Text formatting

Input fields in Discover, such as question text and list items, support text formatting.

Larger text boxes like those for question text and list items display formatting options when you click into the text field.

A pencil icon on a list item text field is highlighted.

For smaller inputs like labels, options are available by clicking the pencil icon in the field.

The following are the supported formatting options:

Bold (⌘B or Ctrl+B)
Italic (⌘I or Ctrl+I)
Underline (⌘U or Ctrl+U)
Text color
Alignment
Bulleted list
Numbered list
Links
Images
Tooltips

If you want to undo a modification, highlight the formatted text and click the Clear formatting button (), repeat the keyboard shortcut (⌘B or Ctrl+B to remove bold formatting).

Dialog showing the icons and the formatting options they represent.

Most survey text is a shade of black by default. Use the color picker to choose a new color or insert a HEX code to use whatever you wish. Clicking the Clear formatting icon () will reset the text to its original color.

Dialog of the color picker. Choose a color or type in a HEX value.

Both these list types have the same behavior. Click either one of the icons () to start a new list. After inserting some text, typing the Enter key on your keyboard inserts a new bullet or the next number. You can also start a numbered list by typing “1.” and then entering text. To exit a list, click the icon again, or hit Enter on your keyboard twice.

If you need respondents to view something on a different website, you can insert a hyperlink. Hyperlinks will open a new tab, so as not to disrupt the survey.

There are two ways to insert a link:

Highlight the text you want the respondents to click
Click the link icon ().
The dialog below opens and the text you selected is inserted in the second field.
Enter the URL you want to direct respondents to. Be sure to check that the link is formatted correctly and uses the proper capitalization, as links can be case-sensitive.
Click insert.

Click the link icon ().
Enter the URL you want to direct respondents to.
Enter the text you want to display as a button for respondents to click.
Click Insert.

Insert images to help clarify items or add visual interest. If an image is too large, it will be automatically scaled down to fit properly into the area where they are being used.

Dialog with an uploaded image. The file name is shown as well as a field to insert alt text.

BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TGA, and TIFF files up to 50MB in size can be uploaded.

Before uploading an image, ensure that the filename is descriptive, so it can help you in MaxDiff analysis. If you insert the file “image_1.jpg” into a MaxDiff item, the filename “image_1.jpg” will appear in the analysis. A filename such as “Arizona.jpg” is much more helpful.

Sometimes, respondents use screen readers to take surveys. In such cases, alt text (or alternate text) is essential to describe images for people using these tools. When a screen reader encounters an image, it reads aloud the alt text.

For instance, using "Arizona" as alt text for the image below would be ambiguous and unhelpful. A clearer alternative would be: "Woman standing on the edge of Camelback Mountain overlooking Phoenix, Arizona." This description provides specific details that make the image understandable to all survey participants.

In the image upload/edit window, you can set max-widths for two screen size categories:

Desktop: screens 834px or wider

Mobile: screens 833px wide or smaller

Max-widths restrict how large an image can grow but allow it to scale down on smaller screens. Image heights adjust automatically based on width to maintain the original aspect ratio—this helps preserve image quality and prevents distortion from stretching or squishing.

By default:

Landscape (horizontal) images have a max-width of 75%

Portrait (vertical) images have a max-width of 50%

You can define max-widths in either pixels (px) or percentage (%). Click the unit label on the right side of the input field to switch between units.

When using percentages, the value represents the portion of the parent container’s width that the image can occupy.

Example: A 50% max-width in a 1000px-wide container displays the image at 500px wide.

Keep in mind that max-width only affects images that are larger than the defined value:

If an image is wider than the max-width, it will scale down to fit.

If an image is smaller, it will display at its original size.

Examples:

An image with original dimensions of 1000×500px and a max-width of 500px would display at 500×250px, preserving the aspect ratio.

An image that is 250×250px with the same max-width setting would stay at 250×250px, since it’s already smaller than the defined limit.

Add further context to text or images without cluttering the screen by adding tooltips.

To add a tooltip:

Select the text or image you want to annotate.
Click on the tooltip button in the rich text editor ().
Enter the explanatory text and click Insert.

Discover Help Guide

Text formatting

Introduction

Text color

Bulleted and numbered lists

Insert link

Highlight existing text

Insert new text

Images

Alt text

Image sizing

Tooltips