1. UNM Learn
  2. Student Documentation for Learn
  3. Getting Started
  4. Using the Content Editor

Using the Content Editor

The Content Editor lets you format text, attach web links or files, add images or embed video.  It is available anywhere you see a text box in Learn—composing an email, posting to discussion forums, journals or blogs, answering essay questions in quizzes, or submitting text in the Assignment tool.



Depending on how large your screen is, you should see at least two rows of icons. If not, click the three dots - "More".

This is the full toolbar. Instructions for how to do common tasks are provided below. For a complete description of all the icons and options, see What does the Editor do? 

 

The text editor does not save automatically. To avoid losing work composing longer materials, do your writing in a word processing program like MS Word or Notepad, then go to Learn, and use keyboard shortcuts to copy and paste into the Content Editor. 

The keyboard shortcuts you will need for pasting are Ctrl + V for windows, Cmd + V for Mac.


Format your work.

To enter text, click inside the box and begin typing. Or copy and paste. Highlight the desired text, then click one of the icons to apply a style. From left to right, there is bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, headings/subheadings, font family, font size, bulleted lists and numbered lists, font color, highlight color and remove formatting (Tx).

To see all the icons, click More Tools.

Left to right: bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, headings/subheadings, font family, font size, bulleted lists and numbered lists, font color, highlight color and remove formatting (Tx).


Remove or keep formatting.

When copying and pasting from a webpage or Word document etc., you are given the option to remove or keep the source formatting. Remove formatting retains basic HTML, e.g., heading sizes, font styles like bold and italics, but removes the extraneous formatting from sources such as Microsoft Word. Note: the remove formatting option is not the same as pasting text only.

  • For text only, highlight and use the Remove formatting button (Tx).
  • Neither option will import images; those must be added manually: Add Content (plus) icon > Insert Local Files or Insert from Content Collection.


Check your spelling.

The previous content editor performed spell-checking as you typed.  The new one is on-demand—you need to run it manually. 

If necessary, click If necessary, click the More Tools (three dots) icon to see all the tools. to see the entire toolbar.  Then click The spellcheck icon is capital ABC and a check mark..



To add an image, click the Add Content icon  > Insert Local Files > Browse to find then select the desired image. The image should now appear in the editing window.

You can use Attachments > Attach File > Browser Local Files below the editing window to add a photograph to a discussion post, but it will show as a file (ex. unm-lobo-mascot.jpg); others will need to click to open it in order to view it. If you click Insert/Edit Image instead, others will be able to see your photograph immediately, in the same window with any text you are adding.

1. Add text as usual: click in the text box and type, or copy and paste from MS Word.

2. When ready to add a photo: click the Add Content icon .

add-content-local-files.png

3. Click Insert Local Files to browse and find the file you want.

4. Click Open to select it (.jpg, .png or .gif files work nicely).

*A note on size: with today’s equipment images tend to be huge. Your file will load much faster and display better if you resize it BEFORE you upload it to Learn: https://www.reduceimages.com or Tiny PNG. Try ~500px.

5. Once your image appears in the text editor, right-click on it. Choose Image, then add an Alternative description for anyone using software to help them read the screen. You can also make changes to the display size of the image. When finished, click Save.

When you right-click on the image, you will get a menu that has -- top to bottom -- Cut, Copy, Paste, then Image. Click Image.

When the Insert/edit image menu opens, Source field will already be populated. Alternative description is the next one down. Then Width, Height, Cancel and Save.

6. Optional: Still too big? Click to select the image, then drag a corner handle.

In the Attachments area for Assignments, drag and drop a file or files into the "hot spot."

There is a rectangle bounded by a dotted line that will let you drag and drop files to attach them, in addition to the traditional Browse My Computer button.

- OR -

1. Below the window, click Browse My Computer.

2. Navigate to select the item you want to include.

3. Double-click it, or single click and press the Open button.

*Note – if you are sending a course message, you can only attach one file per message. Everywhere else in Learn, you may attach as many items as you wish.

4. If successful, you will see the name of the file listed. If you accidentally picked the wrong file, simply click Do Not Attach and try again.



If successful, the file name will appear in the Attachments area. If this is not the correct file, click the link for Do Not Attach to the right of it.

Use the content editor to share videos from your Kaltura (My) Media library.  For discussion, journal or blog posts, be sure you are seeing the complete toolbar; if not, click the More Tools menu.

To add a Kaltura media file to an Assignment, from the submission screen, click the Write Submission button to reveal the editor.



1. Click the Add Content icon . 
2. Click Kaltura Media.

Second option down under Additional Tools.

3. Your Kaltura Media library will open.  Click Select next to the desired video.

4. The preview will populate in the editor window.  When ready, Submit.

NOTE: there is a known issue regarding extra padding below the file you have inserted, meaning that any text you enter below the video will be padded by several lines.  As a workaround, add desired text first, then add the media file.

The Kaltura media tools have their own help pages. For additional instructions, see Add Media as Mashup.

1. From YouTube, click Share under a video you want to link. Click Copy.




2. Now go to Learn. Navigate to the place where you want to post the link. Open the content editor and paste it into the window (Ctrl/ Cmd + V).


3. Hit Enter on your keyboard. In a moment, it will be converted to an embedded preview.

For certain sites, such as YouTube, Daily Motion, Vimeo, The New York Times, WordPress, SlideShare and Facebook, pasting a URL into the text box will automatically be converted into an embedded link with preview thumbnail. Just paste the URL into the text editor. For other links:

1. Copy the link (URL) you want to use.

2. Enter the title you want for the link in your text window, and/ or click and drag to highlight existing text.

3. Click Insert/Edit Link.


4. The Insert/edit link window will open. Paste your link in the Url field.

5. Text to display should already display the words you highlighted. You can edit them if desired.

5. Under Open link in… select New window.

6. Save.
On the Insert/edit link menu, Url is the top field, then Test to display, Title and Open link in. Then Cancel and Save.

The Content Editor has a built-in Math Editor, where you can find a wide range of symbols.  Under the Greek letters tab, you can expand the final panel to use a clickable Periodic Table.

For more, see the Math Editor.

math-editor-icon.png

The special characters menu offers an array of symbols, including the extended Latin alphabet (with diacritical marks).

Special characters icon is a Greek letter omega.

You can adjust paragraph spacing as well as the spacing between bullet and number items in the Source code view or in the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) view. To add a line, press Shift + Enter on your keyboard or a <br/><br/> tag in code view. For more, see Work with Text.

The content editor offers an array of tools for creating and formatting tables. For detailed instructions, see Add Tables.

The table icon brings up a menu--top to bottom--Table (how many cells and rows you want), then Cell, Row and Column sub-menus.