Skip to main content

Keep formatting when copying a Richt Text Field

  • February 25, 2021
  • 4 replies
  • 36 views
O
Forum|alt.badge.img+14

I have a Rich Text Field with a hyperlink in it. When I select the entire field and copy -paste it into a a text editor or other software, the hyperlink gets lost. The same is true for other kinds of formatting, like bold, italic, etc.

The formatting only gets copied correctly if I go in to edit the field, and then select and copy the text.

I use Rich Text Fields and Scripts in order to generate hyperlinks in a field, but without being able to copy them, this is not so much use for me.

    ScottWorld
    B
    A

    4 replies

    ScottWorld
    Forum|alt.badge.img+35
    • ScottWorld
    • Genius
    • February 25, 2021

    I stumbled into this exact same problem yesterday with a client of mine, and it was very frustrating.

    I would recommend emailing support@airtable.com to request this, because sadly they don’t pay attention to the majority of posts here.

    B
    Forum|alt.badge.img+19
    • Bill_French
    • Inspiring
    • February 25, 2021

    This is expected behavior and easily explained.

    • Airtable uses a variant of Markdown to style rich content.
    • Most tools don’t support Markdown and surely not Airtable’s variant.
    • Copying the content from the edit window means you are capturing a rendered instance of the Markdown variant - e.g., it’s HTML when you snap such a copy, therefore, it can be pasted in most cases.
    kuovonne
    Shaun_Parfett_S
    O
    Forum|alt.badge.img+14
    • Oliver_Holtz
    • Author
    • Inspiring
    • February 25, 2021

    This is expected behavior and easily explained.

    • Airtable uses a variant of Markdown to style rich content.
    • Most tools don’t support Markdown and surely not Airtable’s variant.
    • Copying the content from the edit window means you are capturing a rendered instance of the Markdown variant - e.g., it’s HTML when you snap such a copy, therefore, it can be pasted in most cases.

    Thanks for the explanation. I can see why it would happen. Does this mean, though, that it’s technically impossible to copy the HTML of the field I selected by default, rather than the markdown?

    B
    Forum|alt.badge.img+19
    • Bill_French
    • Inspiring
    • February 25, 2021

    Thanks for the explanation. I can see why it would happen. Does this mean, though, that it’s technically impossible to copy the HTML of the field I selected by default, rather than the markdown?


    No, not if you use automated scripting to do so.

    Shaun_Parfett_S
    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement