Using the formatting toolbar

The formatting toolbar lets you control the appearance of selected text when creating items or source material. The formatting toolbar also allows you to change the content type on certain entry fields from text to equation, image, or table.

This article explains how to use the formatting toolbar in standard (HTML) and legacy subject items and source material.

In this article

Finding the formatting toolbar

The formatting toolbar is available in the following locations:

• Item question stems
• Answer options for the following question types:
  • Multiple Choice
  • Multiple Response
  • Either/Or
  • Advanced Short Answer (HTML subjects only)
  • Advanced Numerical Entry (HTML subjects only)
• Introduction Page, Information Page, and Finish Page text fields
• HTML source material text fields

To reveal the formatting toolbar, select the text field.

Standard formatting toolbar options

The following options are visible by default. Highlight a selection of text before choosing an option to apply changes only to that content.

Icon	Setting	Description
	Bold (Control+B)	Makes text darker.
	Italics (Control+I)	Makes text italicised.
	Underline (Control+U)	Adds a horizontal line below the text.
	Align Left	Aligns text along the left margin.
	Centre	Aligns text in the middle of the content area.
	Align Right	Aligns text along the right margin.
	Strikethrough	Adds a horizontal line through the middle of the text.
	Insert Horizontal Line	Adds a horizontal line between paragraph blocks.
	Bulleted List	Starts a bulletpoint list at the cursor’s position.
	Font Name	Choose your typeface. Read ‘Choosing fonts’ below for more information.
	Font Size	Choose the size of your text.
	Insert Special Character	Opens the Select Special Character dialog. Select a special character to add it to the text. For more information, read About special characters.
	Text Colour	Changes the colour of your text.
	Table Editor	Adds a table. Read Creating tables in items for more information.
	Add Assistive Content	Add assistive media. Read Adding assistive media to an item for more information. NOTE: This option only appears in the formatting toolbar for Multiple Choice, Multiple Response, and Either/Or questions' answer options.
	Resize	Makes all content in stem visible without a scrollbar.

Choosing fonts

Expand the following section for a table detailing which fonts are available in Surpass on different operating systems.

Advanced formatting toolbar options

Select Advanced on the formatting toolbar to reveal additional options.

Icon	Setting	Description
	Subscript	Sets the character(s) below the line of type.
	Superscript	Sets the character(s) above the line of type.
	Text direction from left to right	Text travels from the left side of the content area to the right.
	Text direction from right to left	Text travels from the right side of the content area to the left.
	Source	Allows you to edit the current content area’s HTML source code. WARNING: Editing the content area’s HTML source code may cause issues in test delivery, so it is vital you test and quality check how any edited HTML displays in delivery before scheduling a live test. For information on how to quality review a test in Surpass, read About the Quality Review panel. IMPORTANT: Do not edit the source code of legacy subject items.
	Templates	Lets you insert a component template.
	Insert Comment	Adds an inline comment. Read Leaving comments on items for more information.
	Insert image	Inserts an image inline with text content.
	Styles	Applies a pre-formatted style to the selected text. See ‘Applying styles’ below for more information.
	Remove Format	Strips selected text of all formatting.
	Em Space	Adds a space the width of a capital letter M.
	En Space	Adds a space the width of a capital letter N.
	WIRIS EDITOR math	Opens the WIRIS EDITOR math dialog in HTML subjects for the entry of inline equation content. See ‘Creating and adding equations’ below for more information.

Adding images

You can add images in line with text content using the Insert image option, however you can also add an image as an entire question stem block or Multiple Choice, Multiple Response, and Either/Or answer option, except for an item’s first question stem.

Applying styles

Use Styles to apply formatting presets to your text. Expand the following section for a table detailing which styles are available in Surpass.

Creating and adding equations

Equations can be created and added to items from the formatting toolbar.