Using the editor

Tips and tricks for writing your edition

A comprehensive guide on leveraging Axios HQ's Editor to create effective and engaging communications.

Table of Contents

1. Managing your cards
2. Card flexibility
3. Placeholder text 
4. Utilizing the toolbar
5. Adding images
6. Adding polls
7. Collaborative Editing
8. Recovering deleted editions and text
9. Editor flexibility
10. Edition level logo and banner management
11. FAQs

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1. Managing your cards

Adding additional cards

🛠️ How it works: 

• Hover over the space above or below a card and selecting “Add new card.”
• You can either add a blank card or utilize Autodraft which generates a Smart Brevity card when you upload a document.
• To use Autodraft, select "Upload doc."
• Upload your document, which can be in Word or PDF format, ensuring it does not exceed 10MB.
• Give it some time to generate.✨
• Once completed, the generated card will populate.

Reordering your cards

🛠️ How it works:

• Click the six grip dots at the top of your card and drag your card to the desired spot. 
• To make it easier, you can collapse the card using the double arrow button and then move your cards around. 

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2. Card Flexibility

You can move specific cards between draft editions within the same series. If you have a card that you want to move to a later edition, you can easily remove a card from your current edition and drop it into a new one. 

🛠️ How it works: 

• Click the 3 dots in the top right corner of the card you would like to move. 
• Select “Move to…” to select the edition draft you would like to move the card to. 
• Select your desired edition draft or create a new draft. 
• Click “Move” and your card will transfer to the selected edition. 

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3. Placeholder text

Placeholder text is a text type in Axios HQ and can be identified by the dotted underlines. Templates come with placeholders for writing on a topic in Smart Brevity format, but they may be adjusted and used to create helper text in their editions.

🛠️ How it works:

• ❗Placeholders only exist for writers - they will not end up being sent!

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4. Utilizing the toolbar

You can use the toolbar at the top of the editor to format your text, with options to:

• Bold, italicize, and underline text.
• Change text alignment (left, center, and right).
• Create bullets and numbered lists.
  • To create sub-bullets, press the "Tab" key on your keyboard after a regular bullet. 
• Turn a paragraph into a block quote.
• Add a poll.
• Add a custom button.
• Add inline image.
• Add a hyperlink to text.
• Select an emoji from our emoji menu.
• Add an Axiom.
• Insert superscripts and subscripts. 
• Convert text to placeholder text.
• ⭐ Change the font size or color of text, add buttons and image collages.

💡 Pro-tip: You can also use the floating toolbar that appears when you highlight text. 

Adding an Axiom

Axioms are bolded phrases at the start of a paragraph that help guide your reader’s eye and tell them what to pay attention to.

🛠️ How it works: 

• Select the Axiom button in the toolbar to view all of our Axioms and choose which one you want to use. 
• The Axiom will be added to your card. 

Creating your own Axioms

Admins have the option from this menu to create, edit, or delete custom Axioms for people in your organization to use.

🛠️ How it works:

• Select the Axiom button in the toolbar and click "Add." 
• Enter the Axiom and a brief description for how and when it should be used. 

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5. Adding Images

Each card can have one featured image just under the headline at the top and as many inline images as you would like. 

• A featured image is positioned directly beneath the headline and spans the full width of your card. Please note that featured images cannot be resized.
• An inline image can be added to the body of your card. Inline images can be resized.
  • Check out our full list of suggested specs for each type of image here.

Featured Image

🛠️ How it works:

• Click the "Add featured image" button below the headline of your card. 
• Select an image from our image library or upload an image. 
• For featured images, we recommend a 5:3 aspect ratio. A PNG with dimensions of 1000×600 px is optimal. 
• For uploaded images, add alt text (required) and save the image to your uploads (optional.)
• Click "Add image."

Inline Image

🛠️ How it works:

• Click within the card's text area and select the "Add an image" button from the toolbar located at the top of the editor.
• Select an image from our image library or upload an image. 
• For uploaded images, add alt text (required) and save the image to your uploads (optional.)
• Click "Add image."
• After inserting your inline image, you have the flexibility to resize it and decide whether to center or left-align it within the content.

