Article editor
You write an article in Content → Articles → New article. The headline, standfirst and text are on the left; the settings are on the right: publishing, classification, featured image and other options. On a narrow screen the settings move below the text.
To save, you only need a Headline and a Section. An article cannot be saved without a section.
Headline, standfirst and text
- Headline – at most 255 characters. The check below the form warns you when it is longer than 110 characters or written in capitals.
- Lead paragraph – the standfirst, the opening paragraph. It is shown in listings and at the beginning of the article, so do not repeat it in the text. The standfirst has a shortened toolbar.
- Article text – the content itself, with the full toolbar.
Toolbar
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| ¶ | paragraph |
| H2, H3 | subheading and smaller subheading |
| B, I | bold (Ctrl+B) and italics (Ctrl+I) |
| link | inserts or edits a link |
| • list, 1. list | bulleted and numbered list |
| “quote” | quotation |
| image | inserts an image or attachment from Media |
| gallery | inserts a photo gallery |
| table | inserts a 3 × 3 table with a header row |
| — | horizontal rule |
| Tx | removes formatting and the link |
| HTML | switches to the source code and back |
Images, galleries and attachments are covered on the page Images, galleries and attachments.
Links
- Select the text and click link.
- Type the address into the Address field (
https://…or a local one, for example/about-us). You find one of your own articles in the field …or find one of your articles – part of the headline is enough; articles that are not published yet carry the note unpublished. - Tick open in a new window if needed and confirm with the Insert link button.
You edit an existing link the same way: place the cursor inside it and click link. The Remove link button removes it.
Tables
When the cursor is in a table, a second toolbar appears above the text: + row, + column, − row, − column and delete table. The first row is the header. The accessibility check reports a table without a header.
Pasting from Word and from the web
The editor cleans pasted text by itself. Paragraphs, subheadings, lists, links, tables and images stay; foreign styles, fonts and colours disappear. A first-level heading is changed to an H2 subheading.
HTML mode
The HTML button shows the source code of the article. While it is on, the other toolbar buttons do not respond. A second click takes you back to the normal view.
Word count
Below the editor you see the word count and, for the article text, an estimated reading time (200 words per minute).
Autosave of unsaved work
The form you are working on is saved continuously, so that a browser crash or a lost connection does not cost you your work:
- to the browser about 1.5 seconds after the last change – draft saved in your browser at and the time appear below the editor,
- to the server at most once every 15 seconds – draft also saved on the server at. This lets you continue on another device.
This unsaved copy is not a saved article. Nothing changes on the site or in the article list until you click Save.
When you open the form again and a newer unsaved copy exists, a notice with the buttons Restore it and Discard appears above the form. The newer of the two copies is offered. Copies older than 14 days are not offered. Saving the article removes the unsaved copy.
Lock against simultaneous editing
Opening an article locks it for you. The lock lasts three minutes and an open editor extends it every minute. A colleague who opens the article at the same time sees a message that you have it open and that you would overwrite each other's changes by saving. The editor still stays available to them – agree on who will continue. Saving releases the article.
Accessibility check
The Accessibility check panel in the settings column runs while you write and reports:
- an image without a description – you add the description right in the check and confirm it with Enter,
- a subheading that skips a level (H3 without an H2 above it) and an empty subheading,
- a link whose text does not say where it leads (“here”, “more”, a bare address),
- a table without a header,
- an embedded frame without a title,
- a headline that is too long, a headline in capitals and a missing standfirst.
When everything is fine, you see ✓ Images have descriptions; headings and links are fine. The check does not prevent saving.
Saving and preview
- Save – saves and takes you back to the article list.
- Save and continue – saves and stays in the editor.
- Preview – opens the saved article in the site template in a new window. It works for a draft too, but only for people signed in to the administration. It shows the last saved version, not unsaved work. Comments and ratings are not shown in the preview.
Article statuses and scheduled publishing are described on the page Scheduling and revisions.