperlink, by default the destination of that link will open in the same window. You are able to change which window or frame a link will open in by selecting the 'Target' tab at the top of the Link properties window. Select the desired option from the dropdown list.
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Select the 'OK' button to create the link in your article. The original text, image or object will now be highlighted or underlined to signify the location of the link. This text/image will become an active link once the article has been saved. Links are not active within the Article Editor.
To change any of the above link settings select the same image or text and click the button. You will be able to view the current settings and alter them as required.
Remove Link 
Highlight some text or an image that currently has a link on it and click this button to remove the link. For example, to change a link from a website to an anchor, first remove the link then create the new link using the button.
Insert Anchor 
Inserting and Editing anchors can be done by clicking on this button. Anchors allow you to define positions on the page where links can jump to. To give users the ability to jump to the top of the article, create an anchor called 'Top'. Position your cursor where you want the anchor to go and click insert anchor.
See Insert Link to create a link to the anchor. Once an anchor has been created inside an article, that anchor name will automatically appear in the 'Select an Anchor By Anchor Name' dropdown list next time you attempt to create a link.
When editing a document in the Article Editor, the location of an Anchor can be identified by the following image:
Numbered List 
Below is an example of a numbered list:
- This is the first option in the list. To begin a list simply select the
- This is the second option in the list.
Hold shift and press enter to make a new line without changing the numbers. - This is the third option in the list
- Click 'tab' in order to indent the numbering
- Hold shift and then click tab to go back to the first level
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To exit the list and resume normal text press enter twice.
If you have created a list and have decided afterwards that it should be a numbered list, highlight the required lines and click the button. Use the same method to remove list numbering.
Bulleted List 
Below is an example of a bulleted list:
- This is the first option in the list
- This is the second option in the list
Hold shift and click enter to make a new line without bullets - This is the third option in the list
- Click 'tab' in order to indent the bullets
- Hold shift and then click tab to go back to the first level
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To exit the list and resume normal text press enter twice.
If you have created a list and have decided afterwards that it should be a bulleted list, highlight the required lines and click the button. Use the same method to remove list bulleting.
Decrease Indent 
If you want to move your text back after increasing an indent then click this button. It will have no effect if you have not increased your indent previously.
Increase Indent 
To add spacing on the left of your text just click this button.
You can see the desired affect when you compare this paragraph to the one below.
This paragraph does not have the indentation increased.
To reverse indentation, use the decrease indentation button.
Text Colour 
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Modify the colour of text by highlighting some text and clicking the Text Colour button. The default colour options are 'websafe' and work on screens with very low colour depths. To enter your own colour click 'More Colours'. |
Background Colour 
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You can modify the colour behind text by highlighting some text and clicking the Background Colour button. The default colour options are 'websafe' and work on screens with very low colour depths. To enter your own colour click 'More Colours'. |
Bold 
Making text bold is a great way to attract attention to important information. Use the bold tool by highlighting some text and clicking the bold button.
Italics 
You can make text emphasised by highlighting some text and clicking the italics button.
Underline 
To underline text, simply highlight the relevant text and click the underline button.
Superscript 
To write dates appropriately highlight the 'st' or 'rd' after the number and click the Superscript button. The result is - 1st or 3rd.
Left Align 
Left aligned text is most common in documents, email and websites. To left align text simply highlight the relevant paragraph and click the Left Align button. You can left align blocks of text, images or the contents of a table.
Center Align 
Center aligned text is useful for addresses, headings or short two or three word sentences. To center align, highlight the relevant paragraph and click the center align button. You can center align blocks of text, images or the contents of a table.
Right Align 
Right aligned text is useful for formatting text for a neater appearance on a page. Using right-aligned text in the article editor is not recommended as it makes using the text elsewhere in the system difficult. Instead use a style on the article when it is inserted on a page to right-align it. To right align text simply highlight the relevant paragraph and click the right align button.
Right alignment looks good for numbers inside table cells.
| Opening Account | $15,000 |
| Closing Account | $1,000 |
Notice that the numbers sit to the right of the table.
Block Align 
Block align is great for large bodies of text such as newspaper articles and prevents a jagged look on right-hand side of the screen. Commonly called 'justify' it will stretch the gaps between words to make the text look more like a block. To block align some text simply highlight the relevant paragraph and click the block align button. NB: Placing manual line-breaks (the enter key) may prevent justify from performing correctly.
This is an example of block aligned text. It should look fairly straight on the right hand side and not jagged.
Special Characters 
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To insert characters that may not be found on your keyboard, first position your text cursor in the article editor in the location where the symbol or special character is to appear. Click the A pop up window will appear showing the available characters. Click on a character or symbol to insert it into your article. |
Find 
The find command will take you to text in your article that matches a search query. To enter the search query click the find button. A pop-up will load requesting a word to search for.
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Click match-case if you require a case-sensitive term. ie 'Apple' will not to find 'apple'. Select the 'Find' button to begin the search. |
Replace 
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This is a search and replace tool that allows you to enter a search term, then replaces that term with the selected replacement word. Click match-case if you require a case-sensitive term. ie "Apple" will not to find "apple". |
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