Image Collages ⭐

You can create an image collage and use it as the featured image or include it within the text of a card. You have two image collage options to choose from: side by side or a 2x2 grid.

⚒️ How it works:

• To use a collage as a feature image, click “Add image collage” at the top of your card and select your preferred option. Then, upload photos directly from your computer files.
• To insert an image collage within your text, click the image icon in the editor's toolbar and choose the collage option.
• For the side by side collage, aim for image dimensions of 296 x 296 px or a 1:1 width-to-height ratio.
• For the 2x2 grid, go for 298 x 170 px or a 7:4 width-to-height ratio.

 

Cropping Uploaded Images

You can crop uploaded images, banners, or logos by utilizing the cropping tool available in the upload modal.

 

HQ's Image Options

In addition to uploading and saving your own images, you can explore our extensive library of illustrations created by the Axios Visuals team, utilize stock photos available through our partnership with Unsplash, or create custom images using our AI image generator.

 

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6. Adding Polls

Engage your audience by using anonymous or identified polls. 

🛠️ How it works: 

• Navigate to the toolbar and select the "Polls"button.
• Write your question and options.
• Toggle "Collect individual emails" on to track individual responses.
• Keep the toggle off to keep poll responses anonymous. 
• Click "Save" to add your poll. ✅
• View responses to your poll in your edition analytics under the "Responses" tab. 

If you select the identified poll option, the recipient will see the following copy to understand their information will be shared: Your email will be recorded with your response and shared with the sender.

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7. Collaborative Editing

You and your colleagues can work on an edition at the same time. Your teammates’ cursors appear in real-time, showing their contributions in the HQ Editor. You’ll see anybody who’s currently present at the top of the Editor.

🛠️ How it works: 

• If a user has the Editor open but is not editing (window open and walked away, or scrolling and looking around not inside a card), their avatar turns grey. If a user leaves the Editor, their avatar disappears.

• You can change your profile color by going to the My Profile page and clicking the pencil icon on the circle with your initials.
• You can see who last edited a card by clicking on the clock icon on the right side panel to open the Version History sidebar.
• Click into a card to see the version history for that specific card. This shows you a list of previous versions of the card, as well as who has edited it. Select a previous version to see the changes. Hit “Restore” to return the card to an earlier edit.

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8. Recovering deleted editions and text

You have the ability to retrieve a deleted edition within a 30-day window from the date it was deleted. 

• ❗Deleted cards cannot be recovered.

Recover deleted editions

Recover deleted editions

🛠️ How it works:

• Navigate to your workspace the three-dot overflow menu in the top right corner.
• Click  "Deleted editions".
• Identify the edition that you would like to recover and select the three-dots next to the creator’s name.
• Select ‘Restore to drafts,’ the recovered draft will now appear in your drafts page.
• Keep in mind, you can only recover editions within a 30- day timeframe.
  

Recover deleted text

🛠️ How it works:

• Navigate to the undo button in the toolbar, the keyboard shortcut Cmd+Z (Mac) / Ctrl+Z (Windows), or from the Version History sidebar. 

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9. Editor Flexibility

Modify or remove HQ series elements to customize your update’s formatting with Editor Flexibility. More flexibility in the editor – combined with the Smart Brevity principles that work – means you can use HQ to send all types of essential comms, like one-card notes and important announcements. 

🛠️ How it works:

• At the series-level, collaborators can now enable or disable the title, byline, or Smart Brevity word count for a series. This will impact all editions of the series. 
  • Navigate to Series settings by clicking on the gear icon in the top right corner, then click the Design page. 
  • Click the checkboxes under “Intro card customization.”
• At the edition-level, you can edit the title or byline for a specific edition in the Editor itself. Just note these updates will only affect that specific edition — not others in its series.
• To delete an intro or outro card, click the three-dot menu in the card’s upper right corner, and select Delete.
• To re-add an intro or outro card, hover in the gray space where it used to be, and you’ll see a prompt to add it.

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10. Edition level logo and banner management

You can update the logo and banner on an individual edition in the Editor, regardless of the Series settings!

