How to use the rich text editor

Last updated on November 7, 2022 at 9:32 am
Learn how to use the rich text editor available in some fields and rich text content blocks.
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In this guide

↓ What can you do with the rich text editor?

↓ Source Code

What can you do with the rich text editor?

The rich text editor is in some content types as a text field or as a rich text content block. Using the rich text editor tools properly will add the correct HTML markup that meets Section 508 standards.

The rich text field allows you to add limited formatting, including:

A rich text field

Bold and italic

According to the VA Content Style Guide:

  • Bold should only be used in limited situations.
  • Italics shouldn't be used at all.

Don't use bold or italics as the only way to communicate something important, because this doesn't meet Section 508 standards. Drupal CMS does tag these as <strong> or <em> for screen readers, but not all screen readers detect these tags.

Never use bold or italics for headings. Instead, use Format, the heading menu, to select heading levels.

If you must use bold,

  1. Enter the text you want to bold.
  2. Select the text.
  3. Click the bold icon.

Use the link tool only to:

  • Link to an external website URL
  • Link to an internal node that is a stand-alone page (not a health service accordion or a staff profile without a biography page)

The link won't work for links to media (file, video, audio). Media can only be linked to using the Link to file or video content block.

Link to an external URL

  1. Copy the URL of the external website you want to link to.
  2. In the rich text editor, enter the link text then select it.
  3. Click the link icon in the rich text editor menu.
  4. Paste the external website URL into the URL field.
  5. Click Save.

Link to an internal node

  1. In the rich text editor, enter the link text then select it.
  2. Click the link icon in the rich text editor menu.
  3. In the URL field, start to enter the name of the node you want to link to.
  4. In the list of matching nodes, find and click on the node you want (verify the content type and section as nodes may have duplicate names).
  5. Click Save.

Bulleted or numbered list

Use the rich text tools to properly tag your lists for Section 508 standards. Don't use other characters for bullets.

Follow the VA Content Style Guide for bulleted lists. Use a numbered list when the order of items is important, such as step-by-step instructions.

  1. Click the bulleted or numbered list icon.
  2. Enter each line in the list and hit Enter (Return) at the end of the line.
  3. When you're done, click the icon to unselect the list icon.

Horizontal rule

A horizontal rule inserts a line to separate sections. This is a visual-only element and screen readers won't detect it.

  1. Click the horizontal rule icon to insert a line after a section of text.
  2. Enter the next section of text.

Blockquote

Use a blockquote when you are quoting someone, and the quote is longer than four lines.

  1. Enter the quote text.
  2. Select the quote text.
  3. Click the blockquote icon.

Heading

Follow the VA Content Style Guide for headings. Use Format, the heading menu, to meet Section 508 standards. Headings must be in order, so don't skip from heading 3 to heading 5, for example.

  1. Enter the heading text.
  2. Select the heading text.
  3. Click Format, and select the heading level.

Address block

Use the address block to format an address according to VA Content Style Guidelines.

  1. Click the Styles and select Address Block.
  2. Enter the address. Use a line break (SHIFT + ENTER) for multiple lines in the same address block.

Source Code

The rich text editor also allows editors who are familiar with HTML to edit some source code. You will only be able to use the Source code to edit the options above. If you edit the source code, click Source again after making your edit to review and verify your changes.

To edit the source code:

  1. Click the Source icon.
  2. Edit the code.
  3. Click the Source icon again to review your changes.

Copy/Paste

It is not recommended that you copy and paste text into the rich text editor from other sources, for example emails, word documents or even other text editors. When text is copy/pasted, additional formatting, IDs or spaces can be carried over and cause unintentional formatting and accessibility issues within your content.

If you do paste text into the rich text editor, it is always best to use the source code view to confirm that no extra IDs, links without any text, or any safe links (these usually come from VA.gov email) have been pasted into the content.

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