Writing in pages

Start a new page

A page is a document you write in, like a letter, some notes or a report.

To start one, click the round + button in the bottom-right corner of your dashboard and choose New Page. Give it a title. If you like, pick a folder to keep it in too. The page opens and you can start writing.

You don't need to save anything. cDox saves your writing as you type, so there's no "Save" button. If you close your browser and come back later, your page is right where you left it.

Format your text

To change how your text looks, use the toolbar, the row of buttons at the top of the page.

First select the text (drag your mouse over it), then click a button. For example, the B button makes it bold. Click it again to undo that.

Here's what you'll find in the toolbar:

• Undo and Redo, to take back a change or bring it back
• Bold, italic, underline and strikethrough (a line through the text)
• Highlight in yellow or red, to make a passage stand out
• Headings in three sizes (Heading 1 is the biggest), to split your page into sections
• Lists: bullets, numbers, or a checklist with boxes you can tick
• Quote, to set apart a passage you're quoting, and code block, for text that has to keep its exact spacing
• Buttons for links, images, tables, footnotes, a horizontal rule (a line that separates two parts) and comments
• Indent and alignment, to move a paragraph to the right or centre it
• Find and the Outline, a list of your headings you can jump between
• Font, column width, line spacing (the space between lines) and zoom

Add a link

A link is text people can click to open a website.

To add one, select the words you want to turn into a link, then click the Link button in the toolbar. A small panel opens. Paste the web address (for example https://cdox.studio) and save.

In that panel you can also change the link's text and choose whether it opens in a new tab. The button at the end of the address box opens the link, so you can check it goes to the right place.

To change or remove a link later, click it.

Add an image

Click where you want the image, then click the image button in the toolbar. There are two ways to add it:

• From your device: drag a photo onto the Upload area, or click it to pick a file. JPEG, PNG, WebP and GIF up to 5 MB work. The image is made lighter automatically so it loads quickly. You can also drag a photo straight onto the page, or paste a screenshot.
• From URL: paste the address of an image that's already online. This works with every account.

Once the image is on the page, click it to:

• Choose its size: large (the full width), medium or small
• Add alt text, a short description read aloud to people who are blind or have low vision
• Add a link, so clicking the image opens a website

Rename a page

To rename a page, click its title at the top of the editor and type the new one. That title is what you see in your dashboard and what people see when you share the page.

To put pages in folders, move them or sort them, see Folders and finding things.

Find a word in your page

To find a word in a long page, press Ctrl+ F, or tap the magnifying glass in the toolbar. A small search bar opens in the corner. Type your word.

Every place the word appears is highlighted, and the bar counts them (for example 3 of 17). Press Enter to go to the next one, or Shift+ Enter to go back. Escape closes the bar and leaves you at that spot, ready to type.

Print a page

To print a page, click the printer icon at the top of the editor. Your computer's print window opens. That's also where you can choose to save the page as a PDF.

The page prints cleanly, without the menus or the toolbar.

Centre or right-align text

To centre a title, or put a date on the right of a letter, click in the paragraph, then click the Alignment button in the toolbar (right after the indent buttons). Choose Left, Centre or Right.

To align several paragraphs at once, select them first. The button's icon shows the current alignment.

Alignment stays with the page: it shows on the public link, in print, and in PDF and Word exports.

Indent a paragraph

To move a paragraph in from the left, click in it, then click the Increase indent button in the toolbar (right after the list buttons). The whole paragraph moves, not just its first line. Decrease indent moves it back.

It works on a heading or a list item too. To move several at once, select them first. You can go up to three levels in, which is handy for tucking notes under a list item.

To move in only the first line of a paragraph, like in a book, click at the very start of the paragraph and press Tab.

Add a table

A table puts information in rows and columns, like a schedule or a price list.

To add one, click where you want it, then click the Table button in the toolbar. A table three boxes wide and three tall appears. The first row is the header, for the names of your columns.

Click in a box and type. Tab moves to the next box and Shift+ Tab goes back. Pressing Tab in the very last box adds a new row.

To add or remove rows and columns, click in the table, then click the Table button again (or right-click). You can add a row above or below, a column left or right, or delete a row, a column or the whole table.

From one of your cDox sheets: select some cells, copy them ( Ctrl+ C) and paste them into your page ( Ctrl+ V). They arrive as a table, with bold, italics and links kept.

Choose a font

To change your page's font (the style of the letters), click the Font button in the toolbar and pick one. Each name is shown in its own font, so you can see what it looks like. The font applies to the whole page.

Three fonts are free: System sans serif (plain, straight letters), System serif (letters with small feet, like in a book) and Times New Roman, which schools often ask for. Pro gives you twelve more, including a typewriter font.

The font is part of the page. Anyone who opens it, even through a public link, sees it in the font you chose. It carries into print and the Word export too.

Change the line spacing

Line spacing is the space between the lines of your writing. To change it, click the Line spacing button in the toolbar (right after column width) and choose Compact, Normal or Double. Double spacing is often asked for in school work and manuscripts.

Line spacing is part of the page, like the font. Everyone who opens it sees it, even through a public link, and it carries into print and the Word and PDF exports.

Check your spelling

As you write in a page on a computer, misspelled words get a wavy red line. Right-click the word to see up to five suggestions at the top of the menu, and click the right one to fix it. If you change your mind, Undo brings the old word back.

Not a typo? Choose Add to dictionary for a name or a word you use often. cDox remembers it on all your computers. Choose Ignore to leave the word alone in this page until you close it.

To check in another language, open My Account and pick a Language in the Spelling section: English (Canada), French, English (US) or English (UK). This only changes the spelling check, not the language cDox is shown in. In English (Canada), words like colour, favour and centre count as correct.

To see or remove the words you've added, choose Personal dictionary in the same place.

Make the text bigger or smaller

To see the text bigger, or fit more of the page on screen, use the zoom buttons at the end of the toolbar. You can go from 75% to 200%. Zoom is also in the right-click menu.

Zoom only changes what you see on your screen. The page stays the same for everyone else.

Add a footnote

A footnote adds a detail, like a source, without interrupting your writing. A small number appears in the sentence and the note itself goes at the end of the page.

To add one, click where the number should go, then click the Footnote button (the asterisk) in the toolbar. Type your note and save. You stay right where you were writing.

The numbers follow the order of the text and put themselves back in order when you add or remove a note. To change or delete a note, click its number. You can also edit a note right at the bottom of the page. The arrow at the end of each note takes you back to the text.

Link to a section of your page

In a long page, you can make a link that jumps straight to one of your headings, like a table of contents.

Select the text for the link and click the Link button. Instead of typing an address, open the Jump to section menu at the bottom of the panel. It lists every heading on your page. Pick one, and the link will take readers there.

For example, you can put a short list of links at the top of the page so readers can go straight to the part they need.