Ribbons

Opens the New Document dialog, where you can create a new document based on a factory or existing template. If a Flare author has sent you a contribution template that you have saved, you can select that template when creating the new document.

Opens a dialog, which lets you open any type of file supported by Contributor.

Click the face of the button to save changes to the active file. You can also select the following from the submenu:

• Save Saves changes to the active file.
• Save As Opens the Save As dialog, which lets you save the active file under a different name and/or file type and to a particular location. The new file is then displayed in the editor.
• Save To Opens the Save As dialog, which lets you save the active file under a different name and/or file type and to a particular location. The new file is not automatically displayed in the editor.

Click the face of the button to open the Print dialog and send a file to a printer. You can also select the following from the submenu:

• Print Opens the Print dialog, which lets you send a file to a printer. Make sure that the item that you want to print is selected. For example, if you want to print a topic from the online Help, first click somewhere inside the topic so that it is the active element in the interface.
• Print Preview Opens the Print Preview dialog, which lets you see how a document looks before you send it to a printer. Make sure that the item that you want to preview is selected. For example, if you want to preview a topic from the online Help, first click somewhere inside the topic so that it is the active element in the interface.

Opens the Properties dialog for the selected item.

Click the arrow to open a submenu, which lets you select various SharePoint options for the selected file(s). See SharePoint Integration.

• Check In Opens the Check In dialog, which lets you check files into SharePoint. When you are finished editing files, you can check them in to SharePoint. See Checking In SharePoint Files.
• Check Out Opens the Check Out dialog, which lets you check out files from SharePoint. See Checking Out SharePoint Files.
• Undo Check Out Opens the Undo Check Out dialog, which lets you reverse the check-out of the files. See Undoing a Check-Out of SharePoint Files.

Click the face of the button to close the active file.

Displays a list of recently opened files. You can select one from the list to open it. You can also remove files from the list of recently opened files, which lets you keep the list shorter and more manageable. When you use this feature, the file is merely removed from the list, but the actual file is not deleted.

Opens the Options dialog, which lets you set various options. For more details, see Options Dialog.

Pastes the selection from the clipboard to the place where the cursor is inserted.

Cuts the selection and sends it to the clipboard.

Copies the selection and sends it to the clipboard.

Deletes the selection.

Lets you select a font type (e.g., Arial, Times New Roman), applying it to the content selected in the topic or document.

Lets you select a font size, applying it to the content selected in the topic or document.

Applies bold typeface to the content selected in the topic or document.

Applies italic typeface to the content selected in the topic or document.

Underlines the content selected in the topic or document.

Raises the selected content in the topic or document above the normal line of text (e.g., X²).

Lowers the selected content in the topic or document below the normal line of text (e.g., X₂).

Removes local formatting in a selection or even an entire topic or document. See Removing Inline Formatting.

Lets you choose and apply a color to the selected content.

Lets you choose and apply a color to the background of the selected content.

You can set redacted text on any kind of content (e.g., characters, paragraphs, images, tables). You can do this locally at the font level by highlighting each piece of content, or you can specify redaction on a style and then apply that style to content whenever necessary. It is recommended that you use styles whenever possible. Redaction occurs when content is permanently eliminated from a printed or electronic document. In place of that content, end users will see black rectangles that indicate where the original content was found. See Redacted Text and Setting Redacted Text on Content.

Opens the Font Properties dialog, which lets you edit the font properties for topic content directly.

Lets you select one of several kinds of bullet or numbered lists, applying it to the selected content.

• Bullet List Applies a bulleted list to the selected content.

• Circle Bullet List Applies a bulleted list to the selected content. The bullets are circles.
• Square Bullet List Applies a bulleted list to the selected content. The bullets are squares.
• Numbered List Applies a numbered list to the selected content.
• Lower-alpha Numbered List Applies a numbered list to the selected content where lowercase alpha characters are used (a., b., c., d., etc.)
• Upper-alpha Numbered List Applies a numbered list to the selected content where uppercase alpha characters are used (A., B., C., D., etc.)
• Lower-Roman Numbered List Applies a numbered list to the selected content where lowercase Roman numerals are used (i., ii., iii., iv., etc.)
• Upper-Roman Numbered List Applies a numbered list to the selected content where uppercase Roman numerals are used (I., II., III., IV., etc.)
• Custom Format Opens a custom list format that lets you create a uniquely styled list up to 10 levels deep. You can also select an existing custom format from this submenu to apply it to the selected content in your topic or snippet. At this time, custom list formats are supported only in PDF output. After browsers begin to support the CSS3 marker element that makes custom list formats possible, this feature will automatically be supported in browser-based outputs as well. Until then, if you want to generate a browser-based output, you should use the standard method for creating lists instead. See Creating Custom List Formats.

