In This Article


What Is the Text Element?

The text element gives users a variety of ways to format, style, and customize text. Users with content creation permissions can locate the Text Element in the lesson builder under the "Add Element" menu > select "Text".

By default, the text editor adds a double-space between lines, but you can force single-spacing by pressing Shift + Enter at the end of a line (or Shift + Return on a Mac). This is what's known as a line break or soft return.


Text Formatting

The font styles in the text element include bold, italic, and underline.

To format text, highlight it, then select the style you wish to apply from the menu bar.

๐Ÿ’ก Tip: The text element supports keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl + B to toggle boldface or Ctrl + U to underline text.


Text Color and HTML

The best way to choose text and highlight colors is using the wheelhouse of colors that have been provided under the text color option.

When using the wheelhouse provided, both the text color and the background color can be changed to help communicate the content visually to the users.

To remove both the text color and highlight color, first select "Text" or "Highlight" from the menu. Once selected, choose "None" at the bottom of the menu box.

Important Note: When selecting the text or highlight color, the text that is being customized must be highlighted in order for the color to be applied.

To update the color using HMTL modifications, you can find that information here.

However, Lessonly strongly recommends using the wheelhouse of colors provided.


Text Styles

Text styles allow text to be changed in order to fit what the creator is wanting to convey to the user. Styles include:

  • Normal Text

  • Footnote

  • Title

  • Callout

  • Quote

  • Sidenote

  • Code Block

To apply a text style, hover overt the "T" in the menu bar > then select the appropriate text style.

There are two ways to apply the text style:-

  • Apply the text style before writing

  • Highlight the text to be stylized and select the preferred style


Code

The Code style changes the text to a highly readable and visual way to present technical information.

To apply the code style, highlight the text as needed > select "Code"

The code text presents with a faint grey background and grey text.

The user sees the code in red lettering with a red background.


Lists, Indents, and Outdents

There are two types of lists available in the menu bar:

  1. Bulleted or unordered lists

    • like this one, and

  2. Numbered or ordered lists

    1. Like this one.

To create a bulleted or numbered list, hover over the lists icon in the menu bar > select "Bulleted List" or "Numbered List"

Indents and Outdents show differently for both list styles.

Watch the video below to see how both styles change with indents and outdents.

Important Note: The indent and outdent options do not show or are available to select until a list has been made.


Alignment

The align option tells the text box where to place the text.

The "Align Left" text is aligned with the left margin.

The "Align Center" centers the text.

The "Align Right" text is aligned with the left margin.

In a paragraph with "Align Justify" (has been justified) text is aligned with both margins.

To align the text, select the align option from the menu bar > select "Align Left" or "Align Center" or "Align Right" or "Align Justify".

The text within the text box with then automatically be aligned.


Tables

To insert a table, select the table icon from the menu bar > select "Insert Table".

Once a table has been inserted into the text, the other options become available to edit, add or delete portions of the table.


Linking Text

The Link option allows creators to link to external resources for users to access.

To link text, select the link option from the menu bar > select "Insert Link"

A pop-up box will populates where the creator then can insert the third-party source.

Lessonly highly recommends selecting "Open Link in New Tab" so as to allow the user to easily navigate back to Lessonly and complete the lesson.

To edit the linked text select anywhere in the underlined, linked text. A menu appears to edit or unlink the text.

Important Note
The "Open Link in New Tab" is not selected by default. When a user accesses the link, it navigates them away from the current Lessonly page. To prevent this, select the checkbox for the link to open in a new window.


Images

Most of the time, you'll want to use the image element to add images to your learning content: it's a quick and easy way to add visual interest to a lesson. However, it's possible to add images to a text element by editing its HTML. Doing so will allow you to employ style tags to manipulate the position and format of both text and images.

If mucking about with HTML isn't your cup of tea, but you still want text to float or wrap around an image, try these workarounds:

Swap the text element for an image element. Use another program, such as Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, to layout your text and images, then use a screenshot tool to capture an image of the composite. The image below was created in a word processor, for example.

Layer text and image elements together. Adding a text element before or after an image element will give the illusion of text floating directly above or below an image.


Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Can both bulleted lists and numbered lists be in the same text box?

A. Yes, both the bulleted lists and numbered lists can be present in the same text box. A double space must be between them to prevent the previous list switching.

Q. Is it still possible to edit the HTML of the text box?

A. Yes, you can find all the details to edit the HTML in this article.

Q. What if the indent and outdent options are greyed out?

A. To have these options available, you must first create either a bulleted or numbered list.

Q. Do we need to leverage HTML to use our companies color scheme?

A. No, you can you use the Text Color option in the menu bar to use color wheelhouse's wide array of options.


Questions? Contact the Support team at support@lessonly.com

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