How To Use the New Article Toolbar

Those of you who have contributed HowToDoThings articles in the past will recognize the buttons you see above the Introductions, Steps and Closing text boxes. For those of you who are new to the site, click this link to learn how to use the toolbar buttons that appear, from left to right, in the toolbars.

1. Bold:

   The Bold button allows you to bold text. Simply highlight text you have entered, and click the Bold button to make it bold. Alternately, you can click the Bold button and then add text; it will be entered in Bold until you click the button again.

2. Italics:

   The Italics button italicizes text. Use it the same way that you would use the Bold button above.

3. Underline:

   The Underline button allows you to underline text. Use it the same way that you would use the Bold or Italics buttons above.

4. Strikethrough:

   The Strikethrough button allows you to draw a line through text. This will probably be the tool you use the least, but if there ever comes a time when you think this feature will help readers understand your advice, you can use this button the same way as the three others previously described.

5. Bullet List:

   Also known as the “Unordered List”, this button allows you to create a list of bullets within any text of the article.

   If you click the button to create a list, your first bullet will appear. Then you can enter the text for your first bullet and hit “Enter” on your keyboard to create the next bullet in your list, and so on. After you’ve entered your final bullet point, hit “Enter” again to create an empty bullet and then hit the Unordered List button to return to normal text.

   Alternately, you can enter the text for your bullet list before formatting it as a bullet list. For example, if I wanted to create a bullet list with the following items:

   Butter
   ½ cup milk
   1 cup grated parmesan

   I could enter them just as I did above, and then highlight all three and click the Unordered List button to turn it into a bullet list. Notice how I used line breaks in my list to indicate where I want bullets to appear. Here's how it would look after I highlight it and hit the button:

   • Butter
   • ½ cup milk
   • 1 cup grated parmesan
6. Undo:

   To undo the last change you made to your text, click the Undo button.

7. Redo:

   If you decide that undo-ing was a mistake, never fear! Just click the Redo button.

8. Insert/edit link:

   To create a hyperlink within your text, highlight the text that you want hyperlinked, and then click the Hyperlink button. A pop-up window will appear. In the Link URL field, add the web address that you want to link to (ex: http://www.google.com) and then click the “Insert” button. The pop-up window will disappear and your link should be in the text.

9. Remove a link:

   To get rid of a link in your text, click the linked text and then click the Unlink button. The link should disappear.