Knowledge Base: Using the KB Editor Toolbars

Summary

This article provides information about the toolbars in the TeamDynamix (TDx) Knowledge Base (KB) Editor.  This article is intended for KB editors.

 

Content

Top Toolbar buttons - left to right

Top toolbar in TDx KB Editor

  1. Source button toggles display of the underlying HTML version of the Body content of the article.  Press Source again to return to the normal view.
  2. New Page button erases all Body content and gives a new, blank page in the Body area.
  3. Print button opens the browser Print dialog to print the contents of only the Body area.
     
  4. Find button opens the Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog.  Find searches for specified text within the Body area content.  Has options to Match case, Match whole word, or Match cyclic (defaults to on).
  5. Replace button opens the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog.  Searches for specified find text within the Body area content then Replaces with other specified text.  Has button to Replace All, and find options to Match case, Match whole word, or Match cyclic (defaults to on).
  6. Select All button highlights all text in the Body area.
     
  7. Table button opens the Table Properties dialog.  Specify number of rows, number of columns, header rows or columns, or add a caption.  There are check boxes to Add stripes, Add hover effect, Add borders, or for a Compact style table.
    • [Coming soon: a separate article on working with Tables]
  8. Insert Horizontal Line button adds a line across the entire Body area at the cursor location.
  9. Smiley button allows adding an emoji from a limited selection at the cursor location.
  10. Insert Special Character button has 210 special characters to choose from and insert at the cursor location.
  11. Insert Page Break for Printing button inserts an invisible page break at the cursor location.
     
  12. Templates drop down opens a list of published KB Templates.  If you select a template, its contents will be inserted at the cursor location.  See Sample articles using KB templates.

 

Middle Toolbar buttons - left to right

Middle toolbar in TDx KB Editor

  1. Styles drop down opens a list of pre-formatted Block Styles.  Highlight the text first, then select the desired Style from the drop down and it will be applied to the highlighted text.  Note that there is not an option to return to plain text, but the undo or remove format buttons in the bottom toolbar may help.
  2. Format drop down opens a list of Paragraph Format options.  There is an option to return to normal format if you change your mind. This is where to find Heading 2 - Heading 6.  Do not use Heading 1 as that is the font used behind the scenes for the KB article title.
  3. Font drop down opens a list of optional font names.  Use with care as you may have unexpected results when using anything other than the default font.
  4. Size drop down opens a list of optional font sizes.  Use with care as you may have unexpected results when using anything other than the default font size.  In particular, if you specify a size, that size will overrule any Heading Format options you may have selected.
     
  5. Text Color drop down opens a color picker.  Highlight the text first, then select the desired text color.  Choose Automatic to return to the default text color.
  6. Background Color drop down opens a color picker.  Highlight the text first, then select the desired background color.  Choose Automatic to return to the default background color.
     
  7. Maximize (Minimize) button toggles between having the Body area fill your browser window (maximized) or as a window within the article page (minimized).  When minimized, you can drag the lower right corner of the Body window to adjust the size.  The KB editor defaults to Minimized.
  8. Show Blocks button toggles between showing or hiding the HTML "blocks" present in the Body area.
     
  9. Image button opens the Image Properties dialog. 
    • Use the Upload tab to upload a full-scale image. 
    • Remember to add meaningful Alternative Text. 
    • Use the lock icon to preserve aspect ratio.  Width 300 works on mobile phone in portrait mode, width 700 is the maximum that we should use. 
    • Add Border size 1.
    • See full guidelines in the Style Guide section on Images.
  10. Link button opens the Link dialog. 
    1. To link to a web page (URL):
      • Paste the URL into the URL field.  Be sure the Protocol changes to https:// instead of the default http:// (no "s"), or change it manually if necessary.
      • If you highlighted text first, that text appears in the Display Text box.  Otherwise, type in the the display text you want.
      • On the Target tab, choose New Window (_blank) from the Target drop down.
    2. To link to another section within the same article:
      • First, create named Anchor link(s) (see #12 below) to mark where you want someone to be able to jump to.
      • Then, in the place where you want them to jump from, use the Link dialog and change the Link Type from URL to Link to anchor in the text.
      • If you highlighted text first, that text appears in the Display Text box.  Otherwise, type in the the display text you want.
      • In the Select an Anchor area, you should see all the Anchor Names you have created in this article.  Choose the same option under both By Anchor Name and By Element Id, then click OK.
  11. Unlink button removes an existing hyperlink and leaves the display text visible.
  12. Anchor button opens a dialog.  Type an Anchor Name (no spaces allowed, must be unique within this article) to assign an anchor at the cursor location.  Works best if you place the anchor a line or two above where you want someone to land.
  13. Insert Font Awesome button opens a dialog.  Find the font awesome icon you want.  Select it and click OK to insert it at the cursor location.
  14. Embed YouTube Video button opens a dialog to either paste a YouTube Embed Code or Video URL with specified width and height.  Options to fit to width, show suggested videos at the end, enable privacy-enhanced mode, autoplay, and start at a specified time in the video.
    • [Coming soon: a separate article on how to embed Kaltura or Vimeo videos]

 

Bottom Toolbar buttons - left to right

Bottom toolbar in TDx KB Editor before clicking into the body area.Bottom toolbar in TDx KB Editor after clicking into the body area.  Left Align is highlighted. Undo is available after any changes have been made.

