The WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor that is available to edit web pages on your website as well as in other places in your services, gives you a familiar word-processing style interface to use when editing articles and other content. You do not need to learn HTML or CSS. We can also help you with advice and guidance on either of those if you have questions. Below is the editor you see.

Where do I find it?

The WYSIWYG editor opens when you click Edit for a web page, add an animal, create an email marketing campaign, news articles, and in any other place where you create content.

Watch a video about editing

We've also prepared a video about the use of the editor:

On this page:

Related pages:

The WYSIWYG editor is similar to other word processing style editors. To understand each of the icons on the menu, hover your cursor over them and the name displays.

Let's take a look at each of the functions and how they can help you to create your content. Note that the icons are grouped, five groups on the first line; eight on the second, and two on the third.

The first group are these and are described below from left to right.

NameDescription
SourceThis Source button allows you to switch to the HTML code view of the content you are adding.
PreviewThe Preview button looks like a magnifying glass on paper and allows you to preview the section where you are working.
TemplatesThe Templates button looks like a sheet of paper and opens the available templates you can use on the page.
Code SnippetsThe Code Snippets blue paw print button opens a list of built-in and custom code snippets you can insert on the page.

The next group of icons, described again from left to right are below. These buttons specialize in manipulating the text.

NameDescription
CutThe Cut button looks like scissors and cuts text from the page and allows you to either paste it elsewhere or discard it. To use, highlight a specific portion of text, click the scissors and it will cut the highlighted text.
CopyThe Copy button looks like two sheets of paper and lets you copy highlighted text to use elsewhere.
PasteThe Paste button looks like a clipboard (the first clipboard) and is used to paste copied or cut text where you have put your cursor.
Paste as plain textThe Paste as plain text button looks like a clipboard with a blue notebook on it and it removes any formatting that may have been included with the copied text you are pasting. We recommend that if you copy and paste from another source, you use this button to remove formatting, then reapply formatting from the editor.
Paste from WordThe Paste from Word button looks like a clipboard with the letter W on it and lets you paste text you've copied from a Word document, retaining as much of the Word formatting as possible.
PrintThe Print button looks like a printer and allows you to print the information in the WYSIWYG field in which you are working.

The next group of icons described from left to right are below.

NameDescription
UndoThe Undo button is the left-pointing arrow and allows you to undo the change you just made.
RedoThe Redo button is the right-pointing arrow and lets you redo the change you just undid.
Find

The Find button looks like binoculars and allows you to type a search word or phrase into the field and find that text in the section you are editing. The popup box has two tabs, Find and Replace. The first simply finds the instances of that text, the second allows you to locate the text and replace it with new text. There are options for the search, shown below. The X in the upper right corner closes the popup box.

Select allThe Select all button looks like a blue square over a sheet of paper and lets you select everything within the editor. When you tap this button, you'll notice that the text in the editor is highlighted. It remains highlighted until you perform another action, allowing you to use one of the text manipulation buttons, such as copy.
Remove formatThe Remove format button looks like an eraser and when you highlight text, press the button, it then removes any formatting you had applied to that text.

The next group is a small group of three icons, from left to right below. These buttons all have to do with linking content into your page.

NameDescription
Link

The Link button looks like a chain over a blue circle, and it allows you to use a hyperlink to link content to the text you have highlighted.

To use this button:

  1. From the popup box that opens, select the link type:

    • URL links to other content and can link to files you have uploaded to your account, or to your saved links. A list opens when you tap the down arrow to the right of Link List.
    • An anchor in the text requires that you have already inserted an anchor near the text to which you want to link. This text can be on the page itself, or on another page. If you want to link to an anchor in another page, you may want to fill out a support ticket if you don't fully understand the concept.
    • Email is self-explanatory. Select this to type in an email address that visitors can click to send an email. You can type the word adoptions information for instance, and have that link to an email address specifically for inquiries about adoptions. To use this feature, type the email address to which you want to direct mail, a subject line you want to appear in all emails, such as Adoption inquiry, and if you want a "canned" email to be sent, such as I'm interested in adopting one of your adoptable animals. Please send me more information about the process, then type the message in the Message Body section.

Unlink

The Unlink button looks like the link button but is faded in color, and it removes a link from a highlighted section of text.

AnchorThe Anchor button looks like a flag, and it inserts an anchor, or a sort of internal (just to this page) bookmark, to which you can link other content. When used, you can insert an anchor for instance, named fee and then in another section of the page, when talking about adoption processes, you can insert a link when talking about the adoption fee. The name of the anchor is not visible to the reader.

The last group of icons on the top row is long, and they are described below, left to right.

NameDescription
Image

The Image button looks like a picture and allows you to insert an image into your web page. When you tap the button, a popup box opens:

  • The URL is filled in automatically when you select one of the images in your previously uploaded images. To do so, click down arrow to the right of the field for the Image List. You can also type in the URL of the image you want to insert.
  • Alternative text is text which is read by applications that read web content to the visually impaired. When hovering over the image, you can see the Alternative Text. When using this field, make the content short, but descriptive of the image, such as, "Dog with bone in mouth."

    Alternate text is also used by search engines to help them to find your webpage. For instance, if you don't fill it in, rather than RescueGroups.org logo, for instance, it would display "blank."

  • Use the Width, Height, Border, HSpace, VSpace (horizontal and vertical), Alignment fields to adjust the image that you see in the Preview box until it looks as you want it to look.
  • The Alignment field simply aligns the image to the left or right on the page.

Flash

The Flash button allows you to insert Flash animation. If you are familiar with Flash animation and want to insert one into your web page, use the tabs and fields to define how it is aligned, how large the image is, the background color, and more.

