Movable Type's editing screens for pages and entries supports multiple modes of entering and editing text. Movable Type has supported these "text filtering" plugins since version 2.2, but now with Movable Type 4 we ship a new rich text editor as well as support for the most popular text filters used by the Movable Type community.

Selecting your text format

To select your text format when you are editing an entry or a page, locate the "Format" drop down in the editing menu bar and make your selection.

You can also select your default text format for new entries and pages you create through the "New Entry Default" section of the Entry Settings screen. Learn more about the setting entry defaults.

Formatting options

The formatting options available in Movable Type 4 by default include:

• None. This format allows you to compose your post in pure HTML; the system will not modify your text in any way when your entry is published.

• Convert Line Breaks. This format will automatically enclose your paragraphs in p tags, and converts line breaks to br tags.

• Markdown. Markdown is a popular method for writing HTML in a simple text-based syntax. Markdown is authored by John Gruber, learn more about Markdown at his site.

• Markdown with Smarty Pants. Markdown with Smarty Pants combines the Markdown syntax (see above) with the Smarty Pants filter that translates plain ASCII punctuation characters into "smart" typographic punctuation HTML entities. Smarty Pants is authored by John Gruber, learn more about Smarty Pants at his site.

• Rich Text. Also known as WYSIWYG ("What you see is what you get"), this is the default formatting option for new blogs. The rich text editor lets you see how your text will be formatted as you write it, similar to how a desktop word processor (like Microsoft Word) behaves.

• Textile 2. Textile 2 is another popular method for writing HTML in a simple text-based syntax. Textile 2 is authored by Dean Allen, learn more about Textile 2 at his site.

Creating your own text filter plugin

Movable Type's plugin architecture supports creating custom text filters. Learn more about Defining Custom Text Filters using Movable Type's plugin API.