A WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) is the base of most website Content Management Systems. The WYSIWYG is the "text editor" used to enter content to show on a website. When content is added to the WYSIWYG, it is immediately transformed into HTML which is needed to have the content appear correctly on the website.

Basic Tips for Using a WYSIWYG


Copy & Paste
  • It's recommended to first paste any content into Notepad (TextEdit on Mac) and put it into Plain Text mode. This will help to remove all formatting which may have been in the text if copied from Word, a webpage, or an email. Then copy the text from Notepad and paste into the WYSIWYG.
  • If copying directly from Word or an email (please see the recommendation above), use the "Paste as Plain Text" button (or "Paste from Word") to help remove formatting which can cause issues in the WYSIWYG.
  • The goal is to paste text into the WYSIWYG with as little formatting as possible, then begin formatting inside the WYSIWYG (see notes formatting below)
  • Do not attempt to paste a table directly into the WYSIWYG. Tables are not recommended in a WYSIWYG, but if a table is required, the table should be created directly inside the WYSIWYG.

Limit Formatting
Formatting should be limited to basic formatting to prevent display issues and to stay consistent with the overall website design.

Formatting should be limited to:
  • Headings (ex: Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, etc)
  • Bold
  • Italic
  • Numbered List
  • Unordered List (bullet points)

The following formatting is often available, but not recommended:
  • Colors (as it's recommended for the colors to remain consistent with the default programmed text colors)
  • Underline (as underline in web pages is commonly only for links)

Pro Tips for Using a WYSIWYG

  • The return key will often create a new paragraph. Holding shift while hitting the return key will often create a line break instead of a new paragraph.