Aha! Roadmaps | Text editor
You probably spend more time in the Aha! Roadmaps text editor than anywhere else in the application. The text editor is where you fill in a description for a feature or activity, take notes on a meeting, finalize goals for the upcoming year, or add details to a future release.
In this article, we will walk you through some of the key features of the text editor. If you are already familiar with the text editor and want to focus on using it more efficiently, you might be interested in text editor shortcuts.
Click any of the following links to skip ahead:
Collaborate in realtime
Multiple users can simultaneously edit and see other users editing in the text editor. When more than one user is present in the same editing session, other participants are shown as flags that display the users' names. The flags move in real time as other users make updates in the text editor.
To begin collaborative editing, start by modifying a description field or note where your fellow collaborators are currently adding content.
![Two Aha! users editing the same note at the same time.](https://images.ctfassets.net/4zfc07om50my/6PkocRLijJAOI9XixV2rj8/3ac6731c7645ae254e1567ba6f8d25bc/note-editing-2020.png?w=750&h=422&q=90&fm=png&bg=transparent)
You can collaborate live in description fields for saved records, notes, and custom note fields. You cannot in comments, or in the create record (feature, release, initiative, etc.) modals.
In addition to live collaboration, you can also include users or Aha! Roadmaps records with # and @ mentions. Notify your collaborators of a record or note by typing an @ symbol followed by the user’s name. Add links to other records by typing the # symbol, which will let you look up an issue directly from the text editor using either the reference ID or name of the record. Click on a mentioned user to open their user history in a new tab. Click a mentioned record to open its drawer view.
Comment directly on text
The words we write often need to be reviewed for accuracy, tone, and focus. But giving clear feedback can be difficult. Inline text comments let you highlight and comment on the exact parts of the text you want to address, then create conversation threads to focus on and resolve the issue.
![Inline comments on a full screen text editor.](https://images.ctfassets.net/4zfc07om50my/5xuOAQXhCpcMwjBP4DlC0z/304a66870dd31b34e290912e49e91ef3/afm.aha.io_pages_FWCYL-N-467_full_screen_7221293636124122753__1_.png?w=750&h=457&q=90&fm=png&bg=transparent)
To create a new inline comment, highlight the text you want to comment on and click the Add comment + icon that appears on the right side of the text editor. Your text will be highlighted and underlined in orange, the Comments sidebar will appear, and you can start creating your comment. Click Save comment once you are done.
Resolved comments will be highlighted and underlined in green and you can always reply to a resolved comment to reopen it.
Inline comments have access to the full text editor, so feel free to format your text, @ and #mention Aha! Roadmaps users and records, add and color tables, or insert images.
Floating menu and full-screen mode
You have likely seen it while browsing the internet — a menu that “sticks” to the top of your window as you scroll down a page. This ensures that you never have to scroll back to the top of a page when you need the toolbar. The menu is always floating there, waiting to be used, as you scroll down the page.
Click the Enter full-screen mode icon on the text editor toolbar to expand the note or description to the full height and width of your browser window. As you scroll down and up, the text editor toolbar will remain at the top of your screen.
Add a note template
Templates are perfect for standardizing your documents and providing structure for what you are writing. But sometimes you do not realize you need a template until you had already started drafting your document. Add a note template to your existing note from the text editor's toolbar. You can also add note templates to comments and to-dos to standardize how you communicate and assign tasks.
Click the More options menu and select Template. The Aha! template library will open. You can add any note template included in the template library — including custom templates you have added to your workspace.
Embed a whiteboard
You can embed a whiteboard directly into your note or the description of your feature, idea, requirement, or initiative to add diagrams, sketches, and other visuals alongside text.
![Whiteboard adde](https://images.ctfassets.net/4zfc07om50my/36NzZVxZZ2DumltYnWIQvo/2f366dc387ebd1a1134307c363993b88/afm.aha.io_pages_FWCYL-N-603.png?w=750&h=439&q=90&fm=png&bg=transparent)
Click + on the text editor toolbar and select Whiteboard while editing a record description. A new whiteboard will be added below your cursor. Click the pencil icon to edit the whiteboard. When you are finished editing the whiteboard, click the X to exit and return to editing your note or description. To remove an embedded whiteboard, click the trashcan icon and click to confirm that you would like to delete it.
You can add embed a whiteboard in an idea to include it in your ideas portal. You must add the idea from within your Aha! account — you cannot add a whiteboard from your portal. The whiteboard will be read-only in your ideas portal, even to the portal user who submitted the idea.
