Session 3 of 4 — Contributor Handout

Drupal Without
the Drama

The habits that make content look good in the CMS
Middleton
Co‑operating

Rule 1 — Never paste from Word

Copying text from Word, Google Docs, or email brings invisible formatting code with it. It looks fine in the editor but breaks on the live site — wrong fonts, odd spacing, rogue line breaks.

Always do this instead: Use the Paste as plain text button in the editor toolbar (looks like a clipboard with a T). It strips all invisible formatting before it lands on the page.

Already pasted it? Select all the affected text and use the Remove formatting button (Tx icon). Then reapply only the formatting you actually need.

Rule 2 — Headings are structure, not style

The heading levels (H2, H3, H4) aren't just about making text bigger. They tell browsers, search engines, and screen readers how your page is organised.

✓ Do
  • Use H2 for the main sections of a page
  • Use H3 for sub-sections within those
  • Use headings to organise long content
✗ Don't
  • Use bold text to fake a heading
  • Use H2 just because it "looks the right size"
  • Skip levels (H2 → H4)

A good test: if you removed all the body text, could someone navigate the page using just the headings?

Rule 3 — Four things to do with every image

Quick reference — common mistakes

Meaningful link text

Screen readers read out link text in isolation. "Click here" and "read more" tell people nothing.

✗
"To find out more about the project, click here"
✓
"Find out more about the community energy project"
🖥️
The one thing to take away from this session Plain text in, plain text out. Strip all formatting when you paste, then only put back what you genuinely need. When in doubt, less is more.