🛠️ How it works:

• In the intro card, click on the existing logo or banner to delete or update.
• If no logo or banner exists, click "Add logo or banner" to upload one.
• To change an existing logo/banner, click on the image and then click the pencil icon to edit. 
• Changes made in the editor will only affect that edition. It will not impact Series settings.
• View our article here to find optimal image specs for logos and banners. 

11. FAQs

Will these card templates be enabled with Smart Brevity prompts and suggestions?

Template styling is intended to tell you how to write in Smart Brevity format, but Smart Brevity prompts are not enabled at this time.

Will these card templates pull from client archived content or saved edition templates created with the organization?

Not at this time, potentially a future enhancement.

Can I comment on or assign a collaborator to a specific placeholder?

We won’t be supporting this in the initial release. Assignments for placeholders may be created near the placeholder (on regular text), or at the card level.

Will placeholders appear in my send?

No, they will be absent from both test and actual sends. Placeholders will only appear in the HQ editor and template previews.

What is the new placeholder text style?

Placeholder styling (found in the floating toolbar: click on the 3 dots and you will see it in the dropdown menu), is a customized style option which may be applied to any body text inside a card. When someone clicks a placeholder, the entire text is selected, making it simple for that person to fill in the content asked for.

Can I create my own card templates?

We don’t currently support saving custom card templates to your workspace at this time, however, placeholder text is available everywhere the editor is. This means you can create your own card template library in an edition template, or, use the content archive to pull in card templates from another draft in your series.

My series isn’t an all staff, can I still use HQ card templates?

Our library and recommendations may not be as applicable for you, however, you can still search our library for topics or generate a template on any topic you wish if you cannot find one that suits your needs.

How do topic recommendations work?

Card recommendations are powered by a set of smart algorithms that take into account a series’ history as well as other edition context, returning three suggested templates when creating a new card. These suggestions are backed by research into All Staff sends. This research is based on aggregated data from machine-labeling techniques which label, generalize, and unlocked insights into topic trends.

How many card templates are in the HQ library, what topics do they cover?

Hundreds at the time of writing. The topics cover a diverse set of themes communicated in All Staff series. Examples include: employee spotlights, event details, tool migration announcements, new hire announcements, project updates, company news, and many more!

Can I preview my series?

Our editor very closely reflects what your edition will look like. Additionally, we recommend always sending a test to yourself to double check how your edition renders in email. There is also the option to preview your customization options (series title, author name, colors, fonts, and banner or logo) on the Settings page.

I’m having trouble with formatting when I copy and paste into the editor. What should I do?

We recommend pasting without formatting: Cmd+Opt+Shift+V on Mac or Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows.

What image file types are supported?

We support PNG and JPG images. GIFs also work for featured and inline images, but you cannot use a GIF for your banner or logo. For a high quality image, we recommend using PNGs over JPGs.

How do I delete a series?

Navigate to Series setting by clicking on the gear icon of the series you would like to delete. Select General tab and scroll to the bottom. You will see a "Delete series" button.

Can I recover a deleted series?

Yes! Navigate to “View all” next to the Series section on the left side panel. Then go to the trash can icon in the top right corner of your workspace. You have the ability to retrieve a deleted Series within a 30-day window from the date it was deleted.

Can I recover deleted cards?

Unfortunately, you cannot recover a deleted card at this time. 

Can you use the cropping tool on Axios Visuals, Stock Photos, and AI generated images? 

Not at this time. The cropping tool is only available for uploaded images, banners, and logos. If you have any feedback on this using the link below. 

How can I link to an email address?

You can use the hyperlink feature. Highlight the text then click on the link icon. Enter mailto:email-address in the text box.

Can recipients respond to a poll on the web?

If link access is set to “Recipients only” or “Recipients and current audience” then readers will be able to respond to polls on the web. 

Will we be able to see poll results in the analytics report download (CSV file)? 

Yes! You can download the edition report to view poll results. 

Can I use sub-bullets?

Yes! Select the regular bullet list option in the toolbar and then press "Tab" on your keyboard to create a sub-bullet.