Draft and improve text with AI
You can use the artificial intelligence (AI) writing assistant in Aha! Roadmaps to help you create clear, polished text in the right tone — so that you can communicate effectively without spending extra time and effort. Use AI to draft emails to customers, refine what you have already written, summarize long passages, and more.
Click the wand icon on your toolbar to prompt AI to generate a first draft of your text in a note, record description, or comment. Highlight existing text and click the wand to prompt AI to apply changes in tone, summarize passages, make formatting changes, and more.
Add and comment on media
You can add images, audio, and videos inline so you do not need to attach additional documentation with rich media. Click the + [More] menu from the text editor toolbar, select Image icon, choose your image, audio, or video file, and click Attach. The file will appear inline. When you insert a video or audio file, anyone who can view the note or record you have added it to can press the play button to listen or watch the embedded media.
The text editor also supports copy/paste and drag-and-drop for quickly adding media.
Once your image is embedded, you can select it Add alt text in the field below your image.
Inserting media will add it both inline and as an attachment to the record.
![Text editor showing the ability to view and add comments.](https://images.ctfassets.net/4zfc07om50my/5QRyJvXONYlp0fP2JMkge2/c5cf710aa135044bed15a27c76e43433/_support_roadmaps_strategic-roadmaps_collaboration_text-editor.png?w=750&h=407&q=90&fm=png&bg=transparent)
To comment on an inserted media file, highlight it inline and add your comment. You can also comment on images attached to Aha! Roadmaps records.
When you add an image or video, grab the edges to resize it depending on the level of detail you need.
Supported audio file types include mp3, .wav, and .ogg. Supported video files include .mp4, .webm, and .ogv and should be under 300MB.
Add and modify tables
To insert a table, place your cursor in the location where you would like the table to appear. Then select the Table option from the More menu on the text editor toolbar and use the grid of cells to highlight the number of rows and columns that you need.
![Text editor showing the ability to add a table.](https://images.ctfassets.net/4zfc07om50my/42cEW1TLX6rvmcvNGU22e3/c3dd0ec3784a2fea96386dce4ce58f80/_support_roadmaps_strategic-roadmaps_collaboration_text-editor__1_.png?w=750&h=413&q=90&fm=png&bg=transparent)
The table will automatically size itself to fit the dimensions of your text, images, or links. You can resize the table by dragging any of the borders of your table.
Modify the table by clicking on a cell or highlighting a group of cells, then clicking the dropdown in the top-right corner of a cell. From the dropdown, you can merge cells, split cells, adjust the cell text's vertical alignment (top, middle, bottom), add and remove rows/columns, clear table contents, or delete the table.
If you add a table to a presentation slide, you have a few more styling options available to you, including custom fill colors, colored borders, transparency, and line spacing.
You can also customize the look of your table by adding background colors to cells, rows, and columns. Select the cell(s) you want to color, click the Table dropdown in the corner of a selected cell, then click Cell background color to select from one of 70 colors.
![Text editor showing the ability to color cells in a table.](https://images.ctfassets.net/4zfc07om50my/2C0CU2gIMIJkIOAfWagkHT/a534dbde0524b94bab78575149eeed91/Screen_Shot_2020-09-30_at_4.30.55_PM__2_.png?w=750&h=422&q=90&fm=png&bg=transparent)
If your background color makes it hard to read your text, change your text color to white.
Track history and restore historical versions
The text editor tracks the history of changes made to a note or description. To view the record of changes and the user(s) who made them, click the View history icon on the text editor toolbar.
![Text editor audit log showing a history of all changes.](https://images.ctfassets.net/4zfc07om50my/6eKs77g3Zk2c3LHvppqrey/5a07d5d10e7808055f93372224dff14c/Screen_Shot_2021-04-09_at_1.png?w=750&h=337&q=90&fm=png&bg=transparent)
During a collaborative session that involves multiple users, each user that modified the document will be displayed in the history of the record.
To restore a previous version, simply select one of the historical versions of your document and choose Revert to this version.
![The history section of the Aha! text editor](https://images.ctfassets.net/4zfc07om50my/4PHKNJGKi1mxH47yG0zfwO/32cfbf67724ab76ab4c06f56bc36f9f0/Screen_Shot_2021-04-09_at_1.29.44_PM.png?w=750&h=418&q=90&fm=png&bg=transparent)