Editor Overview

What is an Online editor?

zStudio online editor is a lightweight text editor to be used in web pages. It provides most of the commonly used functions from desktop editors like Word to the web. By using the editor you can write text, format it, create tables and much more. The editor doesn't need any installation on your computer. The only thing you need to work with the editor is a compatible Internet browser, like Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Opera.

Toolbar

The Toolbar is the area in the editor where you can activate most of its features. Each button in the toolbar access a different function. There are simple functions for basic text formatting and more advanced features like creation of links and tables.

To use the buttons in the toolbar, you must move your mouse pointer over the button. The button will highlight, and a message with the information about the button function will appear. Click on the button to execute its function. With more experience, you will have full control over all editor features, and you won't have to read the description of the buttons. You will just use them intuitively.

Besides the toolbars buttons there are also toolbar combos (drop down boxes). The combos are the white areas with a little arrow on its side. They can be easily accessed by clicking on the white area or the little arrow. Once clicked the menu will expand so you can choose from one of its available options. To execute one of them, just click on it.

Writing in editor

Internet (the Web) vs Paper

Writing in editor is as simple as writing on desktop text editors, like Microsoft Word, or Open Office. There is an important difference to be considered though. Desktop word processors are used to create printed (or printed like) content, limited in physical pages. editor instead, is usually used to create text to be published on Internet and to be read by using web browsers. This is an important thing to consider and keep in mind.

The most important thing to consider is:

• On the Internet, pages have no physical limits. They can grow infinitely.
• The same content can look different on different computers, or different web browsers. Text lines can contain more or fewer words, depending on the computer features and configurations.
• A user with visual or motorial disabilities may want to read your documents. Keep it in mind, and look for ways to better satisfy their particular needs.
• Websites and their pages have severe technical limits. They are created by programmers, using different "computer languages". Those "languages" are dominant in many aspects but also have limits that are difficult to understand by people used to the flexibility of desktop text processors. With time, you will get used to those limits and will be able to produce quality text that works on the Internet correctly. Don't complain that much with your web developer if things don't work as you would have expected. Try to understand the technical restrictions. You will have an enjoyable writing experience in this way.

The ENTER key

The first thing you should know about editing the text is the usage of the keyboard key ENTER or in some computers called RETURN. If you press the key the editor will create a new paragraph. You can also use ENTER with a combination with the SHIFT key. Pressing the SHIFT+ENTER keys simultaneously will just break the line in the same paragraph. However, you must notice that the usage of the key is predefined by the program's developer so it could have different options. If you are not sure how the ENTER key action is defined contact your system administrator to resolve the problem.

The BACKSPACE key

As you know the BACKSPACE key is used for deleting mistakes, whole words or whole text. To make it easier there, you can use a combination of CTRL and BACKSPACE keys. If you press them at the same time you will erase the whole word which was before the cursor.