Formatting Form Text with Bold, Italic, and Links

FormRobin's text formatting toolbar lets you add rich formatting to your form titles, questions, and descriptions. Make important text bold, add emphasis with italics, insert clickable links, and apply custom colors to improve readability and engagement.

What You Can Format

The formatting toolbar is available for:

• Form Title - The main heading at the top of your form
• Question Text - The question or label for each form field
• Question Description - Optional helper text below questions (not available for Statement or Image fields)

Note: The formatting toolbar appears automatically when you click into any of these text areas while editing your form.

Available Formatting Options

The toolbar provides eight formatting tools:

• Bold - Make selected text bold for emphasis
• Italic - Italicize text for subtle emphasis or quotes
• Underline - Add underlines to text
• Strikethrough - Cross out text with a line through it
• Text Color - Change the color of selected text
• Background Color - Highlight text with a colored background
• Insert Link - Add clickable hyperlinks to external URLs
• Clear Formatting - Remove all formatting from selected text

How to Apply Formatting

Follow these steps to format text in your form:

1. Open your form in the Form Editor
2. Click into the form title, question text, or question description you want to format
3. The formatting toolbar will appear above the text area
4. Select the text you want to format by clicking and dragging
5. Click the desired formatting button in the toolbar (Bold, Italic, etc.)
6. The formatting is applied immediately

Tip: You can apply multiple formats to the same text. For example, text can be both bold and italic at the same time.

Applying Bold, Italic, and Underline

To make text bold, italic, underlined, or strikethrough:

1. Select the text you want to format
2. Click the corresponding button in the toolbar:
   • B button for bold
   • I button for italic
   • U button for underline
   • S button for strikethrough
3. Click the button again to remove the formatting

The toolbar buttons highlight when formatting is active, so you can see which formats are applied to your current selection.

Adding Text and Background Colors

To apply custom colors to your text:

1. Select the text you want to color
2. Click the Text Color button (A with colored underline) or Background Color button (A with colored background)
3. A color picker will appear with:
   • Recent Colors - Colors you've used recently (if any)
   • 20 Preset Colors - Common colors including black, white, grays, and vibrant colors
   • Custom Color Input - Enter any hex color code (e.g., #FF5733)
4. Click a color swatch or enter a custom hex code
5. The color is applied immediately

Tip: Your recently used colors are saved and displayed at the top of the color picker for quick access.

Inserting Hyperlinks

To add a clickable link to text:

1. Select the text you want to turn into a link
2. Click the Link button (chain icon) in the toolbar
3. A URL input field will appear
4. Type or paste the full URL (must start with https://  or http:// )
5. Press Enter or click Insert to create the link
6. Press Escape or click Cancel to abort

Editing an existing link:

1. Click anywhere in the linked text
2. Click the Link button again
3. The current URL will appear in the input field
4. Edit the URL and press Enter to update

Note: Links in forms will open in a new browser tab when clicked by users filling out your form.

Clearing All Formatting

To remove all formatting from text:

1. Select the formatted text
2. Click the Clear Formatting button (eraser icon)
3. All formatting (bold, italic, colors, links, etc.) will be removed
4. The text will return to plain format

This is useful when you want to start fresh or if you've accidentally applied unwanted formatting.

Character Limits with Formatting

Formatted text still counts toward character limits:

• Form Title - No strict limit, but keep it concise
• Question Text - 550 characters maximum (including HTML formatting tags)
• Question Description - 250 characters maximum (including HTML formatting tags)

Important: Formatting adds invisible HTML tags to your text, which count toward these limits. For example, "Hello" uses more characters than "Hello" because of the bold tags.

Best Practices for Text Formatting

Follow these guidelines for effective and accessible formatting:

• Use bold sparingly - Reserve bold for truly important words or phrases
• Ensure color contrast - Light colors on white backgrounds can be hard to read
• Don't rely solely on color - Some users are colorblind; combine color with bold or other formatting
• Keep links clear - Link text should describe where the link goes (e.g., "View our Privacy Policy" not "Click here")
• Test readability - Preview your form to ensure formatting enhances, not hinders, readability
• Be consistent - Use the same formatting style throughout your form
• Avoid ALL CAPS with bold - This can appear as shouting; use one or the other

Troubleshooting

The formatting toolbar doesn't appear

Solution: Make sure you're in Edit mode (not Preview mode) and that you've clicked directly into the form title, question text, or description field. The toolbar appears automatically when you focus on these editable areas.

Formatting isn't saving

Solution: Click outside the text field or press Tab to blur the editor and trigger auto-save. Changes are saved automatically when you move to another field or close the formatting toolbar.

Links aren't clickable in the editor

Solution: Links are only clickable when users fill out your form, not while you're editing. Use Preview mode to test clickable links.

Colors look different on the published form

Solution: Your form theme's colors may override some text colors. Always preview your form after applying colors to ensure they display correctly.

I've reached the character limit

Solution: Formatting adds HTML tags that count toward limits. Try using less formatting, or shorten your text. Use the Clear Formatting button to remove invisible tags.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I format answer choices in multiple choice questions?

A: No, the formatting toolbar is only available for form titles, question text, and question descriptions. Answer choices cannot be formatted.

Q: Does formatting work on all question types?

A: Yes, all question types support formatted question text. Question descriptions support formatting on all types except Statement and Image fields.

Q: Can I paste formatted text from Word or Google Docs?

A: Yes, but some formatting may be lost or simplified. FormRobin supports basic HTML formatting (bold, italic, underline, colors, links), but advanced formatting like fonts, sizes, or tables will not transfer.

Q: Are there keyboard shortcuts for formatting?

A: Not currently. You must use the toolbar buttons to apply formatting.

Q: Will formatting affect form loading speed?

A: No. Basic HTML formatting has negligible impact on form performance.

Q: Can I use custom fonts?

A: No. Text uses your form's theme font. You can only change weight (bold), style (italic), and color through the formatting toolbar. To change the overall font, use the Form Styling settings.

Need help with text formatting? Contact our support team for assistance!