Content Blocks Windows
On Windows, effortlessly insert images, text files, code, or CSV tables into your documents with Content Blocks.
Besides the addition of these elements into your document, Content Blocks offer an excellent document management solution.
Content Blocks are popular with writers who need to compile the chapters of a book into a single document.
Origins of Content Blocks
John Gruber, inventor of the Markdown markup language, remarked that image syntax was his biggest mistake with Markdown, and proposed an alternative:
My best idea for good Markdown img syntax would be to just paste in a URL ending in .jpg/.png/.gif etc.
Looking for a syntax for file transclusion, we landed on what we call Content Blocks.
If you want to know more about our journey with this, feel free to check our blog post here: iA Writer 4.
Adding Content Blocks
You can add a Content Block in one of two ways. By drag and drop, or manual entry (typing). In both cases, the same principles should be followed:
- the Content Block must be at the start of an empty line
- they must start with a slash, followed by file name with extension
- embedded files should be referenced in iA Writer’s Library
- captions in quotes or parentheses can be added (this will be ignored with .txt files)
- referenced files must be located either in the same folder as the file where they are referenced, or in a subfolder
1. Drag and Drop
In an open document simply drag and drop an existing file from your Library’s File List into the Editor.
2. Typing Path
You can manually type the path of the file you wish to embed in your document. Be sure to respect the proper syntax, as shown below:
/Section.txt "Section"
/images/Structure.jpg 'Data Flow'
/Balance Sheet.csv
Embedded files are rendered in the Preview and will be included in documents exported to HTML, PDF, Markdown and Microsoft Word.