Removes the group tag from a paragraph, thus "outdenting" it.

Lets you use a group tag such as <div> to indent content. Another method for indenting content is through the use of margin or padding settings on a style. See Indenting Paragraphs.

Lets you apply miscellaneous actions to selected content in a list. These actions are as follows.

• Merge With Previous List Combines a list with another list immediately before it.
• Merge With Next List Combines a list with another list immediately following it.
• Sort List Reorders the items in the list alphabetically.
• Reverse List Reorders the items in the list so that they appear in reverse order (i.e., first item is last, last item is first).
• Unbind List Removes the list designation from the content so that it displays as regular text.

• Continue Sequence Ensures that the next list you create in the topic starts with the next number in the sequence of the list above (even if the two lists are separated by other content).

  Example You have a numbered list from 1 to 10 at the top of your topic and you add a few regular paragraphs (not in a list) after it. If you start another numbered list and select this option, the new list will start at 11.

• List Start Number Lets you specify a number to start a numbered list.

• Item Number Lets you specify a number to start a selected item in a numbered list.

  Example You have a numbered list from 1 to 10. If you click in the paragraph with the number 7 and then use this option to start numbering at 23, your list would change so the numbering displayed as 1 to 6, and then 23 to 26.

• Move Up Moves the selected item in the list above the item before it.
• Move Down Moves the selected item in the list below the item after it.
• Make Simple Item(s) Lets you return a line in a list from a paragraph item to a simple item (an <li> tag without a <p> tag following it). Paragraph items can be used in numbered or bulleted lists, for example, to add comments without disrupting the flow of the list.
• Make Paragraph Item(s) Lets you add a <p> tag after the <li> tag in a numbered or bulleted list. You can then add more lines after a list item without adding numbers or bullets to those lines. Paragraph items can be used in numbered or bulleted lists, for example, to add comments without disrupting the flow of the list.

Groups selected items. The Create Group dialog opens, which lets you create a group from selected content and apply one of the following tags to it: <blockquote>, <div>, <fieldset>, <form>. See Creating Tag Groups.

Aligns the selected content to the left.

Aligns the selected content in the center.

Aligns the selected content to the right.

Spaces the selected content so that both the left and right sides are aligned.

Resets the alignment of the selected text to the default (inherited) setting.

Opens the Paragraph Properties dialog, which lets you edit the paragraph properties for topic content directly. This includes the ability to apply page breaks, column breaks, and widow/orphan control to a paragraph directly. See Paragraph Formatting.

Opens the Styles window pane, which displays styles contained in the stylesheets that are associated with the current topic. The styles that are shown depend on the positioning of your cursor in the topic. For example, if the cursor is highlighting multiple paragraphs or is simply placed somewhere within a paragraph, the paragraph styles are shown in the Styles window pane. If the cursor is highlighting a portion of a paragraph, the character styles are shown. For more information see Styles and Stylesheets and Applying Styles to Content.

Opens the Formatting window pane, which has two tabs. The Style Inspector tab lets you see the style details for selected content in the open file (e.g., topic, snippet), and even edit those styles if necessary, without having to open the full stylesheet. The Local Properties tab displays local formatting for the selected content in a topic. See Using the Style Inspector and Local Formatting.

Lets you select a style from a style sheet, applying that style to the content selected in the topic or document. See Styles and Stylesheets.

Opens the Create Style dialog, which lets you create a new style for the content selected in the content file. See Creating Selectors.

Opens the Stylesheet Links dialog, which lets you apply one or more stylesheets to the active content file. See Associating Stylesheets Locally With Specific Files.

Opens the Create Snippet dialog, which lets you create a new snippet from the content selected in the topic. See Creating New Snippets From Content.

This window pane is used to set attributes for a tag. Attributes let you provide additional information about tagged content and how that content should behave. See Attributes Window Pane.

Opens the Condition tags dialog, which lets you apply condition tags to content. See Applying Conditions to Content.

Opens the Select Language dialog, which lets you choose a language for the selected content.

Opens the Quick Find widget in the upper-right corner of the open document. This lets you search for text in that document. See Using the Quick Find and Replace Widgets.

