Text Handling in CommonSpot

CommonSpot handles most text data as plain text, storing text in the database exactly as it is entered and escaping HTML for display on the page. Escaping allows for the proper output of content that includes HTML-like data. For example, without escaping, browsers suppress <characters> contained within tag delimiters as unknown HTML.

A major exception to plain text handling is textblock data, which is treated as HTML to support formatting, links, images, etc. You can also enable HTML in simple text blocks. CommonSpot handles this data as HTML by default to accommodate the fact that controls for both Simple and Formatted Text Block elements can allow or disallow rich text editing at any time.

Note: Even when rich text editing is disabled, CommonSpot renders the text it contains on the page as live HTML.

All standard Custom Element fields are plain text, except for formatted text block fields.

Note that sites using custom fields can control text handling separately for each type defined, for greater flexibility in presenting forms and fields to contributors and visitors.

Related Links

You can download PDF versions of the Content Contributor's, Administrator's, and Elements Reference documents from the support section of paperthin.com (requires login).

The following guides are available from the support site and are in the /docs/directory of your CommonSpot Server:

You can also download these other guides from the support section of paperthin.com (with login):

For technical support:

http://www.paperthin.com/support/