Using the SixBit HTML Editor

Several features within SixBit use the built-in HTML(HyperText Markup Language) - a language for tagging text to be displayed on the internet. Editor.  The Description Editor, Description Wrapper Editor, Email Template Editor and Add To Description all use the same basic HTML Editor functionality.  The built-in HTML Editor is a WYSIWYG(What You See Is What You Get) - a method of editing text while viewing its final format. (What You See Is What You Get) editor meaning users can see what their formatted text will look like as they edit it.

 

The SixBit HTML Editor is only one option for editing the HTML in SixBit.  A text editor or HTML editor of choice can be chosen as the default editor if desired.  Refer to Selecting an HTML Editor for more information.

 

 

 

WYSIWYG HTML editors are quite common.  You have probably used one to make posts on internet discussion groups or when filling out forms on the internet.  

 

You can view either an Edit mode or a Preview mode using the tabs at the bottom of the window.

 

In Edit mode, users can also choose whether they are editing in a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) mode () or a raw HTML mode () using the respective icons at the bottom of the input window.

 

When editing Description Wrappers, the option to select the Self-Hosted Picture Layout appears at the bottom.

 

Choosing Top, Bottom, Left or Right will automatically place the pictures in the proper location.  When Manual is selected, [[PictureX]] tags (where X is a number) must be entered in the location where pictures are to appear in the wrapper.

 

The features of our HTML editor are described in the following table.    

 

Icon	Feature	Description
	Open	Open a file into the HTML Editor.
	Save	Save the current contents of the editor to a file.
	Font	Set the font of the selected text.
	Font Size	Set the font size of the selected text.
	Cut	Cut the selected text.
	Copy	Copy the clipboard to the cursor location.
	Paste	Paste the clipboard to the cursor location.
	Paste Word	Paste text from a Microsoft Word document.
	Bold	Make the selected text bold.
	Italic	Make the selected text italic.
	Underline	Make the selected text underlined.
	Remove Formatting	Remove any formatting for the selected text
	Undo	Undo the last change.
	Redo	Redo the last undone change.
	Print	Print the document.
	Spell Check	Check for spelling errors.
	Search	Search for text anywhere in the document.
	Style	Set the style of the selected text.
	Backcolor	Set the background color of the selected text.
	Forecolor	Set the color of the selected text.
	Hyperlink	Add a hyperlink to your text.
	Insert Image	Insert an image
	Insert Table	Insert a table.
	Special Symbols	Insert a special symbol.
	Horizontal Line	Insert a horizontal line
	Ordered List	Create a numbered list.
	Bulleted List	Create a bulleted list.
	Align Left	Align the text with the left edge.
	Align Center	Center align the text.
	Align Right	Align the text with the right edge.
	Indent	Indent the selected text.
	Outdent	Outdent the selected text.
	Strikethrough	Enter text with a strikethrough
	Superscript	Enter superscript
	Subscript	Enter subscript

 

Field Variables and Snippets

From the sidebar on the left, there is an ability to include field variables and snippets.

 

Field variables allow users to specify where they would like to place particular information about the item being listed.  This allows users to use the same description or description wrapper for multiple items since the details of the item are filled in later when the item is listed.  Refer to Adding Field Variables for more information.

 

Snippets are similar to item variables, except they resolve to text that a user has provided rather than a field from the item.  For example, suppose you ended every listing with a little history of your company.  You could enter that history in a snippet called "About Us" and then just include that snippet in your descriptions or description wrappers.  The advantage to a snippet is that you don't have to write the same thing over and over, and if you ever need to change it, you only need to change it in one place.  Refer to Adding Snippets for more information.

 

Both snippets and field variables can be included conditionally depending upon the values of other fields.  See Using Conditional Logic for more information.

 

The relative space allocated to field variables and snippets in the sidebar can be changed by moving the splitter bar between them.

 

Math Calculations

When using the HTML Editor, it can often be useful to have access to math functions.  For example, you may want to show the total of two different fees as one value.  A MATH() function has been provided to allow for this.  Simply place the equation inside the parenthesis and the resolved value will show in the final result.  

 

Examples:

 

MATH(1+2) would resolve to "3"

 

MATH([[SalePrice]]+3) would resolve to the sale price plus 3 dollars

 

MATH([[SalePrice]]*[[QuantitySold]]) would resolve to the extended price

 

MATH(([[SalePrice]]*[[QuantitySold]])+[[SalesTax]]) would resolve to the Total Amount Due

 

The order of precedence of the operators is power(^), Multiply(*), Divide(/), Add(+), and Subtract(-).