Opens the Quick Replace widget in the upper-right corner of the open document. This is the same as the Quick Find widget, except that it opens with the replace fields already in view. It lets you search for and replace text in that document. See Using the Quick Find and Replace Widgets.

Opens a submenu, which lets you choose from various options.

• Find and Replace in Files Opens the Find and Replace in Files window pane, which lets you search for and replace text in multiple documents. .See Finding and Replacing Text.
• Find Results 1 Opens the Find Results 1 window pane, which is used to display results from a search in the Find in and Replace in Files window pane.
• Find Results 2 Opens the Find Results 2 window pane, which is used to display results from a search in the Find in and Replace in Files window pane.

Opens a dialog that lets you insert an image at the location of the cursor. See Inserting Images.

Opens a submenu, which lets you select options for inserting multimedia (audio and video). See Insert Multimedia Dialog.

• Flash Movie Opens the Insert Multimedia dialog, with tabs designed specifically for inserting Adobe Flash files.
• Windows Media Player Opens the Insert Multimedia dialog, with tabs designed specifically for inserting Windows Media files.
• Quicktime Movie Opens the Insert Multimedia dialog, with tabs designed specifically for inserting Quicktime files.
• YouTube/Vimeo Opens the Insert Multimedia dialog, with tabs designed specifically for linking to YouTube or Vimeo movies and embedding them in your content files.

Opens the Screen Capture dialog, which lets you insert a screen capture image into a topic. You must have MadCap Capture installed on your computer in order to use this feature. See Inserting Screen Capture Images.

Opens the Insert QR Code dialog, which lets you create and insert a QR code into a document or topic. See Inserting QR Codes.

Inserts a slideshow element into a document or topic. You can use a slideshow as an alternative way to display content, using navigation controls to move from slide to slide to view different content. You can place most kinds of content into a slideshow, including snippets, text, tables, and more. See Inserting and Navigating in Slideshows and Slideshows.

Opens a submenu, which lets you select options for inserting a table, rows, and columns.

• Table Opens the Insert Table dialog, which lets you configure and insert a new table into a topic. See Inserting Tables.
• Columns to the Left Inserts a new column in a table. The new column is inserted to the left of the area where the cursor is inserted.
• Columns to the Right Inserts a new column in a table. The new column is inserted to the right of the area where the cursor is inserted.
• Rows Above Inserts a new row in a table. The new row is inserted above the area where the cursor is inserted.
• Rows Below Inserts a new row in a table. The new row is inserted below the area where the cursor is inserted.

Opens the Insert Hyperlink dialog, which lets you insert a text hyperlink into a topic. See Inserting Text Hyperlinks.

Opens the Insert Cross-Reference dialog, which lets you insert a cross-reference into a document or topic. See Inserting Cross-References.

Opens the Manage Bookmarks dialog, which lets you insert a bookmark into a topic. See Inserting Bookmarks.

Opens the Named Destination dialog, where you can name and insert a named destination for use in Adobe PDF output. This allows you point to a specific place in a PDF from the selected location. See Creating Named Destinations.

Creates and inserts an index keyword at the location in your topic or document where text is selected. To enable this option, you must first select the text in the topic or document that you want to use as the index keyword. See Inserting Index Keywords.

Opens the Insert Snippet Link dialog, which lets you insert a snippet into a document or topic. See Inserting Snippets.

Opens the Variables dialog, which lets you insert a variable. See Inserting Variables.

Opens the Insert Text Box dialog, which lets you insert a box into a topic (using a <div> tag) so that you can add content to it. A text box can be positioned in a variety of places on a page (e.g., aligned left on the page, outside frame, center of column). See Text Boxes.

Opens the Insert Footnote/Endnote dialog, which lets you insert a footnote or endnote. When inserting a footnote or endnote, an indicator (a number by default) is added at the location where your cursor is placed in the topic. Also, you can determine where the accompanying comment is inserted. A footnote is typically added at the end of a page, but you can also insert an endnote at the end of a document, chapter, section, or book. See Footnotes.

Opens the Insert Rule dialog, which lets you insert a rule (horizontal line) into a document or topic. See Inserting Horizontal Rules.

Inserts a manual page break into a document or topic. Placing a page break on a style may be the preferred method in many cases, but there may be times when you find that it makes more sense to use an independent page break directly in the content file. This might be the case, for example, if you need a page break to occur after a paragraph and just before a heading, but only in some outputs. After inserting the page break, you can set conditions on it if necessary so that it is used in some outputs but not others.

