Pinning Variables

You can pin your favorite variables so you can easily find them again later. Pinned variables appear in a group that you can expand or collapse. This is a way to limit the list of variables to those that you use the most.

After you insert a variable, it is added to a group of your 20 most Recently Used Variables. You can pin any variable found in this group.

How to Pin a Variable—Variables Dialog

  1. Open the content file.
  2. Do one of the following, depending on the part of the user interface you are using:
    • Ribbon Select Insert > Variable.

    • Local Toolbar Click the face of the button.

      OR

      Click the down arrow next to , then select More Variables.

    • Keyboard Shortcut Press CTRL+SHIFT+V.
    • Right-Click Right-click in the editor and select Insert > Variable. This context menu option is available only when your cursor is located in certain places in the editor (e.g., not in a drop-down effect).

    The Variables dialog opens.

  3. From the Recently Used Variables group, select the variable you want to pin. A pin appears to the right of the variable.

    Note Variables must appear in the Recently Used Variables group before they can be pinned. If the variable you want to pin does not appear in the Recently Used Variables group, you can add it to a content file by dragging it from the Project Organizer or using the Variables dialog. See Inserting Variables.

  4. To pin the variable, click . The pin changes to to show that the variable has been pinned to the list. Pinned variables are added to the Pinned Variables group in alphabetical order.

  5. To unpin the variable, click the pin again and it will be moved back to the bottom of the Recently Used Variables group.

  6. Click OK.

How to Pin a Variable—Local Toolbar

  1. Open the content file.

  2. In the local toolbar at the top of the XML Editor click the down arrow next to . This expands the Insert Variable drop-down.

  3. From the Recently Used Variables group, select the variable you want to pin. A pin appears to the right of the variable.

    Note Variables must appear in the Recently Used Variables group before they can be pinned. If the variable you want to pin does not appear in the Recently Used Variables group, you can add it to a content file by dragging it from the Project Organizer or using the Variables dialog. See Inserting Variables.

  4. To pin the variable, click . The pin changes to to show that the variable has been pinned to the list. Pinned variables are added to the Pinned Variables group.

  5. To unpin the variable, click the pin again and it will be moved back to the bottom of the Recently Used Variables group.

Example

Example Three variables have been added to the Pinned Variables group. Other recently used variables can still be seen in the Recently Used Variables group; you can add any of these variables to the Pinned Variables group at any time.

What’s Noteworthy?

Note You can expand or collapse the Recently Used Variables and Pinned Variables groups by clicking the arrows next to each group name.

What’s Next?

After you complete these steps, you can insert variables from the Pinned Variables group when writing content. See Inserting Variables.