Word Processors like Microsoft Word are really useful when you’re creating content for your website, but why shouldn’t you copy and paste from Word into Episerver?

Word may look clean and simple, but behind the scenes is a lot of code which helps make it so easy to use. This invisible formatting is not compatible with the HTML code which is used in websites.

What happens when I copy and paste from Word?

When you copy text from word the invisible formatting is copied, too.

Pasting the text directly into Episerver may look fine:

But taking a look at the HTML we can see a lot of extra code (in the red box) which changes the way Episerver displays the text:

Using a plain text editor

Copying and pasting into a plain text editor like Notepad strips away all the invisible formatting, which is why reading in plain text editors is so difficult:

If we then copy and paste from the plain text editor into Episerver we have none of the extra coding and the text will display as it should do:

Where to find plain text editors

You may have Notepad installed on your computer – often saved in the Accessories folder. Or, you can use an online plain text editor.