Table

The Table button, which looks like a text table, allows you to insert a table easily. Define the table using the fields provided:

  • Select the number of rows and columns and whether you want the first or first and second rows in bold face text as a header, and whether the first column should be treated as a header as well. In this table, for instance, the first row and the first column are treated as headers.
  • Select the alignment, left, right, or center.
  • Enter a caption, if desired, to act as a title for the table (it appears above the table), and a summary, if desired, which is also a description.
Horizontal LineThe next button looks like a horizontal line, and is the Horizontal Line button, which inserts a horizontal line where your cursor is placed. It runs across the web page.
Smiley

The Smiley button, which does look like a smiling emoticon, opens to a menu of smileys which you can select to include in your web page where your cursor is located.

Special Characters

The Special Characters button (an Omega symbol) inserts your selection from a list of special characters such as a copyright symbol, trademark symbol, and so forth.

Insert page break for printingThis button looks like portions of two documents separated by a space. This simply inserts a page break to make printing the information by page easier.
IFrameThe IFrame button is a blue and gray circle at the far right of this group. It is an HTML element that allows an external web page to be embedded in an HTML document. If you think you need this and are unfamiliar with how it works, open a support ticket so we can help you.

The first group of icons on the second row of the WYSIWYG editor have to do with how your text looks and are described left to right.

NameDescription
BoldThe Bold button makes your highlighted text bold, or tap the button prior to typing text that you want bolded. Tap it again when you are finished typing the bolded section.
ItalicThe Italic button acts in the same way as the Bold button. Tap it to make a highlighted selection appear in italics, or tap it to begin italicized text, and again to end the italicized section.
UnderlineAs with the last two buttons, the Underline button can be used to underline a highlighted section of text, or can be tapped prior to typing an underlined section, and again when the underlined section is complete.
Strike ThroughThe Strike Through button is used to highlight or type a section of text which is crossed through. You may want to use this to highlight something you do not want the visitor to type in a field or application, for instance.
SubscriptThe Subscript button makes the highlighted or typed text a subscript.
SuperscriptThe Superscript button makes the highlighted or typed text superscript.

The next group of icons has to do with formatting your text.

NameDescription
Insert/Remove Numbered ListThis button begins a numbered list, and as you type and hit Enter, each line will begin with a number. Tapping it again will end the numbered list. You can also highlight a numbered list and tap the button to remove the numbered list formatting.
Insert/Remove Bulleted ListThis button allows you to make a list using dots to begin each line. It acts as did the numbered list button. Tapping it before you type begins the bulleted list, and tapping it again ends it. Highlighting a list removes the bulleting format.
Decrease IndentThe Decrease Indent has an arrow pointing to the left, and will decrease the indentation of a line.
Increase IndentThe Increase Indent button has an arrow pointing to the right and will indent a line.
Block QuoteTapping the Block Quote button, which looks like a quotation mark, begins formatting the text you type into a formatted quotation block indented from the rest of the text. Highlighting text and tapping the button applies that formatting to the highlighted text, and tapping it again removes the formatting.
Create Div ContainerThis button is used by web developers to group together HTML elements.

The next set of icons to the right on the second line have to do with justifying your content, left, right, or center, or full justified. All of these buttons can be used before typing a section, or you can justify the entire web page.

NameDescription
Align LeftThe button shows text that is aligned to the left, meaning every new line is aligned with the lines above and below it to the left. This is the most common form of justifying text.
CenterThe Center justify button centers your text.
Align RightTap this button to align your typing or a highlighted section to the right.
JustifyThe Justify button applies what is called full justify to the text, which might make the last line of text in a paragraph considerably shorter than the other lines.

The next set of icons have to do with the direction of your text and their names are self-explanatory.

NameDescription
Text direction from left to rightThis button makes the text go from left to right.
Text direction from right to leftThis button makes the text go from left to right.

We've grouped the next few selections into one table as follows. All of them have to do with your text font and how it is displayed.

NameDescription
Formatting StylesThe drop-down menu accessed by tapping the Styles button allows you to use pre-set styles, such as computer text, for your text selection.
Paragraph FormatThe drop-down menu accessed by tapping the Format button allows you to define the heading style for your selection, from Heading 1 through 5.
Font NameThe Font Name drop-down menu (identified by the font name Arial in the screen shot above) applies a particular font to your selected text. If you select the entire webpage, the font is applied to the whole page. If you tap it at the beginning of a selection, your typing will be in that font.
Font SizeThe Size button enables you to select the font size for your selection - or you can tap it before you type to apply the size to the content you are typing.

The first set of icons on the last row of the editor have to do with color. There are two.

NameDescription
Text Color

Highlight text, or tap before typing to select a color for your text. When done with the text you want in that color, tap the button again. This button opens a menu of all available colors, or tap the More Colors button at the bottom of the menu to select another color from the color bars. Just tap in the color bars where you see the color you want, preview it in the Selected Color field, and click OK to save it. Here is an example of making one word in a phrase a different color for emphasis.

Background Color

This button works in the same way the Text Color button does. Tapping it opens the same menu of colors, and tapping More Colors allows you to select a custom color from the color bars. This background color applies only to the highlighted text, or the text you are about to type. Tapping it again after you have typed the text you want in that color stops the color from being applied. Here is an example of applying a background color to one word for emphasis.

The final set of icons include a link to get help about the editor.

NameDescription
MaximizeThis button looks like a blue highlighted page with arrows on each side. Tap this button and the editor you are working in takes up the full screen. Your editing menu is still at the top. Tap the Maximize button again to return to normal view.
Show BlocksThis button looks like a magnifying glass over a page. It reveals blocks of text formatted in the same way. Tapping it again removes the boxes around the blocks of text.
About CKEditorThe button that looks like a paper with a question mark opens the help menu and links to the user guide for this editing program.

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