Why am I having trouble formatting my content in the WYSIWYG?

The number one cause of formatting problems in the WYSIWYG editor is pasting content directly from Microsoft Word. WHAT?? Let me explain:

When you edit your text in a Microsoft Word document, it inserts all kind of "hidden code" which may look something like this:

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="color: #888888;"><span><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #fb4303;"><span style="font-size: small; color: #888888;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">

That hidden code is what makes your text and formatting look all pretty and exactly as it's supposed to... in Microsoft Word. But if you copy and paste that text from your Word document to the WYSIWYG, all of that hidden code is copied over as well. However, the WYSIWYG already uses its own HTML code to format your content. So not only is the Microsoft Word code unnecessary, but it can actually cause problems within the WYSIWYG. These problems can range from causing the wrong font to show, to adding blank spaces you can't delete or remove, to even causing the page to not load properly.

So what can you do to prevent this from happening? Never fear, there's a simple solution already built into the WYSIWYG. Whenever you want to copy and paste content from Microsoft Word into the WYSIWYG, you should always use the paste from Word tool. It's located on the WYSIWYG toolbar, second row of buttons, second button from the left, and looks like a clipboard with a W:

Click that button, and then copy your content into the text box. When you hit the green insert button, it will insert the text, with all the hidden code stripped from it. You may need to go back and add any bold, italics, or other formatting using the WYSIWYG. We recommend you always format your content within the WYSIWYG. However, even if you haven't formatted your text at all, it is still always best to use the paste from Word tool to minimize the chances of including any hidden code within your page.

NOTE: If you see a red background behind your text in the WYSIWYG, it indicates that the Microsoft Word hidden code is present. This red background will only show in the WYSIWYG, not on the preview or the live page. You can remove the red background by always using the paste from Word tool.

«BACK