How To Use The HASpod Editor

As you may know, we've been hard at work updating all of our health and safety templates, which includes a brand new editor. If you edit any of our templates, you will use the new editor, so here's a detailed guide on how it works.

We have designed the toolbar to be user friendly, and each icon should match (or be close to) the industry standard. For example, bold is a B icon, a list looks like a list, a checkbox looks like a checkbox etc.

And if you used our old editor or even another editor somewhere else, the icons should look fairly familiar.

Saving

There's a save button on the right of the toolbar, and you can click it anytime you want to save your changes. But don't worry if you forget, your edits will be saved automatically for you every minute, and when you download, and before you exit the editor*.

*If you refresh your browser while editing, or close the browser, any changes you made within the last minute might not be saved. Click save first, or to save and exit, exit the editor using the arrow at the left of the header or by clicking Exit in the document menu.

Undo & Redo

If you make a change you are not happy with, don't fret! You can find undo and redo buttons at the far right of the toolbar. You can click the undo button to quickly reverse the change you have made. And you can click the redo button if you change your mind.

Text

Sometimes you need your text to stand out. Or not. You can find all the standard text formatting options in the editor.

Bold

Select some text, and click the bold button, the text is now bold. You can also select bold text and click the bold button to make it not bold.

Italic

Select some text, and click the italic button, the text is now italic. You can also select italic text and click the italic button to make it not italic.

Underline

Select some text, and click the underline button, the text is now underlined. You can also select underlined text and click the underline button to make it not underlined.

Strikethrough

Select some text, and click the strikethrough button, the text is now struck through. We don't often use this in templates, but in your edits, it might be useful for text that is no longer relevant (or you could just delete it!).

Highlight

Want some important text to stand out? Maybe use bold, but for that extra emphasis, why not highlight it! Select some text, and click the highlight button!

Links

Sometimes you might need to refer to other files (like a report or a form), or webpages (like an online system you use) from your document. To add a link, highlight the text you want to turn into a link. This will activate the link button. Now click the link button to add your link.

Superscript

Superscript is pretty useful for technical text, like the sort you find in health and safety documents. Select some text, and click the superscript button, the text is now ^superscript.

Headers

Headers are a really useful thing to have in documents, instead of a wall of text, you can break content up into chapters or sections. Our templates include headers, so of course, you can add and remove them in the editor.

Heading 1

The H1 (heading 1) is the top-level header. It would usually be the title of your document at the top of the first page.

Heading 2, 3, 4

Then we break our documents into sections using H2 (heading 2), H3 (heading 3) and H4 (heading 4), depending on importance. You can use the editor to add and remove headings when you use our templates.

Headings are also special because they integrate with one of our new features, the table of contents.

Alignment

You can align your text to the left (default), centre, or right. This is especially handy to align text inside tables.

Lists

Sometimes, a list is all you need. No long sentences, just a quick and easy list.

Bullet List

If your list isn't in any particular order, like a list of hazards or PPE, you can use a bullet list. Click anywhere in the document, and then click the bullet list button. If you have selected some existing text, it will be turned into a bullet list.

Number List

If your list is in a specific order, like some instructions, you can add a number list. Click anywhere in the document, and then click the number list button. If you have selected some existing text, it will be turned into a number list.

Checklist

If your list is some options, like a list of PPE, and you want to tick the applicable ones, you can use a checklist. Click anywhere in the document, and then click the checklist button. If you have selected some existing text, it will be turned into a checklist.

To tick a checklist item, click on the box and a tick will appear!

Checkbox

If you want to add a checkbox to your document on its own, you can do that too. Click the checkbox item and a checkbox is inserted wherever you are in the document.

Clear Formatting

You can usually undo some formatting by clicking whatever has been applied. For example select bold text, and click the bold button to remove the bold formatting. It's sometimes quicker if multiple formats have been applied to select the text and click the clear formatting button.

Tables

Tables can be really useful for organising content in documents, and we've simplified the table editing in the new editor so that tables are easier to, well, edit.

Click the table button to add a table. Once you have a table selected, a table dropdown menu becomes available.

Header Cells

These are usually the top row of a table and are a bit like labels in that they tell you what is in the column below. They can also be used throughout the table.

If the column doesn't have much content, you can make the header S (small) or XS (extra small) to shrink the column down, both on the screen and in your PDF download.

If the entire top row of a table is header cells, it will repeat at the top of the page if your table goes across multiple pages in your downloaded PDF.

Merge Cells & Split Cells

You can merge cells, for example, combine two cells into one. Select both cells (both cells will be highlighted) and click Merge Cells from the table dropdown menu. Any merged cell can be split again, by selecting the cell and clicking Split Cells.

Rows

You can add rows before or after your current row, or delete your current row (or rows) from the table dropdown menu.

Columns

You can add columns before or after your current column, or delete your current column (or columns) from the table dropdown menu.

Deleting a Table

To delete a table, you can delete all the rows (or columns), or select the entire table and hit the back button on your keyboard.

Lines

You can add a horizontal line in your edit, by clicking the line button. We don't use these in our templates, but some people like to use them. We prefer headers for breaking up content, but if you need a line, here's where you can find one!

Pagebreak

Your finished document can be downloaded to PDF, but you might want a particular section to always start on a new page. For example, the table of contents (see below). Click the pagebreak button to add a pagebreak to your document. A pagebreak will show as a dashed line in the editor but don't worry, it won't be visible on your finished document.

You can delete a pagebreak just like you delete text, select it and hit the back button on your keyboard.

Table of Contents

Some of our templates include a table of contents as standard, but you used to only see it on the PDF. Now you can see the table of contents in the template and the editor.

The table of contents is auto-generated from your headers. If you add a new heading (H2, H3, or H4)** anywhere in your edit, it will get picked up and added to the table of contents, in real-time!

**The table of contents doesn't include h1 elements because it's best practice to use this for the main title (or title of your document in this case).

If you are working on a pretty long template, like a policy or a report, it will probably already include a table of contents. But you can also add one yourself. The icon looks like a page with lines on it.

Your table of contents will also link to the header in the document, so if you want to jump to a section, just click on the title in the table of contents.

In the PDF download of your finished document, the table of contents will also link through the section you click on, and include page numbers.

Images

Image uploads are available on the Documents Plan membership.

You can add images*** to your document by dragging a png or jpeg format image into the editor, or by clicking the image button.

We will upload and save your image on your account, so that it can be displayed in your document, both on the screen and in your PDF download.

You can delete an image from your document just like you delete text, select it and hit the back button on your keyboard.

***Image uploads are available on the Documents Plan membership.

---

Don't have a HASpod account yet? You can try out the editor today on our Free Plan. We include free health and safety templates for you to use.