Page Builder Formatting and Supported HTML

Overview

The Page Builder's content editor gives you a rich set of formatting tools to create engaging, well-structured content for your learners. Whether you're building a simple text page or a more complex layout with images, tables, and embedded videos, the editor keeps your content clean, consistent, and secure.

This article explains what formatting is available, what gets preserved when you paste content from external sources, and what the editor automatically removes to keep your pages safe and reliable.

Functionality Breakdown

Text Formatting

The toolbar gives you direct access to the most common text formatting options:

• Bold - emphasise key points

• Italic - add emphasis or denote titles

• Underline - draw attention to specific words or phrases

• Strikethrough - show removed or outdated content

• Subscript and Superscript - for scientific notation, footnotes, or mathematical expressions

• Inline code - display short code snippets within a sentence

• Text colour and background colour - highlight or style text using the toolbar colour picker

• Font family - change the typeface for specific sections

Structure and Layout

• Headings (H1-H6) - organise your content with a clear heading hierarchy using the format menu

• Paragraphs - standard body text

• Bullet lists - unordered lists for non-sequential items

• Numbered lists - ordered lists for step-by-step instructions or ranked content

• Blockquotes - call out quotes or important passages

• Horizontal rules - visually separate sections of content

• Line breaks - control spacing within paragraphs

• Code blocks - display multi-line code samples with preserved formatting

Tables

Tables are fully supported for presenting structured data:

• Standard table structure with rows, header cells, and body cells

• Column spanning and row spanning

• Border styling

⚠️ Use the table toolbar to insert and manage tables rather than pasting table HTML directly.

Images

You can insert images via the editor toolbar. The following image properties are supported:

• Source URL

• Alternative text (for accessibility)

• Width and height

Links

Links are fully supported, including the ability to open them in a new tab. As a security measure, all links automatically have rel="noopener noreferrer" applied - this protects your learners when they navigate to external sites.

Embedded Content (iframes)

Embedded content is added using the Embed media button in the toolbar. Selecting it opens a dialog reading "Paste an embed code or URL", where you paste your content and select Insert.

It accepts either of the following:

• A full embed code, usually an <iframe> snippet

• A direct URL

YouTube and Vimeo URLs are converted automatically into the correct embeddable format. For any other source, paste the full embed code instead of the URL. There is no restriction on which host you can embed from, so content from SharePoint, Microsoft Stream, Loom, H5P, Google and others all work when you supply the embed code.

Embedded content supports a source URL, width and height, a title, and fullscreen mode. The frameborder, sandbox and allow attributes are removed on save.

💡 The Video option is a separate tool from Embed media. The Video option accepts URLs from YouTube, Vimeo, Vidyard, Wistia, and classic Microsoft Stream only, and shows "Not a recognised video URL" for anything else, including SharePoint addresses. For those, use Embed media with the full embed code, or upload the video file directly as a Video item.

Pasting from External Sources

Microsoft Word

Content pasted from Microsoft Word is handled intelligently:

• Word's styled lists are automatically converted to proper HTML bullet and numbered lists

• Word-specific formatting styles (such as mso-* properties) are cleaned up automatically

• General text formatting such as bold and italic is preserved where possible

Google Docs

Content pasted from Google Docs goes through the standard HTML sanitisation process. Basic formatting such as bold, italic, headings, and lists is preserved. Some Google-specific styling is simplified in the process.

What Gets Removed

The editor uses an allowlist-based approach to sanitisation - meaning only explicitly supported content is kept. The following are automatically stripped to keep your pages secure and reliable:

⚠️ If your formatting disappears after saving, the content probably included one of the unsupported elements listed above - check the table and reformat using the toolbar.

Prerequisites

To create or edit content in the Page Builder, you will need:

• Access to create or edit Items within your organisation

Role Requirements

Quick Start Guide

1. Navigate to Content in the sidebar and open or create an Item.

2. Select Page as the item type if creating a new item.

3. Use the toolbar at the top of the editor to apply formatting - bold, italic, headings, lists, and more.

4. To insert an image, click the image icon in the toolbar and enter the image URL and alt text.

5. To embed content, select the Embed media button and paste either an embed code or a URL, then select Insert. YouTube and Vimeo URLs convert automatically; for other sources paste the full embed code.

6. To insert a table, click the table icon and select your desired number of rows and columns.

7. To add a link, highlight your text, click the link icon, and enter the URL. Tick the option to open in a new tab if the link leads to an external site.

8. When you are happy with your content, save the item and preview it to confirm it looks as expected.

FAQs

Q: Can I paste content from Microsoft Word?
Yes. When you paste from Word, the editor automatically converts Word's formatting into clean HTML - including converting styled lists to proper bullet or numbered lists. Some complex Word layouts may be simplified in the process.

Q: Can I embed a YouTube or Vimeo video?
Yes. Select the Embed media button and paste the video URL. YouTube and Vimeo links are converted into the correct embeddable format automatically. Native <video> tags are not supported.

Q: Can I embed from a source other than YouTube or Vimeo?
Yes. Paste the full embed code from that source into the Embed media dialog rather than the URL. Automatic conversion only applies to YouTube and Vimeo, but any host can be embedded when you supply the complete embed code.

Q: Will editing a page remove content I embedded earlier?
No. Embedded content is preserved when a description is edited and saved again.

Q: Why did my formatting disappear after saving?
This usually happens when pasted content includes unsupported elements such as JavaScript, CSS style blocks, form fields, or HTML5 semantic tags like <section> or <article>. The editor strips these automatically for security and consistency. Refer to the "What Gets Removed" section above for a full list.

Q: Can I use custom CSS or JavaScript in my pages?
No. <style> blocks and <script> tags are removed automatically. Inline style attributes for things like text colour and font are supported, but full custom CSS is not available in the Page Builder editor.

Q: Can I use SVG or Canvas graphics?
Not directly within the editor. You can link to or embed image files, but SVG and Canvas elements are not supported in page content.

Q: Are links safe for learners to click?
Yes. All links automatically have rel="noopener noreferrer" applied by the system, which is a standard security measure that prevents malicious behaviour from external sites when a link opens in a new tab.

Q: Can I add a table with merged cells?
Yes. The editor supports column spanning (colspan) and row spanning (rowspan) within tables.

Q: Can I use code blocks for technical content?
Yes. Both inline code and multi-line code blocks are supported, making the Page Builder suitable for technical documentation and developer-facing content.

Troubleshooting