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Basic text component – formatting options

This page shows examples of the formatting options available using the basic text component.

The Basic text component is where you add the main body content for your page.

The toolbar in this component can be used to add:

  • bolded or italicised text formatting
  • headings
  • hyperlinks and buttons
  • lists
  • quotes and callouts
  • basic tables
  • embedded media (images, videos and documents)
  • iFrames

Below are examples of some of the commonly used formatting options. For instructions on how to apply these options in the CMS, read our user guides on the Digital Victoria Help CentreExternal Link .

Heading styles

The above heading is Heading 2. To apply a heading you simply need to put your cursor anywhere in the heading and click the dropdown labelled 'Normal'. Choose from the styles in the dropdown list.

Heading 3

For accessibility reasons as well as to help user comprehension, headings should be heirarchical. This means initial headings on a page should be Heading 2 size, and any subheadings should be Heading 3. Never start with a Heading 3 on the page, or add a heading 4 after a heading 2.

Heading 4

Never skip a heading level just because you like the way it looks. This creates an accessiblity issue.

Heading 5

If you're using heading 5s your content probably needs a restructure!

Quote styles

We have two quote styles, labelled as "block quote" and "blockquote" in the toolbar.

Block quote – an indented section of text

This example is created using the icon with the double quotes on it (rollover label is 'block quote'). It displays with both a left and right indent.

Blockquote – used for direct speech

This is the block quote with 2 lines of caption, to indicate a quote directly attributed to a person.

Her Excellency the Honourable Linda Dessau AC
Governor of Victoria.

Callout styles

Single paragraph callout

This paragraph has the Callout style applied to it. Use it to highlight short pieces of text. It doesn't allow line breaks, headings or lists and it can be difficult to read large passages in this style. It only displays well for a single paragraph.

WYSIWYG callout

''

When to use

This callout style should be used when you have:

  • more than one paragraph
  • additional formatting to include, such as headings and lists.

List formatting and nesting

Numbered list

  1. Select your text and click on the numbered list icon.
  2. When you have a numbered list, you can click the indent icon to push selected list items to the next level down.
    1. Second level numbered list (should be lower case alpha)
    2. donec egestas ultricies
      1. neque in elementum (should be lower case roman)
      2. Fusce blandit
        1. magna magna (should be ???)
  3. ut luctus nisl

Bulleted list

  • ultricies vitae (style: black/grey dot)
  • Quisque ut tortor laoreet
    • luctus tellus at (style: circle)
      • pretium dolor (style: square)
      • Maecenas efficitur
        • mi at ipsum egestas (style: square)
          • ullamcorper.
          • Maecenas
            • a lacus nisi.
      • Morbi dictum feugiat
      • odio, nec volutpat
      • diam tristique
    1. vel. Suspendisse dui dui, cursus eleifend ipsum id, pelle
    2. ntesque dictum sapien
  • Fusce eleifend rhoncus orci vitae convallis. Maecenas eleifend ut nunc non commodo. Cras sapien augue, dignissim eu viverra at, placerat eget libero. In at nunc lectus. Curabitur felis libero, lacinia in augue sit amet, gravida congue urna. Nullam id maximus dolor.

Advanced formatting options for lists

Read our guideExternal Link for the html code to use to apply these settings.

Different list item markers

Disc:

  • Oranges
  • Apples
  • Bananas
  • Grapes

Circle:

  • Oranges
  • Apples
  • Bananas
  • Grapes

Square:

  • Oranges
  • Apples
  • Bananas
  • Grapes

Numbers:

  1. Oranges
  2. Apples
  3. Bananas
  4. Grapes

Uppercase letters:

  1. Oranges
  2. Apples
  3. Bananas
  4. Grapes

Lowercase letters:

  1. Oranges
  2. Apples
  3. Bananas
  4. Grapes

Uppercase Roman numerals:

  1. Oranges
  2. Apples
  3. Bananas
  4. Grapes

Lowercase Roman numerals:

  1. Oranges
  2. Apples
  3. Bananas
  4. Grapes

Combination lists

  1. Apples
    • Pink lady
    • Fuji
    • Granny smith
  2. Oranges
  3. Bananas
    1. Lady finger
    2. Cavendish
    3. Plantain
  4. Grapes
    1. Muscat
    2. Sultana
    3. Shiraz

Controlled list counting

Use if you need to start a numbered list at a specific number, rather than 1.

  1. Jessica
  2. Richard
  3. Marcella
  4. Nadim

Buttons

There are 2 button options: primary and secondary. The only difference between them is the colour.

If using 2 buttons in the same section on a page, use the primary button first and then the secondary button to differentiate between the options available.

Primary button

Secondary button

Embedded media

Image

An example of an image embedded with a caption.

This is a caption typed into the Embed media screen

Video

An example of a video embedded with a transcript.

Documents

When you embed a document it will display an icon, the file type and file size.

You are also able to choose whether to display the date that the file was last updated. This should be used when an important file is regularly updated so users can easily tell that it's the latest version.

Tables

For tips on advanced table settings, see our data table component guide.

First row set as the header

This is the table caption
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 has quite a long heading Column 4
Row 1 content row 1 content

You can right-click on the table to access options such as deleting or inserting rows.

1,234,567
Row 2 content row 2 content
  • sometimes tables have lists
  • sometimes tables have lists
  • sometimes tables have lists
384
Row 3 content row 3 content

Merging cells affects accessibility so is not recommended.

568,658

First column set as the header

This is the table caption
Column 1 (as header) xxxxx yyyyy zzzzz
Next heading x

y

z
Next heading 2 x y z
Next heading 3 x

y

z
Next heading 4 x y z

Both set as headers

This is the table caption
Column 1 (as header) column 2 column 3 column 4
Next heading x

y

z
Next heading 2 x y z
Next heading 3 x

y

z
Next heading 4 x y z

No headers

Use this option sparingly as this can be an accessibility issue.

This is the table caption
wwwww xxxxx yyyyy zzzzz
w x

x

z
w x x z
w x

x

z
w x x z

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    Reviewed 12 July 2023

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