Styling the Reminder Box Text
Contents
Styling the Reminder Box Text
The Reminder Box Text editor is where you make changes that affect the text in every Reminder Box on your pages.
Below is a screenshot of the toolbar for the Reminder Box Text...
If you're ever unsure what a button does, hover over it for a second. Its function will appear as a tooltip.
Text
With the Text tools, you can customize the following for all the Reminder Box text...
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font type, including choosing a Google Font
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font size
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bold and italic
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text color
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text alignment
You can also customize other options by opening the Advanced Styles overlay.
Font Picker
- Click on the A button.
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Click on a tab to review the fonts available to you. Hover over a font to preview it. Click on a font to select it.
Or click on Reset to Template Default to return to the default font. - Click on Set Font to save this selection, Cancel to close the tool and make no change.
Click on the A button to change the font of your text. An overlay window opens on top of your style.
Click on a tab to see the fonts in that type of font. Be sure to scroll down to see the entire list. These font categories include...
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Sans Serif (Arial, Verdana, etc.)
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Monospace (Courier, etc.)
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Serif (Palatino, Georgia, etc.)
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Display (many of these make good headline fonts)
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Handwriting (handwriting and printing fonts)
Preview each font by hovering over its name and viewing the preview text.
Select the font you want to use. It will now have a red border.
Click on Set Font to save your selection.
The overlay window will close and all the Reminder Box's filler text will immediately appear with the selected font.
Font Size
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Click on the + button to increase the size of the text. Click on the – button to decrease the text size.
Or click on the number to open the edit box. Double-click on the number and type in the new size.
While it's important to make the font size big enough for your target audience to read, it could be slightly smaller than the main text.
Or, if you want to make it seem more important, make it slightly bigger than the main text size.
Click on the + button to make the text larger, or click on the – button to make the text smaller.
The reminder text will immediately appear in a different size (one pixel bigger or smaller, per click) in the style. The size indicator will also change to the current pixel size.
Click on that button again to continue increasing or decreasing the font size. The size indicator will continue to change.
You can also click on the current size number (in the screenshot below, 15). This opens a small edit box. Double-click on the number to highlight it, then type in the size you want. Click anywhere in the toolbar to close the box. You'll see your new number there, and the text will display in that new size.
Bold and Italic
- Click on the B button to add bold to the reminder text.
- Click on the I button to italicize the text.
Since reminder text is usually short, you may want to have it stand out by making it all bold.
However, that means that you can't use bold to emphasize certain parts of the reminder text.
Adding italics (the I button) to the text is another good way to make it look different than the other text on the page.
Highlight text and click on the B button to make the text bold.
Highlight text and click on the I button to italicize text.
Bold and italic can be combined (click on both buttons) to have text that looks like this.
Text Color
- Click on the Color Palette button to open the color picker.
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Select a color from the palette. Click on the rainbow slider to choose another color base for the palette.
Or enter a 6 character hex value. Or, if you've already saved colors, choose one from Your Custom Colors.
Or click on Reset to Template Default to go back to the original text color. - Click Set Text Color to save this selection. Click Cancel to close the tool and make no change.
The color of your reminder text should suit the overall look of your style.
But, more importantly, it needs to provide a good user experience for your readers. That means making it a high contrast color.
Black text on a white background is by far the easiest to read online, as that's what we're accustomed to reading offline. Dark gray on white is almost as good
Using a dark shade of a color on a lighter shade of the same color will make your content hard to read.
White on black tends to be harder to read as well, although many sites directed towards younger audiences use this to good effect.
The most important factor here is readability. Choose a font color that your audience can read easily. If that means selecting black over a color that might fit the color scheme of your site, go with black.
Click on the Color Palette button. This opens an overlay window with the color picker.
Select the color you want from the palette, enter a 6 character hex value, or select a color from Your Custom Colors.
You can also go back to the original color in your style by clicking on Reset to Template Default.
Click on Set Text Color to save your selection. The overlay window will close. You'll see the reminder text with this color change.
Tips
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The color inside the small circle is indicated in the hex value box. Alternately, entering a 6 character hex value changes the location of the small circle inside the palette.
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Dragging the slider in the rainbow column leaves the small circle in the same position on the palette, as the colors change beneath it.
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As you set colors in the various color pickers (text, border, background), those colors are added to a "crayon box" (called Your Custom Colors) for easy access when editing other parts of your style. Use Your Custom Colors to create a color scheme for your site.
Alignment
- Click on the Align Left, Align Center, Align Right or Justify button to choose the text alignment.
The default alignment for the Reminder Box Text is left-aligned. That alignment makes for the easiest on-screen reading.
Why? Because it gives readers a standard left edge while also providing useful "end-of-line" cues to help them move from one line to the next.
This is a time when Justify could be a good option. Since reminder text is usually short, having justified right line endings can make the text stand out more.
Advanced Styles
- Click on the gears button to open the Advanced Styles overlay.
- Adjust the letter spacing, word spacing and line height. Use the font variant and text transform, if desired.
- Click on the x in the top left corner of the overlay to close it.
Advanced Styles for text allow you to change various options for how the reminder text appears on your pages.
Letter Spacing lets you add or remove space between the letters in every word in every Reminder Box on every page of your site.
Click on the + button to add space, and the – button to remove space. Or click on the Revert button to go back to the default spacing.
Word Spacing lets you add or remove space between every word in every Reminder Box on every page of your site.
Click on the + button to add space, and the – button to remove space. Or click on the Revert button to go back to the default spacing.
Line Height lets you add or remove space between every line in every Reminder Box on every page of your site.
