Using and Editing Formatted Fields in Aspire

Overview

In Aspire, you’ll find formatted fields (also called Rich Text Editors) throughout the system. These are open text fields that let you enter any text you like and then use built-in formatting tools to style them.

Where formatted fields are used

In general, formatted fields are used wherever you may want to write detailed descriptions with links, images, headings, and formatted text. For example, formatted fields are used in areas like issues, emails, site audits, and many types of notes throughout the platform.

Setting formatted field default font

To ensure a consistent font and font size across all formatted fields in your Aspire system, go to Administration > Configuration > Application. In the General & Display section under Font Defaults for Formatted Inputs, use the dropdowns to select the default font and font size.

Formatted field basics

Type text into the field and use the built-in formatting options to style the text and add images and links.

Note

You can copy and paste formatted text into a formatted field as described later in this article, but it’s best to use the provided formatting features when building a message.

Although they don’t have as many features, Aspire’s formatted fields have formatting options similar to common word processors, including:

• Paragraph

• Font

• Font size

• Bold

• Italic

• Underline

• Strikethrough

• Font color

• Background color

• Alignments

• Numbered list

• Bulleted list

• Insert link

• Create table

• Clear format

• Insert image

One unique feature in Aspire's formatted fields is the Add Token magnifying glass icon, which lets you insert expandable tokens. Read our article about expandable tokens to learn more.

Another unique feature is the blue Titan Intelligence (ti) icon, which opens the AI writing companion designed to help you craft professional, on-brand formatted messages with little effort. Learn more in our article about Titan Intelligence.

Note

Titan Intelligence isn’t available in all formatted fields.

Copying and pasting in formatted fields

Sometimes you may want to paste formatted text and images into formatted fields. However, some formatting and unsupported HTML tags may be lost when pasting into a formatted field. This means that if formatted text was created outside of Aspire, it may not look the same once pasted in.

To help with this, we provide three formatting options when you paste content: Keep, Clean, and Plain Text.

Keep

Select this option to have Aspire try to keep all formatting from the source, even if the formatting isn’t compatible with the formatted field.

Caution

You may need to manually clean up formatting in Code View.

Clean

This option keeps all compatible formatting while removing unnecessary or incompatible styling.

Plain Text

Select this option to have Aspire remove all rich text formatting except for single line breaks and spacing.

The benefit of using Plain Text is that you can easily copy and paste the contents into almost any document or application, and it will look the same in any system. Plain Text can also help reduce file size when exporting reports and sending invoices, for example.

Using code view

Select the Code View </> icon to edit the formatted field in HTML.

Make any changes you want in the code editor, then select the minimize icon to return to visual editing.

Tip

If you need help formatting reports or proposals, you can ask AspireCare for help.

Common HTML Tags

These are some common HTML code tags you can use in Aspire. You can find more using a web search.

To learn more about using HTML and to find other tags, we recommend the W3 Schools website.

Resetting a formatted field

Sometimes you may want to clear out all text, but simply highlighting everything and deleting it may not remove hidden formatting. To start over from a blank state, follow these steps:

1. Select the Code View </> icon on the formatted field.

2. In the code view window, highlight the entire HTML script.

3. Press Delete or Backspace on your keyboard to clear all the HTML script.

Select the minimize icon in the expanded window to return to visual editing.

Alt codes in formatted fields

Alt Codes are keyboard shortcuts that let you insert special characters by holding down your keyboard’s Alt key and then typing one or more numbers on a numeric keypad.

Common examples of alt codes you might use are copyright or trademark symbols, the degree symbol, superscript numbers or letters, or arrows.

For a full list of Alt Codes and additional guidance, refer to the Wikipedia article about alt codes.

Note

Alt codes only work with a numeric keypad with Num Lock active, not with the number row at the top of a keyboard. If your keyboard doesn’t have a numeric keypad, you can copy special characters from the Wikipedia article linked above.

Using alt code bullets

Using the alt code Alt + 7 lets you insert a bullet (•) without creating additional paragraph spacing or using <ul> and <li> tags.

Alt code bullets also don’t automatically create new bullets when you press Enter. If you want to continue bulleting, you can copy and paste an existing bullet line or add spacing manually using the spacebar or Alt + 255 (invisible character).

Because alt codes don’t use HTML formatting, they appear in email headers that don’t support HTML and in Aspire lists.

Alt code limitations

• The Alt key codes don’t work with external number pads.

• Some laptops lack a number pad, but they may offer number pad functionality using the Fn key + Alt. Results may vary using this method.

• If Num lock is disabled, attempting an Alt code may cause unexpected results in some applications.

• Alt codes may not work in some regions or on some devices. For example, if you were to hold the ALT Key enter 1 from the number pad, it should create a smiley emoji. However, after you save this character in a formatted field, Aspire may replace it with a “?” symbol to indicate that the alt character isn’t recognized.

Best practices for formatting fields

• If an email provider doesn’t support HTML in the email header, it’s possible that formatted messages won’t show as expected for certain users or customers. Testing is always a good idea!

• Formatted field content is always converted to plain text when shown in lists, so don’t rely on formatting in these situations.

  • Example: You create a bulleted list in a work ticket Service Note field, but the formatting doesn’t appear in the Service Note display column on the Work Tickets page.

• When editing formatted fields in code view, using paragraph tags (<p>) for line breaks can result in blank lines or “white space”. One way to resolve this is to use a <format> tag or <br> tag instead of <p> so the line breaks without adding spacing.

  • Pressing Enter multiple times outside of code view may create multiple <p> tags in the HTML.

• To quickly find a certain type of tag in code view, press CTRL+F or CMD+F on your keyboard to open your browser’s search bar, then enter the tag you want to find.

Now you know all about using formatted fields in Aspire!