Opens the Code Editor, which lets you insert a code snippet. The syntax is automatically highlighted according to the language, similar to text editors such as Sublime Text and Notepad++. In HTML5 output, users can click a Copy button, then paste the code into a third-party editor. See Creating and Inserting Code Snippets.

Opens the Equation Editor, which lets you insert a mathematical equation into a document or topic. See Inserting Equations.

Opens the Start Page, which provides links to high-level tasks and information. See Start Page.

Opens the Messages window pane, which displays important information as you work. For example, if a necessary file is missing, this window pane lets you know.

Opens the Index Entry window pane, which is used to create index keywords and insert them into topics. See Inserting Index Keywords.

Opens the Concept Entry window pane, which is used to create concept keywords and insert them into topics. See Inserting Concepts.

Opens the Footnotes window pane, which lets you see all of the footnotes that have been added in the active topic. See Viewing Footnotes in Topics.

Opens the Frame Contents window pane, which lets you add content to the selected frame in a page layout. See Editing Pages and Frames.

Opens the External Resources window pane, which lets you work with external resource files. See External Resources Window Pane and External Resources.

Opens the SharePoint Explorer, which lets you connect to a SharePoint server and work with files See SharePoint Explorer and SharePoint Integration.

Opens the Review Packages window pane, which displays all of the files contained in a review package received from another Flare author. From this window pane you can open the files to review and edit them. See Review Workflow and Review Packages Window Pane.

Enables or disables the track changes feature. See Enabling Track Changes.

Accepts tracked changes or annotations in the active document, making them part of that document. You can click the down arrow to accept a single change or all of them. See Accepting or Rejecting Tracked Changes.

Rejects tracked changes or annotations in the active document, removing them from that document. You can click the down arrow to reject a single change or all of them. See Accepting or Rejecting Tracked Changes.

Opens a sidebar and displays any tracked changes or annotations (notes) that have been attached to any content in the topic. See Hiding and Showing Changes and Annotations.

Navigates to the previous change or annotation. See Finding Changes.

Navigates to the next change or annotation. See Finding Changes.

Adds an annotation rectangle, extended to a sidebar to the right, with a line pointing to the selected content. This rectangle will hold annotation text after you type it. Also, the selected content is shaded, indicating that the annotation refers to that text. However, the shading will not be displayed in the output; it is for internal use only. See Inserting Annotations.

Removes annotations from the document. You can click the down arrow to delete a single annotation or all of them. See Deleting Annotations.

Opens the Spell Check window pane, which lets you perform spell checking manually.

Activates a feature that lets you check your spelling as you type in your topics. Questionable words are underlined with a jagged red line. You can take action with the word by right-clicking on it. See Spell Checking While Typing.

Opens the Thesaurus window pane, which lets you quickly view and select words related to those in an open topic or snippet. See Thesaurus.

Opens the Hyphenation window pane, which lets you add custom hyphenation rules for words so that they are hyphenated at the end of lines after specific letters. See Setting Hyphenation.

Opens the Update Cross-References dialog, which lets you update the cross-references that you have added to topics or documents. By updating the cross-references, you can ensure that they reflect any changes that might affect them.

Updating cross-references is not a mandatory step. When you generate output, all of your cross-references will be updated automatically.

Lets you record your actions so that they become a macro command that you can use to repeat the same task. See Recording Macros.

Lets you select one of your recorded macros so that you can play it back. See Playing Back Macros.

If you click on the face of the button, the Insert Table dialog opens, which lets you insert a table and specify various settings for it.

If you click the down arrow, you can use a grid to select the number of rows and columns for a simple table and insert it.

See Inserting Tables.

Opens a submenu, which lets you choose options for selecting the following.

• Select All Cells Selects all of the cells in the table.
• Select Table Selects the entire table.
• Select Row Selects the row where the cursor is placed in a table.
• Select Column Selects the column where the cursor is placed in a table.
• Select Cell Selects the cell where the cursor is placed in a table.

Shows and hides the gridlines in the table.

Opens the Table Properties dialog, which lets you edit properties of the table (e.g., table size, caption, auto-fit behavior, stylesheet). See Editing Table Properties.

Opens a submenu, which lets you select an option for deleting.

• Delete Table Deletes the entire table.
• Delete Rows Deletes the selected row(s) in a table.
• Delete Columns Deletes the selected column(s) in a table.

Inserts a new row in a table. The new row is inserted above the area where the cursor is inserted.

