WYSIWYG Editor Instruction Manual

These icons are some of those most frequently used:

Justify Left Undo Last Bold View/Edit Source   
Justify Center Redo Last Italic Add Hyperlink Link
Justify Right Remove Formating Underline Add Image From Link or SIG
Justify Full Delete All Strikethrough Add Sound or Video
Font (Fore) Color Style (Fore) Color Insert Table Flash Animation
Background Color    Paste from Word    Edit Table/Cell Spell Check    

 

With Creative-Poems WYSIWYG Editor, you can change just about anything with your poems and add digital items, such as backgrounds and photos, to your work. Here is a brief FAQ on the WYSIWYG Editor.

Please note that the complete set of icons presented here are only available to Premium subscribers and above. The icons available to non-subscribers are intended to provide only basic formatting. For more information, please click here. The WYSIWYG Editor supports recent versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari.

I compose most of my work in Microsoft Word. Can I just paste it in (New)?
Yes! But don't paste it straight into the editor box, instead select the "View/Paste from Word" icon. This will strip out all but the useful codes from your text, interpreting and maintaining all the useful formatting. By the way, before pasting, be sure and place the cursor into the text box you wish to paste into!

What is the "View/Edit Source" icon useful for?
The "View/Edit Source" icon is for those who find a need to view or edit the raw HTML code directly rather than have the WYSIWYG Editor generate it automatically. This is very useful to those understanding HTML. Caution: Use this with great care! Additionally, if you don't see this icon in the toolbar, it means that user-generated HTML is probably not allowed in the editor window.

I goofed and I want to undo some typing and formatting. What can I do about it (New)? The editor provides many levels of undo and redo. Click on the "Undo" or "Redo" icons as often as it takes to get you back where you wish to go.

How do I change my poem's justification?
It's easiest to change your poem's justification after you've typed it in.  You can justify individual paragraphs as you wish, simply by highlighting what you want to change and then click on the appropriate icon for justification you want to use, for example, the "Justify Right" to align the words against the right margin.

How do I add a background color or texture to my poem?
To add a background color or texture to your poem you want to put your poem inside of a table cell and format the background of the table cell. It's easiest to do this before you insert the text, but it is not required. Tables are very handy for providing organization within your poem or profile, so they're often a good place to start. To begin, use your mouse to place your cursor where you wish the table to begin, generally in the upper left of the text box. Do a left click to lock your cursor there. Then Click on "Insert Table".  and select one retangle in the popup panel. This will create a 1x1 table for you and you'll see the borders of it instantly. Place your cursor anywhere in the table and you'll notice that the icon for "Edit Table/Cell will become illuminated".  Click on it and a new window will popup. In the "AutoFit" tab, select "Width: AutoFit to window" and "Height: AutoFit to window". Visually, you'll see the gridlines for the table cell expand automatically. That means your cell is properly setup. Now click on the "Properties" tab in the "Edit Table/Cell" icon. Among the many options there, you'll notice "Background". Select the "Pick" button if you want to choose a background color, or select "Image" if you want to select a texture from our SIGs. Pick the color from the popup panel or select your own colors using the "More Colors..." option. If you want to choose a texture, the Asset Manager popup is there to help you navigate to install the texture you want. When you have made your selection, hit the "ok" button and you'll be back to "Properties". Then select "apply" or "ok" to view the result. Iterate with the settings until you have what you wish to see.

How do I single space my poems?
To single space your lines, all you have to do is press enter (on most browsers). You can add as much white space as you like in this manner. You can also use the "View/Styles and Formatting" icon, to open up or remove extra white space between words and lines. If instead, you hold the "Shift" Key and press enter, you may promote an association between the new line and the last line, leaving them in the same paragraph. This can be rather useful if you apply the "Paragraph" drop-down box to make headings. In this way stanzas can be formatted and spaced separately from individual lines.

How do I change my type font and font size?
You can change your type font and font sizes any time you wish. If you want to set your font and font size before hand, select the font you want to use from the list of supported fonts and also choose what size you want to us for the next character you wish to type. Then, just keep typing. If you want to change the font and font size after you typed the poems, highlight what you want to change and then choose which font and font size you want to use. Click on "Foreground Color" to change the text color, choose the appropriate drop-down menu to select "Font Name" and "Font Size". Additional options are present in the "Styles and Formatting" icon.

Can I just clean everything out and start over (New)? Absoutely. Click on the "Delete All" and answer the confirming question to erase everything in the WYSIWYG box and start from scratch. This very important because it cleans out all text and all HTML. Simply using the keyboard's delete key may not be sufficient to clear out the editor. If you just want to remove all the formatting, click on the "Remove Format" icon.

How do I change my type font color and add a background color to my type fonts?
You can change the font color and add a background color to the font, two different ways. Before you type your poem click on "Foreground Color" then select which color you want to use.  If you want to give the font a back round color then click on "Background Color" and select which color you want.  Type your poems and it will show up using the colors you chose.  If you want to change the colors after you typed your poem , highlight what you want to change and then select the colors you want using the same steps above.

How do I add an image to my poems?
All images are linked using a single toolbar button. Before you begin, recognize two things: First it your responsibility to follow the TOS agreement. You MUST credit the source ALL non-original work. The ONLY EXEPTION extends for any of those items chosen from our SIGS. Second, the image you choose must exist somewhere on the internet. That is, it must be hosted somewhere, either on our site SIGS, or on some other website. To proceed, make sure your cursor is where you want the image to be displayed within the WYSIWYG box. Then click the "Image".  If you want to add images from other web sites and servers, you would simply paste the URL into the "Image Source" field of the pop-up that appears. If instead you want to use an image in our SIGS, click on the "My Files" tab in the left side of the dialog box, click on the SIGS folder, and navigate to the image or texture that you wish to choose. You should see a preview of the image inside of the Image pop-up dialog box to assist you in making your choice. Click on the image to select it, and a list of filenames will appear. Click one and press the "Insert" button in the lower right. Then you should notice notice that the image and link is loaded for you inside the WYSIWYG editor. Notice you can scale the image to whatever size you like by clicking and dragging on a pick points that appear. You can also center it using the usual tool for other object. It is very important that you resize your images to fit your poems nicely.  Over sized images may be removed.

How do I add sound (midi) to my poems?
Sound and video files are handled equivalently with our WYSIWYG editor. Only midi files are allowed  to be used with your poems. Videos may be used exclusively in profiles. If you want to add sound to your poems using a midi file you need to first find the midi you want to use.  Midi's cannot be uploaded to our server, so you must find a site that allows you to use midi's using their server.  (Premium members note: Poem narration using MP3 files is applied using the Browse button below.) It is your responsibility to follow the TOS agreement and credit the source non-original work. Once you found a site that allows the use of midi's on other sites, you need to copy the file's URL location.  These usually start with "http://somesite.com/file.mid". Place your cursor is at the very bottom of your poem and click on the "Media" button. A new window will popup. Enter the complete audio URL into the top field. Note this is designed for audio as well as visual files. For a midi, check the "Auto Start" and "Auto Rewind" boxes, size the width and height of the display box both to 0, and deselect all other boxes. For video, pick a size for the display and choose your options as appropriate. Your midi or video will play after you post your poem.