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Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Help and How-to >  Customizing sites, pages, lists, and libraries >  Customizing pages by using Web Parts
Content Editor Web Part
Content Editor Web Part

You can use the Content Editor Web Part to add formatted text, tables, hyperlinks, and images to a Web Part Page.

Important  

  • The Content Editor Web Part is intended for adding HTML content to a Web Part Page, which may include hyperlinks. However, this Web Part is not designed to connect to a Web site. If you need to connect a Web Part to a Web site, consider using the Page Viewer Web Part.
  • The Content Editor Web Part does not accept the HTML FORM element. If you need to add a Web Part that uses the FORM element, consider using the Page Viewer Web Part or the Form Web Part.

In this article

Ways you can use the Content Editor Web Part

You can use the Content Editor Web Part to add:

  • An introductory, formatted paragraph to a page.
  • A table of instructions to explain a chart on your page, the data that is used in the chart, and how the chart was created.
  • A set of hyperlinks to more information.
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Add content to the Content Editor Web Part

There are three ways you can add content to the Content Editor Web Part:

  • Rich Text Editor  You can use the Rich Text Editor to type formatted content automatically without prior knowledge of HTML syntax. Click the buttons on the Standard and Formatting toolbars at the top of the window to enter and format the content. Click Help on the Standard toolbar to display a summary of the tasks that you can perform and their corresponding buttons.
  • Source Editor  You can use the Source Editor to enter or modify HTML source code. The Source Editor is a plain text editor and is intended for users who are familiar with HTML syntax.
  • Content Link  Instead of editing content, you can link to existing content by entering a hyperlink to a text file that contains HTML source code. The two valid hyperlink protocols that you can use are:
    • Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http://)
    • Hypertext Transfer Protocol with privacy, which uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption (https://)

    You can use an absolute URL or a relative URL. However, you cannot use a file path.

Important  If the Content Link property links to a file that is located outside the site and the site does not have anonymous user access enabled, you cannot access the file. For assistance, contact your site administrator.

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Combine edited and linked content

You can combine edited and linked content to provide both primary and secondary information. For example, you can provide an error message as secondary information in the edited content, in case the linked content or primary information is not available. When you combine both edited and linked content, the linked content is always used first. If the linked content is not accessible, the edited content is used.

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Custom properties of the Content Editor Web Part

The custom properties of the Content Editor Web Part are listed below.

 Note    You cannot view or edit any of these custom properties in personal view.

PropertyDescription
Rich Text EditorUse to enter formatted text, tables, hyperlinks, and images. Knowledge of HTML syntax is not required.
Source EditorUse to enter HTML source code into a simple text editor. Knowledge of HTML syntax is required.
Content LinkUse to enter a hyperlink to a text file that contains HTML source code. The two valid hyperlink protocols that you can use are:
  • Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http://)
  • Hypertext Transfer Protocol with privacy, which uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption (https://)

You can use an absolute URL or a relative URL. However, you cannot use a file path.

Important  If the Content Link property links to a file that is located outside the site and the site does not have anonymous user access enabled, you cannot access the file. For assistance, contact your site administrator.

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Common properties of Web Parts

All Web Parts share a common set of properties that control their appearance, layout, and advanced characteristics.

 Note    The common Web Part properties that you see in the tool pane may be different from what is documented in this section for several reasons:

  • To see the Advanced section in the tool pane, you must have appropriate permission.
  • For a specific Web Part, a Web Part developer may have chosen not to display one or more of these common properties or may have chosen to create and display additional properties that are not listed below in the Appearance, Layout, and Advanced sections of the tool pane.
  • Some permission and property settings may disable or hide Web Part properties.

Appearance

PropertyDescription
TitleSpecifies the title of the Web Part that appears in the Web Part title bar.
HeightSpecifies the height of the Web Part.
WidthSpecifies the width of the Web Part.
Chrome StateSpecifies whether the entire Web Part appears on the page when a user opens the Web Part Page. By default, the chrome state is set to Normal and the entire Web Part appears. Only the title bar appears when the state is set to Minimized.
Chrome TypeSpecifies whether the title bar and border of the Web Part frame are displayed.

Layout

PropertyDescription
HiddenSpecifies whether the Web Part is visible when a user opens the Web Part Page. If the check box is selected, the Web Part is visible only when you are designing the page and has the suffix (Hidden) appended to the title.

You can hide a Web Part if you want to use it to provide data to another Web Part through a Web Part connection, but you don't want to display the Web Part.

DirectionSpecifies the direction of the text in the Web Part content. For example, Arabic is a right-to-left language; English and most other European languages are left-to-right languages. This setting may not be available for all types of Web Parts.
ZoneSpecifies the zone on the Web Part Page where the Web Part is located.

 Note    Zones on the Web Part Page are not listed in the list box when you do not have permission to modify the zone.

Zone IndexSpecifies the position of the Web Part in a zone when the zone contains more than one Web Part.

To specify the order, type a positive integer in the text box.

If the Web Parts in the zone are ordered from top to bottom, a value of 1 means that the Web Part appears at the top of the zone. If the Web Parts in the zone are ordered from left to right, a value of 1 means that the Web Part appears on the left of the zone.

For example, when you add a Web Part to an empty zone that is ordered from top to bottom, the Zone Index is 0. When you add a second Web Part to the bottom of the zone, its Zone Index is 1. To move the second Web Part to the top of the zone, type 0, and then type 1 for the first Web Part.

 Note    Each Web Part in the zone must have a unique Zone Index value. Therefore, changing the Zone Index value for the current Web Part can also change the Zone Index value for other Web Parts in the zone.

Advanced

PropertyDescription
Allow MinimizeSpecifies whether the Web Part can be minimized.
Allow CloseSpecifies whether the Web Part can be removed from the Web Part Page.
Allow HideSpecifies whether the Web Part can be hidden.
Allow Zone ChangeSpecifies whether the Web Part can be moved to a different zone.
Allow ConnectionsSpecifies whether the Web Part can participate in connections with other Web Parts.
Allow Editing in Personal ViewSpecifies whether the Web Part properties can be modified in a personal view.
Export ModeSpecifies the level of data that is permitted to be exported for this Web Part. Depending on your configuration, this setting may not be available.
Title URLSpecifies the URL of a file containing additional information about the Web Part. The file is displayed in a separate browser window when you click the Web Part title.
DescriptionSpecifies the ScreenTip that appears when you rest the mouse pointer on the Web Part title or Web Part icon. The value of this property is used when you search for Web Parts by using the Search command on the Find Web Parts menu of the tool pane in the following Web Part galleries: Site, Virtual Server, and Web Part Page.
Help URLSpecifies the location of a file containing Help information about the Web Part. The Help information is displayed in a separate browser window when you click the Help command on the Web Part menu.
Help ModeSpecifies how a browser will display Help content for a Web Part.

Select one of the following:

  • Modal Opens a separate browser window, if the browser has this capability. A user must close the window before returning to the Web page.
  • Modeless Opens a separate browser window, if the browser has this capability. A user does not have to close the window before returning to the Web page. This is the default value.
  • Navigate Opens the Web page in the current browser window.

 Note    Even though custom Microsoft ASP.NET Web Parts support this property, default Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Help topics open only in a separate browser window.

Catalog Icon Image URLSpecifies the location of a file containing an image to be used as the Web Part icon in the Web Part List. The image size must be 16 by 16 pixels.
Title Icon Image URLSpecifies the location of a file containing an image to be used in the Web Part title bar. The image size must be 16 by 16 pixels.
Import Error MessageSpecifies a message that appears if there is a problem importing the Web Part.
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