How to add a Text Section – functions and features like MEL and Checklist

The Text Section module is one of the core modules of the Web Manuals editor system. Adding a Text Section module provides access to the editor tool bar which is primarily used for the formatting of text on the page.

Adding a Text Section

1. Open a Web document and go to the first page.
2. Click on the page and select Text Section. 
3. The Text Section will be displayed on the page.

4. Click the Save button, to save the modules position.

Text editing Toolbar Functions

The basic functionalities of this module can be found in the Editor Toolbar above the page, which is displayed once clicking inside the Text Section. 

The functions in the picture above may differ for some users, depending on their site’s setup. Many of these basic functions work similarly to their corresponding functions in Microsoft Word.

Undo and Redo.

Change Paragraph Format and Headers of the selected text.

Increase/decrease indents.

Change alignments: left, right, center and justified.

This section will introduce the user to more advanced functions, which require some type of configuration.

Paste

This function allows the user to paste text under a more controlled environment, compared to the usual Ctrl+V function. There are three types of paste: Paste, Paste as plain text and Paste from Word.

Paste: This function allows the user to paste text with its current formatating.
Paste as plain text: This function allows the user to paste text as plain text.
Paste as Word: This function allows the user to paste text from Microsoft Word while retaining its formatting.

Numbered/Bulleted Lists

These lists are very similar to the one used in Microsoft Word. These functions also allow the user to create lists using different number and bullet list settings.

Numbered List Properties

1. Right-click on the Numbered List and choose Numbered List Properties.
2. Define the starting number of the list by changing the value in the Start field, define which type of Numbered list you would like by clicking on the Type drop-down, and define whether or not the list should display parentheses by clicking the Parentheses dropdown.

Changing a Bulleted List’s Properties

1. Right-click the Bulleted List and choose Bulleted List Properties.
2. Select the type of bulleted list you would like from the Type Dropdown.

Create Tables

This function allows the user to create simple tables by clicking on the table icon.

1. Click the table icon in the menu to bring up the table grid.
2. Choose how many rows and columns the table should have by hovering the table grid and left click. 
3. The table will now appear on the page.

Editing Table Properties

1. Right click on the table.
2. Click Table Properties.
3. The table properties window will now be available for editing.

Item	Description
Table Properties	Rows Shows the number of rows in the table. Columns Shows the number of columns in the table. Headers Sets headers of the table (None, First Row, First Column, Both)

Editing Cell Properties

1. Right click the Table.
2. Click Table Properties.
3. Click Cell Properties.
4. The Cell Properties window will now be available for editing.

In Cell Properties you can configure Width and Height, Cell Type, Rows and Columns Span as well as if you want Word Wrap to be enabled, how the text in the cell should be aligned and Background Color and Border Color.

Tip: If you want the cells to have equal width, choose percent in the drop-down menu next to Width and type 25% (if you have four columns), this will give the value of 25% width to each column

Item

Description

Cell Properties

Width Sets the width of the cell in pixels or percent based metrics. Height Sets the height of the cell in pixels. Word Wrap If enabled, word wrap will automatically place long words on a new line instead of hyphenating them. Horizontal Alignment Sets the cells horizontal alignment.  Vertical Alignment Sets the cells vertical alignment. Cell Type Cell type defines what type of data the cell holds, where data is cell data and header is header data.  Rows Span Specifies the number of rows a cell should span. Column Span specifies the number of columns a cell should span. Background Color Defines the cells background color based on hexadecimal values. Border Color Defines the cell border color based on hexadecimal values.

Merge and split cells

1. Highlight the cells you wish to merge. 
2. Right-click on the selection.
3. Select Cell.
4. Click Merge Cells

Tip: Either select the text in the cells you want to merge and click Merge Cells in the Cell menu, or select text in one cell and click Merge Right or Merge Down.

Splitting Cells

1. Highlight the cell you wish to split and right-click on the selection.
2. Select Cell.
3. Click on either Split Cell Horizontally or Split Cell Vertically.

Merging two tables

If you have two tables in the same Text Section you can merge these into one table.

1. Right-click inside the first table.
2. Select Advanced.
3. Click Merge with table below.

Note: If both tables have headers, the headers from the selected table will be used.

Sorting columns

Columns can be sorted both with ascending sorting and descending sorting. 

To sort a column select text in a cell in the column you want to sort, right-click and go to Column and choose Sort Ascending or Sort Descending.
 

The above example would result in the following, i.e. Header 2 being sorted in ascending order.

Add a MEL – Minimum Equipment List

Instead of creating the MELs yourself (which can be a tedious task), you can use the template MELs that are built-in for Web Manuals. At the time of writing, there are about 100 pieces of MELs in different categories to choose from.

To add a MEL do the following:

1. Click the icon Add MEL in the menu.

2. Choose MEL Style (Portrait, Portrait Compact, Landscape or Landscape Compact).
3. Type in the number of rows the table should display.
4. Choose an ATA Chapter.
5. Click on OK to add the MEL to the page.
6. Fill in the data in the fields and Save the page. 

Adding a MEL from the text section menu.

Add Checklists

Checklist is a feature you find in the text module that lets you create checklists. These lists use dotted lines to make them easy to read.

To create a checklist you do the following:

1. Click at the checklist icon in the menu.

2. Choose Checklist Style (Plain, Bullets, Numbered).
3. Type number of rows.
4. Click OK to add the checklist to the page.
5. Fill in the data in the fields and Save the page.

An example of a checklist.

Insert Image

For a detailed description of how to insert images see the manual Image Editing.

Creating Links

For a detailed description of how to create links see the manual Link Editing.

Split sections and solve content overflow

Place your mouse cursor between the sections that should be splitted or mark the text you want to split into a new section, right click and choose Split section.

The Source function – html code

Using the Source function will display the text in html code. This should only be used by experienced users.

Click once to activate/deactivate it.

An example of the source code for a list and a table.