Why is a WYSIWYG editor important?
Content Management Systems (CMS) usually have a place for the website administrator or editor to manage the body of a page, event, news post, etc. In our CMS, those areas utilize a WYSIWYG editor to help you format your content.
WYSIWYG: What You See Is What You Get
WYSIWYG stands for “What You See Is What You Get” and means that, if you make text italicized or indented or a numbered list, that’s how it’s going to be formatted when you publish the content to your live website.
The styling (such as the font, color, spacing, etc) of each of these elements is customized to your website. However, the functionality will be standard and universally recognized by both website visitors and search engines.
WYSIWYG Editor Features
Here’s an example of what the WYSIWYG editor looks like in the current version of our CMS:
Features include:
- bold, italics, underline,
- paragraph formatting, alignment, lists, indentations,
- links, image embed, video embed, and more.
Some of these features, such as strikethrough, are not tools that you’ll regularly use. Others, such as headings (found under Paragraph Settings), are tools we highly suggest everyone learn how to master.
Be Thoughtful When Using WYSIWYG Features
It’s important to be thoughtful when using WYSIWYG features.
- Overuse is just as bad as underutilization.
- If yo overuse the bold, italics, or underline, they will lose their impact.
- Want to make your website visitor’s eye slide past all your content without reading it? Publish your content in large paragraphs. Or just have a list of bullet points.
- Keep a visitor’s attention by breaking up your content with a balance of headings, lists, paragraphs, etc.
By utilizing these formatting tools, you can make your content easier for your website visitors to read and also boost your natural SEO. Watch our blog for more WYSIWYG tips.
