Note on using this document: This document serves both as an example of a document created with the Text Box Editor and nstructions for its use.  You may want to print the document first and work through the example in one of your own classes.  Even if you do not plan to use the Text Box Editor for serious document creation, it might still be worth going through this exercise since it is good way to get familiar with basic HTML editing. You can then apply these skills when using more suitable editors such as Netscape Navigator.

This is an example of a document created with the new WYSIWYG Text Box Editor.  It is an option included in most content areas and in other areas where input is expected from the user (e.g.discussion boards).  Note that the Text Box Editor is new with BB 6 and is currently available only on the Windows platform using Internet Explorer 5.x or later.  (This restriction only applies to formatting the text.  The document can be viewed with Netscape and on the Macintosh.)  Users of other systems are limited to the text boxes without built-in formatting capability.  On these systems formatting requires direct entry of HTML codes. 

Striking the Enter key starts a new paragraph.  This is the equivalent of inserting the HTML paragraph tabs.  Try it.

A blank line is inserted and new paragraph begins.

Strike the Enter key while holding down the Shift key.
This combination of keys inserts a line break instead of starting a new paragraph. This is the equivalent of the HTML line break tag.

While many of the buttons should be familiar to users of today's word processors, you can learn what each button does by slowly moving the mouse pointer over each button.  (The Help Button does not work.)  You can also follow the hyperlinks in the following bulleted list for additional informatoin:

• documentation from Blackboard
• Andover Newton
• NYU
• Temple

The easiest way to embed a hyperlink is to highlight the text that will act as the link (the clickable text or image), select the hyperlink button (row 2, button 8 from left) and paste the address in the URL text box.  If you are pasting an address copied from the address bar of a browser, erase the highlighted http:// from the URL text box first.

The title of this document was formatted as a heading, level 2.  Headings are usually larger and bolder than normal text and are typically used to title the entire document and subsections 

Here is a 2x2 crosstable inserted with the table button (row 2, button 9).  A 3x3 table was created to accomodate the column and row labels and a table caption was specified in the table setup dialog. 

Age by Party Affiliation

	age <= $$30	Age > 30
Democratic	50	50
Republican	50	50

Here is a horizontal line (row 2, button 10).  Lines may be used to separate sections of a document.

You can also attach files to a document created in the Text Box Editor

Here is an attached Word document (use row 3 - button 1 on left).  Note that the file name appears as a link within the document.  (You will receive a different result if you attach the file through the Content section.  Here the link will appear beneath the document created in the Text Editor Box.)

facintro.doc

Here is an attached image inserted using "Attach Image" button (row 3, button 1).  Note that it appears within the document. 

You can create a link to an image instead by adding it through the attach file button.  For example:

Roof.jpg
 

Now you have a link to the image instead of the image itself.

You can also attach and embed other filetypes including sound and video using the Text Box Editor.  (Working with graphics and other file types will be covered in later sessions.)

You can also attach a file as an external document.  You typically do this in Content section of the Add Item or Modify Item windows (usually Step 2 in the process).  For example, a document called lcnavce.doc is attached to this document.  The link appears above the title of the main document you created in the Text Box Editor.

The easiest way to create a list is to type your list striking Shift Enter after each item.  Then highlight the list and select one of the list types (row 1, buttons 10 or 11).  You can add additional items to the list by placing the insertion point at the end of the last item and pressing Enter.  To stop entering list items, press Enter Enter.

Note that the cells of a table can hold all sorts of things including other tables, lists, hyperlinks. and images.

2x2 Table in Cell		item1 item2 item3
	The CUNY Home Page

Things to consider when using the text box editor (tentative):

1. Easier than entering HTML codes directly in text boxes which you have to do in the standard text boxes.
2. It is good way to learn HTML because you can reveal the HTML codes.
3. Since the Text Box Editor generates HTML code your students do not need any additional software to display the document.
4. Must be online to use the editor unlike standalone HTML editors such as Netscape Navigator, Dreamweaver and FrontPage.  Yo may lose work if you lose your connection or if there is a browser or server error.   
5. Documents appear in the Course Documents frame and not in a separate window.  This may not be suitable for long documents and for printing since the contents of the entire frame will print unless browser allows text selection for printing  (One way around this problem is to create a separate folder with the one long document.)
6. There is limited space alloted to the Text Editor Box itself and having to scroll both the text box windows and the frame is awkward..
7. You will not have a copy on your hard drive unless you take steps to cut and paste the contents of the HTML windows into local program that can interpret HTML code.(unless you cut and paste); however, you could copy and paste from the Text Box However, the links to documents will point to the BB server and therefore, will not work in the other program.
8. Like all HTML editors, odd things can happen when the document is viewed in a browser.  Many times you will have to clean up the html code. For example, try to surround text with the greater than and less than characters as is typically done to identify keys on the standard PC keyboard and watch what happens.  Try to create sublists.  Try to modify the dimensions of a table.  (See External Links for a chart of HTML codes for special characters.)
9. You can also cut and paste into the Text Box Editor.  However, results will vary depending on the source program.
10. You may want to consider typing most of the document as normal text and then going back to format it rather than trying to format it as you go along.
11. A major advantage of the Text Box Editor is ease of modification   You can make changes and updates directly on BB rather than changing the original document, removing the old version from BB and reloading the updated copy.
12. If the document is not finished at the close of you session, you can make it invisible from the students until it is finished.  It is not necessary to complete the document in one session.
13. If you making major changes to a document you may want to consider working on a copy.  You can create a folder (e.g. "working documents", make it invisible to the students and work on a copy of the document in the "working documents" folder.
14. You can use the Text Box Editor to create a short summary of the contents of the attached external file perhaps explaining the purpose of the document and other pertinent information such as whether additional software is required to view the external document.