ActivEdit WYSIWYG HTML Editor


The ActivEdit WYSIWYG HTML editor allows you to easily format your text, create tables and links and much more. To learn how to use this, go to the ActivEdit Tutorials. This tutorial will teach you step-by-step how to use the editor.

In order to be able to utilize the ActivEdit editor, you must have all of the following: To enable ActiveX controls, open your Internet Explorer browser and click on "Tools" at the top. Go to "Internet Options" and then click on the "Security" tab. Click on "Custom Level" and scroll down the displayed list. Make sure your settings are as follows: To make sure your cookies are enabled, open your Internet Explorer browser and click on "Tools" at the top. Go to "Internet Options" and then click on the "Privacy" tab. Make sure that your privacy level is set at "low" so that all cookies are accepted. Note: If you are uncomfortable with that setting, you can retain your current setting and add this site. Just follow the above steps and, instead of setting privacy at "low," go into "edit" at the bottom right of the screen and add this site so that your settings are overridden for this one site.

Check out the following sections for additional information and tips on how to use the ActivEdit editor: Standard Formatting
Standard formatting includes changing the size or color of the text, making it bold or italic, underlining, indenting, aligning it to the right or left, adding bullets, etc. The toolbar at the top of the ActivEdit editor has buttons for these actions, much as a word processing or spreadsheet program does. In general, simply click on the desired action and the formatting starts (the button will be depressed). Type your text and then, to turn the formatting off, click the same button again.

To change the font, style or color of the text, click on the button that has a "T" and a colored square right by it (on the toolbar at the top of the ActivEdit editor) and select your options. Additionally, there are 2 other ways to change the size of text by using that same toolbar:
  1. Click on the box that says "normal" and select a different heading (sizes are as shown).
  2. Click on the box that says "10" and select a size other than 10 (the cursor will correspondingly increase or decrease in size). Note: The advantage to using this last option is that it will also let you change the style and color of the text at the same time.
Standard Functions
Standard functions also have buttons on the toolbar at the top of the ActivEdit editor. These functions include cut/copy/paste, undo/redo, find and insert hyperlink and special characters. These functions work the same here as they are in most other programs--click the "paste" button to paste the latest item copied to the clipboard, click the "undo" button to undo the last action performed, etc.

Inserting a hyperlink or special characters may be a little different from what you're normally used to. Again, you will find that these functions have been made very easy to use. To insert a hyperlink, follow these steps: To insert a special character, simply click on that button and a window will pop up that has special characters to choose from. Select and click on the character you want, and it will be inserted.

Insert Tables
You can insert a table two ways. One is by clicking on the button on the toolbar at the top of the ActivEdit editor. A screen will pop up, and this is where you will determine how large your table will be. You will need to decide how many rows and columns you would like, and then decide the colors of the text, border and background and the width of the border. When you have selected what you wish, click "insert table."

The second way to insert a table is by using ActivEdit's pull down table builder (only available on Internet Explorer 5.0 and up) by clicking the small arrow to the right of the table button. Highlight the number of rows and columns you would like shown by dragging your mouse down and to the right. No table formatting will be applied, but the table can be edited by right-clicking in the table (see Edit Tables; available only on Internet Explorer 5.0 and up).

Edit Tables
Editing the table will help make it look even more professional. When the table is inserted into your message, it will be small and you will likely want to enlarge it. You can do this through the "click and drag" method you use to enlarge any text box by following the steps below: To edit table properties, position the cursor somewhere inside the table and then right click with the mouse and select "edit table." A window will pop up that will show the cell properties, such as cell width, length, font characteristics, etc. Change what you wish and then click "Apply" at the bottom of this window.

To change row or table properties, simply click "row" or "table" at the bottom of the popup window. Then change what you'd like and click "Apply" at the bottom of the window. Note: when changing table properties, you can see additional properties by clicking on "More Options" near the bottom right corner of the popup window.

Insert Images
This is probably the best feature offered by the ActivEdit WYSIWYG HTML editor. It allows you to insert any image you want into the text of your message. You can access it by clicking on the yellow button (with a miniature "picture" on it) on the toolbar at the top of the ActivEdit editor.

A dialog box will come up once you access "Insert Images" that has 2 sections to it: the main one is on the left and the images you have available are on the right.

The main part of the screen offers 5 features:
  1. Image Preview
  2. Image Selection
  3. Subfolders
  4. New Image
  5. Formatting Options
"Image preview" allows you to see the currently selected image and shows what will be inserted when you click on "Insert Image." "Image selection" allows you to select the image you want. When you click on "Subfolders," you can go to the specific folder where you have the image you want to use.

"New image" allows you to find a picture on your hard drive and upload it so that you can insert it. When you click on this link, a dialog box opens that allows you to browse for the picture and then select it to upload. You can click on "preview image" to see what it looks like or to make sure it's the right picture. When you are ready, simply click "upload" at the bottom of the dialog box to upload it.

The "formatting options" are found near the bottom of the dialog box. You can specify the border around your image, determine the image alignment and set the "alt text" that you want. (The alt text is what your leads will see when they hold their mouse over the picture.)

When you have your image as you want it displayed, click "insert image" at the bottom left of the dialog box.

Shortcut Keys
Shortcut keys are a great way to save time. Instead of clicking an icon on a toolbar and then selecting your action from the options, you can press certain keys (usually two at a time) and do the task right away. For instance, to copy a selection to the clipboard, press the "ctrl" key and the "c" on the keyboard. For a complete list of keyboard shortcuts, see Keyboard Shortcuts.

HTML Mode
HTML mode, as mentioned before, is for advanced users. By clicking on this tab (found on the bottom left of the ActivEdit editor screen), you can edit or create message using HTML code. This will make it much easier for those who want additional effects not available on the normal view.