Click on the + button to increase the line height, and the – button to decrease it. Or click on the Revert button to go back to the default line height.
Font Variant lets you switch to an ALL CAPS version of your font. Any letter that would normally be capitalized has a slightly larger height than the "lowercase" letters.
Text Transform lets you set each word to start with a Capitalized Letter, or have every word start with a lower text letter, or make every letter a CAPITAL.
When you're done, click on the x in the top left corner of the overlay to close it and return to the Site Designer main toolbar.
Background
You have several options for the background of your Reminder Box Text.
You can select a color from the color palette. You can upload a background image. You can also keep the background as is, with no changes, or revert to the default for your style.
You also have full control, in the Advanced Styles overlay, of the positioning and tiling of any background image that you upload.
Background Color
- Click on the Color Palette button.
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Click on the palette to select a color. Click on the rainbow slider to choose another color base for the palette.
Or enter a 6 character hex value. Or, if you've already saved colors, choose one from Your Custom Colors. Or select Transparent.
Or click on Reset to Template Default to go back to the original background color. - Click Set Background Color to save this selection. Click Cancel to close the tool and make no change.
Select a background color that suits your style's overall color scheme.
For example, if your style's color scheme is various shades of green, you may want to choose another shade of green. Or perhaps a brown color would work.
But a pink or a bright orange would not likely be a good choice.
Click on the color palette button to open the color picker.
Select your color by clicking on the palette or dragging the small circle around the palette. Click on the rainbow slider to reach the desired palette of colors.
Or you can enter a 6 character hex value for the color you want to use.
You can also choose from a color in Your Custom Colors, which is available after you've selected at least one custom color in any of the color pickers. Hover over any color to see where else in your design that you've used that color.
Another option is to choose Transparent. This will make the background beneath your reminder text the color of the column where you put the Reminder Box.
Click on Set Background Color to save your change. The overlay window will close and your new background color will appear.
Upload Background Image
- Click on the Upload Image button.
- Click on the Browse button (Choose File if you're using Safari). Navigate to the desired background image and select it.
- Click on the Upload New Background Image button.
If you would like your reminder text to sit on something more than just a background color, you can upload an image.
Most background images are small images that are then "tiled," that is, they're repeated from left to right, or from top to bottom, or both.
So ensure that you have an image that looks good when repeated multiple times across and down the page, especially since the text of each Reminder Box can have a different length (the width stays the same, after you set it, in the Width section).
You may have to experiment with different image widths and heights until you find the right image size that looks good when tiled.
Click on the Upload Image button (second from the left). This will open an overlay window...
Click on Browse (Choose File if you're using Safari) to locate the file. Click to select the file.
Click on Upload New Background Image to upload it.
The overlay window will close. You'll see the Reminder Box Text with your new background image.
Remove Background Image
- Click on the Remove Image button.
If you uploaded a background image, but decide you'd like to have no image, you can remove it.
The background image appearing behind the text of the Reminder Box will disappear, leaving you with the current background color.
Reset
- Click on the Reset button.
You can also reset the background image changes you made. This resets only the background image settings.
It does not affect the text settings you made (above) or any other changes to your style.
Advanced Styles
- Click on the gears button to open the Advanced Styles overlay.
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Click on Position V and select from Top, Center and Bottom.
And/or click on Position H and select from Left, Center and Right. -
Click on the Down arrow button to activate image tiling vertically.
And/or click on the Right arrow to activate image tiling horizontally. - Click again on the Down arrow button to deactivate tiling vertically. Click again on the Right arrow to deactivate tiling horizontally.
If you uploaded a background image, you have full control over it.
You can change the position of the image (Position V or Position H) or tile it down the browser window or across the window (Down arrow and Right arrow buttons).
For the Reminder Box Text, activate the tiling (there will be a border around the activated button) so that the image fills the entire Reminder Box Text area.
Position
You can fine tune the position of your Reminder Box text with the Position options of Margin and Padding.
- Click on the gears button to open the Advanced Styles overlay.
- Click on the Margin Left + button to make the text narrower on the left, or type in a number. Click on the Margin Right + button to make the text narrower on the right, or type in a number. Click on the – button to reverse the movement.
- Click on the Margin Top + button to move the text away from the Reminder Box Headline, or type in a number. Click on the Margin Bottom + button to move the text away from the bottom of the Reminder Box, or type in a number. Click on the – button to reverse the movement.
- Click on the Padding Left + button to add extra space to the left of the text, or type in a number. Click on the Padding Right + button to add extra space to the right of the text, or type in a number. Click on the – button to reduce the space.
- Click on the Padding Top + button to add extra space above the text, or type in a number. Click on the Padding Bottom + button to add extra space below the text, or type in a number. Click on the – button to reverse the movement.
The Margin Left and Right make the space for the Reminder Box text narrower (+ button) or wider (– button).
You can also click on the number and type in the margin you want.
The Margin Top and Bottom increase the amount of space (+ button) between the text and the box headline (Top) and between the text and the bottom of the box (Bottom). The – buttons decrease the amount of space.
You can also click on the number and type in the margin you want.
Padding Left and Right add space to the left or right of the text (+ button) or remove space (– button).
You can also click on the number and type in the padding you want.
Padding Top and Bottom add space above the text and below it (+ button) or remove space (– button).
You can also click on the number and type in the padding you want.
You can also switch from pixels (px) to percentages (%). Click on px and select % from the small menu. To switch back to pixels, repeat the process.
Click on any of the buttons or a combination to position the Reminder Box text exactly where you want it.