  • Upper image - Bottom toolbar in TDx KB Editor before clicking into the body area.
  • Lower image - Bottom toolbar in TDx KB Editor after clicking into the body area.  Left Align is highlighted. Undo is available after any changes have been made.

The first six buttons are toggle buttons that apply or remove font styles to selected or upcoming text.  These buttons appear highlighted when the style is applied.  Press button again to turn off that style.  Common keyboard shortcuts for these styles may also work to toggle font styles on or off.

  1. Bold button applies or removes the Bold style to selected or upcoming text.  
  2. Italic button applies or removes the Italic style to selected or upcoming text. 
  3. Underline button applies or removes the Underline style to selected or upcoming text. 
  4. Strikethrough button applies or removes the Strikethrough style to selected or upcoming text.
  5. Subscript button applies or removes the Subscript style to selected or upcoming text.
  6. Superscript button applies or removes the Superscript style to selected or upcoming text.
  7. Remove Format button removes all font styles from the selected text.
     
  8. Align Left button sets text to left justified.  Preferred justification and the default for TDx KB articles.
  9. Center button sets text to center justified.  Avoid if possible.  Can be hard to read on different sized screens or mobile devices.
  10. Align Right button sets text to right justified. Use sparingly, if at all.  Can be hard to read on different sized screens or mobile devices.
  11. Justified button sets text to full justification, which means both left and right justified at the same time, with extra space added between words and/or letters to force the sides of the text into vertical alignment.  Can look strange, depending on the specific words and width of the display page.  Use sparingly, if at all.
  12. Insert/Remove Numbered List button applies or removes the Numbered List property.
  13. Insert/Remove Bulleted List button applies or removes the Bulleted List property.
    1. Indenting a line in a list creates a sub-list of the same type.  Decreasing the indent returns to the original list level.
    2. The type of an indented list can be changed using the Numbered List or Bulleted List buttons.
    3. [Coming soon: a separate article on Working with Numbered & Bulleted Lists]
  14. Decrease Indent button moves text to the left by one indent level.  Pressing the Shift-Tab key, at the beginning of the line, may have the same effect. 
  15. Increase Indent button moves text to the right by one indent level.  Pressing the Tab key, at the beginning of the line, may have the same effect.
  16. Block Quote button applies or removes the blockquote style HTML tag to text.
    • In article Edit Mode, the Block Quote appears all in italics, but it will appear in straight font once it's saved and seen in Viewing Mode. 
    • You can add italics or bold or other formatting to the text in the block quote, you just won't be able to see the italics while editing the article.
    • When saved, block quotes appear about the same size as the H4 Heading style, so significantly larger than the normal text.

      KB Editor Block Quote style in Article Edit Mode.

      KB Editor Block Quote style in Article View Mode.

       
  17. Cut button cuts the selected text and stores it in the clipboard.  Same as using the normal Cut keyboard shortcut (e.g. Ctrl+X on Windows or Command+X on macOS).
  18. Copy button copies the selected text and stores it in the clipboard.  Same as using the normal Copy keyboard shortcut (e.g. Ctrl+C on Windows or Command+C on macOS).
  19. Paste button opens the editor's Paste dialog box.  Use the paste key (Ctrl/Cmd+V) to insert the contents of the clipboard into the dialog box, then click OK.  This will paste the clipboard contents into the article at the cursor's location, keeping text formatting as much as possible.  Same as using the normal Paste keyboard shortcut (e.g. Ctrl+V on Windows or Command+V on macOS).
  20. Paste as plain text button opens the editor's Paste as Plain Text dialog box.  Use the paste key (Ctrl/Cmd+V) to insert the contents of the clipboard into the dialog box, then click OK.  This will paste the clipboard contents into the article at the cursor's location, removing text formatting.  Same as using the normal Paste as Plain Text keyboard shortcut (e.g. Shift+Ctrl+V on Windows or Shift+Command+V on macOS).
  21. Paste from Word button opens the editor's Paste from Word dialog box.  Use the paste key (Ctrl/Cmd+V) to insert the contents of the clipboard into the dialog box, then click OK.  This will paste the clipboard contents into the article at the cursor's location, retaining relevant formatting, images, and links from Microsoft Word.  There is no keyboard equivalent. This is the way you should always paste content from Microsoft Word.
    • If you use the ordinary Paste options, many hidden codes from Microsoft are also pasted that can make it very difficult to get that content to display as desired in the TDx KB.  This button is the TDx solution to the problem of pasting content from MS Word.
  22. Undo button undoes the last edit.  Same as the normal Undo keyboard shortcut (e.g. Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on macOS).  The Undo button works pretty well overall, but not 100% of the time.
    • Sometimes the Undo button will not seem to work.  In those cases, pressing Ctrl/Cmd+Z several times may succeed in undoing the last edit(s).
    • Other times, the Undo button will undo many, many edits all at once.  If that happens it cannot be reversed; the only solution is to re-do the work.
  23. Redo button re-does the last undone edit.  Same as the normal Redo keyboard shortcut (e.g. Ctrl+Y on Windows or Shift+Command+Z on macOS). The Redo button works pretty well overall, but not 100% of the time.  If the Redo button does not seem to work, pressing Ctrl+Y/Shift+Cmd+Z several times may succeed in re-doing the last edit(s).

 

Further Readings

Knowledge Base: KB Style Guide Checklist

Sample articles using KB templates

Microsoft Support - Keyboard shortcuts in Windows 

Apple Support - Mac keyboard shortcuts 

 

Need additional help?

If you need further assistance, see TeamDynamix: Need Help?

 

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