Difference between revisions of "HTML Editing Area Version 2"

Revision as of 14:44, 3 March 2015

1 Overview

bxp software (bxp) has a few areas throughout the system where rich text areas appear. A rich text area can be found in Communications Centre, eCourse Management and the Information Centre modules. Rich text areas are used to turn normal text areas into a neat Microsoft Office style editor that allows a user to create custom HTML without any coding knowledge. This can be useful when creating emails or newsletters among other things. Rich text areas can make normal text and images look more visually attractive (bold, italics, fonts, alignment etc.). A HTML editing tool is built into bxp using the TinyMCE plugin. This plugin converts a HTML text area into an advanced rich text area.

If you prefer to write your own rich text html using your favourite HTML editing tools (Dreamweaver, Notepad++, etc.), you can easily drop your code into the editor by going to Tools >> Source Code. Alternately the tool below creates the HTML for you.

2 Use

The editor allows the user to create, edit and preview the created HTML content.

There are three rows of options that will allow you to create valid HTML without any coding experience.

2.1 Row 1

File

New Document - The new document feature will wipe all work in the box and allow you start fresh.

Edit

The edit option has options for edit, copy, paste, select all, undo and redo.

Insert

Insert Link - Allows the user to insert a link to a web page.

A url must be specified. This will be the page the link is redirecting to.

The text to display, i.e. this is what the user will see and can be clickable.

A title can be given to a link if needed, but is not required.

Target is used to specify if the link will open a new window or stay in the current window. By default it is set to none.

Insert Image - Allows the user to insert an image into the content.

Each image requires a source. A source is the location where the image resides, i.e. http://geekmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Microsoft-Logo1.gif

An image description is not required but can be useful, as sometimes images get moved on the web.

The dimensions will be read in from the image but can be changed if needed. They can be constrained so that the image doesn't get stretched. However, this can be unticked if needed.

View

The view option allows a user to preview their work at any stage during the HTML creation.

Format

The format option is very like what Microsoft Word offers.

It allows you to change the text with various options.

• Bold - Makes text bold
• Italic - Makes text italic
• Underline - Underlines text
• Strikethrough - Puts a line through text
• Superscript - Puts small text above the word i.e. like a date 25th, the th appears small
• Subscript - Puts small text below the word.
• Formats - Allows the user to set the heading size, alignment, create new paragraphs etc.
• Clear formatting - Clears all formatting

Table

Tables can be created which are useful for grouping text together.

Insert Table - You can select the table size by hovering over insert table and clicking on the number of boxes you want to create.

Once a table is created the table can be stretched by clicking on one of the corners of the table and dragging it to where you need it to be.

There are a range of other options in here that will allow you to heavily customise the table as needed.

• Table properties - Allows you to set the width, height, cell spacing/padding, the border and alignment.
• Delete table - Will delete the table selected.
• Cell - Allows you to set the properties of a cell. This also allows merging and splitting of cells.
• Row - Allows you to inset, delete, cut, copy and paste a row. It also allows you to change the rows properties.
• Column - The same as row but in regards to table columns.

Tools

Tools have one option called source code.

Source code can be used by more advanced users who would prefer to build the HTML from scratch.

2.2 Row 2

The second row lists button shortcuts for most functions already available through row 1.

The following options are available in order from left to right:

• Undo - Undo the last piece of work
• Redo - Redo the last piece of work
• Formats - See Formats section above.
• Bold - Make select text bold
• Italic - Italicize selected text.
• Font Family - Select the a web safe font to use.
• Font Size - Select a font size.
• Bullet List - Create a list.
• Number List - Create a numbered list.
• Indent Left - Indents text left.
• Indent Right - Indents text right.
• Align Left - Aligns text left.
• Align Centre - Centre aligns text
• Align Right - Aligns text right.
• Justify - Justifies text.
• Insert Link - Inserts a link.
• Insert Image - Inserts an image.
• Insert Emoticons - Inserts an emoticons, please note these are not always supported in emails or in some browsers.
• Text Colour - Changes the text colour.
• Background Colour - Changes the background colour.

2.3 Row 3

The third row lists two buttons.

The first button pops up a window which will show you a preview of the work so far.

The second button allows you to preview the HTML code, and also change it if needed.

3 Tiny MCE - Javascript HTML WYSIWYG editor

TinyMCE is a platform independent web based Javascript HTML WYSIWYG editor control released as Open Source under LGPL.

bxp software has integrated this software into our solution.

The plugin has a vast array of options. We have incorporated the best of these options for you but should you want to learn more of what is available please visit the below link.

http://www.tinymce.com/