Characters we use in formatting

• Hash symbol: #
• Asterisk: *
• Underscore: _
• Square bracket: [ ]
• Round bracket: ( )
• Vertical bar, also known as Pipe: |
• Angle bracket: >
• Dash: -
• Hard return: ↵ Enter
• Caret: ^

Headings

To create a large heading (Heading 1), put a hash symbol in front of the text. Follow the heading text with a hard return.

Use multiple hash symbols to create Heading 2 and Heading 3.

#Heading 1
##Heading 2
###Heading 3

You should not decide which heading to use based on visual appearance. Read more about the right way to use headings in our Editorial style guide.

New paragraphs

To start a new paragraph, use two hard returns at the end of a line.

Line breaks

To add a single line break (for example, if you're formatting an address in body copy), use two spaces and a hard return at the end of the line.

Bold

Use two asterisks either side of a word to make it bold.

Italics

Use a single underscore either side of a word to italicise it.

Links

To create a link in text, use square brackets around the link text and follow it with the URL in round brackets. Don’t put a space between the brackets.

URL formats in links

For links to other bath.ac.uk pages which are in Typecase, do not include http://www.bath.ac.uk or http://beta.bath.ac.uk. For example:

• use /guides/contents-insurance-for-students
• don't use http://www.bath.ac.uk/guides/contents-insurance-for-students

For links to other bath.ac.uk pages which are outside Typecase (like pages in OpenCMS, Dreamweaver or WordPress), use the full URL, like http://www.bath.ac.uk/hr/staff-survey/index.html

For external links use the full URL. For example: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/agile-delivery/writing-user-stories.

Email and telephone links

For links to email addresses, add 'mailto:' before the email address inside the round brackets. Don't put a space between 'mailto:' and the email address.

For links to telephone numbers, add 'tel:' before the phone number inside the round brackets. Don't put a space between 'tel:' and the phone number.

For calls to action, if you select 'Email address' or 'Telephone number', you don't need to include 'mailto:' or 'tel:' in the call to action target.

Lists

Ordered lists

For numbered (ordered) lists, use numbers followed by a full stop and a space before the text. Put a hard return after each line, or they will not display as separate list items.

1. Stop
2. Look
3. Listen

1. Stop
2. Look
3. Listen

Unordered lists

Use a single dash followed by a space before each word to give you an unordered (bulleted) list. Put a hard return after each line, or they will not display as separate bullets.

- milk
- eggs
- butter

• milk
• eggs
• butter

Nested lists

After you have created your main bullet point, use a space, then a single dash, followed by a space before each word to create a nested (bulleted) list. Put a hard return after each line or they will not display as separate bullets.

- milk
 - skimmed
 - semi-skimmed

• milk
  • skimmed
  • semi-skimmed

Featured quotes

To highlight a quotation, put an angle bracket in front of the quoted text. This will create a block quote on the page.

On most content types, you should add the name of the person speaking either before or after the quotation. For example:

Albert Einstein said:

> We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

Block quotes on Campaign pages

On a Campaign page, include single quotation marks after the angle bracket and around the quoted text.

Add the name of the person speaking after the quotation. To do this add:

• an em dash after the quoted text (on a PC, hold Alt and type 0151 on the number pad; on a Mac, hold Alt and Shift, then type -)
• the name and credentials of the person speaking after the em dash
• ** both sides of the name and credentials to make them bold

For example:

> 'We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.' — **Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist**

Tables

You can build a table row by row by following these instructions. Always put a hard return after each row you create.

First row

The first row contains the headings for each column.

To create a row, start with a vertical space bar (|) then type in your headings.

You do not need to apply any formatting characters to your headings. Typecase will format the heading based on what you do in the second row.

Separate each heading with a vertical space bar.

Example of the first row:

| First Header | Second Header | Third Header |

Second row

For each column in your table, enter a series of dashes separated by the vertical space bar to indicate each column. This row must not contain any of your content.

If you do not create this row, your table will not display properly.

Example of the second row:

| ---------- | ------------ | ------------ |

Other rows

Just follow the same process as for the first row but add your content instead of headings.

You can use formatting like bold, italics and links to format words in table rows, but you can't include line breaks, multiple paragraphs, lists or block quotes.

The vertical space bars that you use as column dividers do not have to be vertically aligned in each row.

| Morning | Afternoon | Evening |
| Beginning | **Middle** | _End_ |

Example of a whole table

| First Header | Second Header | Third Header |
| ---------- | ------------ | ------------ |
| Morning | Afternoon | Evening |
| Beginning | **Middle** | _End_ |

Referencing

Some referencing styles require you to use superscript, like this.¹

To add a reference, use a caret (like this ^) followed by a reference number. If you want the reference to appear before the full stop, use round brackets around the number.

If you want to add text with spaces in the reference, put the text in round brackets.

You only need to use superscript when you are referencing work in your academic writing.

Escaping formatting characters

If you need to use a character in your content usually reserved for formatting, placing a backslash (\) in front of the character will allow it to display properly.