Formatting Text: Headings, Bold, Links, and Lists

How basic formatting works

Good formatting makes content easier to read and better for accessibility and search engines. Here’s how to apply the basics in the block editor.

Headings

Use Heading blocks to break up long content, not bold paragraph text. Headings also have a “level” (H2, H3, H4) – use these in order, don’t skip levels, and never use Heading 1 in your content (the page title already uses that).

Bold, italic, and links

Select text within a paragraph block and a small toolbar will appear above it. From here you can make text bold or italic, or add a link by clicking the link icon and pasting or typing the destination.

Tip: When adding a link, use descriptive text rather than “click here” – e.g. “download the safeguarding policy” rather than “click here to download”. This is clearer for everyone and essential for screen reader users, who often navigate a page by jumping between links.

Lists

Use a List block for bullet points or numbered steps rather than typing dashes or numbers manually – this keeps things properly structured for screen readers. Switch between bullet and numbered style using the toolbar or block settings once the block is added.

Quotes

Use a Quote block when featuring a testimonial, pull quote, or quoted passage, rather than just italicising a paragraph. This adds proper semantic markup and comes with distinct styling to set it apart visually from body text.

Line breaks vs paragraphs

Pressing Enter starts a new paragraph block, with spacing before and after. If you need a line break within the same paragraph (no extra spacing), use Shift+Enter instead. Avoid using empty paragraphs to create spacing – it’s inconsistent across devices and unhelpful for screen readers.

Alignment

Most text blocks allow left, centre, or right alignment via the block toolbar. Left-aligned is the default and easiest to read for longer passages – reserve centre alignment for short lines like headings or captions, as centred body text is harder to read.

Tip: Only bold text you actually want to emphasise – overusing bold makes it harder for readers to know what’s actually important.