Use callouts and tables

Callouts and tables are the two block-level formatting tools in The Editor that most beginners get stuck on. This guide explains when to reach for each, how to escape them when you're done, and a few practical conventions for keeping articles readable inside the chat-widget.

Callouts at a glance

Four variants, each with its own colour, icon, and use case.

Variant	Toolbar	Use it for	Avoid it for
Note	📝	Background context that's useful but not strictly required to follow the article.	Anything time-sensitive or risky — use Warning or Danger.
Tip	💡	Best practices, productivity shortcuts, optional improvements.	Mandatory steps. If it must be done, put it in the main flow.
Warning	⚠️	Outcomes that surprise the reader (state-locking actions, asynchronous side effects, common foot-guns).	Hard data-loss / irreversible operations — use Danger instead.
Danger	❗	Anything that can lose data, break production, or cost money. Few articles need more than one.	Decoration. If everything is Danger, nothing is.

Insert a callout

Place the cursor on a paragraph (or select multiple paragraphs).
Click the variant icon in the toolbar — 📝, 💡, ⚠️, or ❗.
The selected content wraps in a callout block with the matching colour and icon.

To change a callout's variant, click inside it and click a different variant icon.

Escape a callout

This is the most common reason authors get stuck. Once your cursor is inside a callout, Enter keeps adding paragraphs inside the block. To break out:

Press Ctrl+Enter (or click the ↵ Exit block button in the toolbar).
A fresh paragraph is inserted immediately after the callout, and the cursor lands in it.
The same shortcut works for blockquotes and code blocks.

Memorise this one. There is no other ergonomic way out.

Insert a table

Place the cursor where you want the table.
Click +Table in the toolbar.
A 3×3 table inserts at the cursor with empty cells.

Fixed 3×3 is the default; resize via the cell menu.

Edit a table

Every action below is available via the cell menu — a small floating button that appears to the right of the active cell when your cursor is inside a table.

Action	Shortcut / control
Move to next cell	`Tab`
Move to previous cell	`Shift+Tab`
Insert row above	Cell menu → row above
Insert row below	Cell menu → row below
Insert column left	Cell menu → column left
Insert column right	Cell menu → column right
Delete row	Cell menu → delete row
Delete column	Cell menu → delete column
Resize column width	Drag the right border of any cell

Conventions for readable tables

Every article you write is also displayed inside the chat-widget Help tab — a 380 px-wide column on most screens. Tables that look fine on the public reader can horizontal-scroll painfully there.

Keep cells short. One sentence per cell, ideally a single phrase. Move long prose into the body around the table.
Maximum 4 columns. Five columns wrap into the second line; six columns are unreadable in the widget.
Headers should be a single word or two. "Status", "Where visible", "Set by" — not "What sets this row's value in the database".
Wrap acronyms / IDs in code. <code>kb_article</code> keeps them on one line and visually separates them.

Don't put callouts inside callouts

The sanitiser allows it, but the result looks confusing — overlapping coloured stripes, unclear hierarchy. If you find yourself nesting callouts, refactor the article: split a deep callout off into its own section, or convert the inner block to a paragraph + bold lead-in.

When not to use a callout

A single sentence of prose is rarely worth a callout. A bold lead-in ("Note: …") inside a regular paragraph reads better.
Lists of items. Use a bullet list, not a callout-of-bullets.
Reference data. Use a table, or split the data into a separate …field definitions article and link to it.

The Editor — the rest of the toolbar and shortcuts.
Editor keyboard shortcuts field definitions — every shortcut at a glance.
Insert images and embeds — the other block-level insertions.