Inserts a new row in a table. The new row is inserted below the area where the cursor is inserted.

Inserts a new column in a table. The new column is inserted to the left of the area where the cursor is inserted.

Inserts a new column in a table. The new column is inserted to the right of the area where the cursor is inserted.

Turns the selected cells in a table into one big cell. You can merge any number of rows and columns in a table, as long as they are adjacent to one another.

Turns the selected cell in a table into many smaller cells by splitting the cell. When you split a cell, you are essentially inserting a smaller table into that cell.

Removes the text from the cells selected in a table.

Opens the Table Cell Content Style dialog, which lets you choose specific table or paragraph styles to use for the selected cells. See Selecting Styles for Table Cell Contents.

Removes local cell formatting in a table. If you have applied local formatting to a table (e.g., applying background shading to cells directly, not through the use of styles), you can easily remove it. This is possible even if the topic was previously saved and closed. The local formatting is removed from the entire table (if you simply placed your cursor within it) or from selected cells. See Resetting Local Cell Formatting.

Opens a submenu, which lets you select options for sorting table rows (see Sorting Tables).

• Ascending Sorts the selected table rows in ascending order.
• Descending Sorts the selected table rows in descending order.
• Advanced Sorting Options Opens the Advanced Sorting Options dialog. You can sort tables using advanced options, choosing which columns to sort first. In addition, you can sort tables in this manner immediately, at compile time, or both.

Converts a table to text. This option is enabled only if you have placed the cursor within an existing table. See Converting Tables to Text.

Opens the Add File dialog, where the Table Style file type is already selected. After completing the dialog, the TableStyle Editor opens.

Opens the table style in the Table Style Editor so that you can edit styles in the stylesheet.

Applies the table style to the table again.

Opens a drop-down menu where you can select an existing table style to apply to selected content.

Opens the Manage Windows dialog, which lists the files that are currently open and lets you activate (i.e., switch to), save, or close a particular file.

Closes open files. You can select the following from the submenu:

• Close All Documents Closes all files that you have opened in the workspace.
• Close All But This Closes all files that you have opened in the workspace, with the exception of the document that is currently active.

If you select the Dock option when a window pane is active, the Drag Pane area is shown or hidden in the window pane accordingly. The Drag Pane area lets you move the window pane and dock it elsewhere in the program window.

"Pins" the active window pane or editor to the side of the interface so that you have more room for your workspace. You can show the window pane by hovering over the thin bar on the side of the interface. If you select the pin button at the top-right of the window pane, the window pane returns to its previous state (no longer pinned to the side of the interface).

Converts the active window pane or editor to a floating window, which means it is no longer attached to the interface. This is a good option to use if you want to work on two topics side-by-side. If you do not want a window pane or editor to be floating anymore, you can right-click in the title bar and select Dock.

Opens a submenu that lists the layouts. Select a layout to display it in the interface.

Saves the window layout. You can select the following from the submenu:

• Save Window Layout If you are working in a particular layout and have opened different interface elements or moved interface elements around, you can select this option to save the changes to the layout.
• Save Window Layout As Opens the Rename Window Layout dialog, which lets you save the current interface configuration as a layout.

If you are working in a particular layout and have opened different interface elements or moved interface elements around, you can select this option to return to the saved configuration of the layout.

Returns the current configuration of the interface to the factory layout settings (the original layout when you first installed and launched Contributor).

Opens the Help system in a browser.

By default, Contributor's online and dynamic Help system points to files hosted externally. This allows for live updates to the Help.

Because the Help system is hosted online, you may not be able to access it if you are behind a firewall or if you have a slow connection. In that case, you can use a local version of the Help. Contributor will even switch to the local Help automatically if it detects that you cannot connect to the external Help system.

If you want to use the local Help manually, open the Options dialog (File > Options), and on the General tab select Prefer Local Help.

Opens the Dynamic Help window pane, which automatically displays the Help topic related to the active element in the interface.

Opens a Help topic that lets you access one of the printed guides related to Contributor. See PDFs.

Opens the MadCap Forums website, where you can obtain additional information about Contributor and communicate with other Contributor users.

Opens the Activate Product Wizard, allowing you to activate or renew the product.

Deactivates the currently used license for the machine running Contributor.

Lets you register your version of Contributor if you have not done so already. This option is enabled only if you are using a trial version of the software.

Opens the New Updates Available dialog, which lets you download Contributor updates from MadCap Software.

Displays a popup that shows information about the current version of Contributor. Click the popup to make it disappear.