Callouts and tables are the two block-level formatting tools in The Editor that most beginners get stuck on. This guide explains when to reach for each, how to escape them when you're done, and a few practical conventions for keeping articles readable inside the chat-widget.
Callouts at a glance
Four variants, each with its own colour, icon, and use case.
Note (📝) — background context that's useful but not strictly required to follow the article. Avoid it for anything time-sensitive or risky — use Warning or Danger.
Tip (💡) — best practices, productivity shortcuts, optional improvements. Avoid it for mandatory steps; if it must be done, put it in the main flow.
Warning (⚠️) — outcomes that surprise the reader (state-locking actions, asynchronous side effects, common foot-guns). Avoid it for hard data-loss or irreversible operations — use Danger instead.
Danger (❗) — anything that can lose data, break production, or cost money. Few articles need more than one. Avoid it as decoration: if everything is Danger, nothing is.
Insert a callout
Place the cursor on a paragraph (or select multiple paragraphs).
Click the variant icon in the toolbar — 📝, 💡, ⚠️, or ❗.
The selected content wraps in a callout block with the matching colour and icon.
To change a callout's variant, click inside it and click a different variant icon.
Escape a callout
This is the most common reason authors get stuck. Once your cursor is inside a callout, Enter keeps adding paragraphs inside the block. To break out:
Press Ctrl+Enter (or click the ↵ Exit block button in the toolbar).
A fresh paragraph is inserted immediately after the callout, and the cursor lands in it.
The same shortcut works for blockquotes and code blocks.
Memorise this one. There is no other ergonomic way out.
Insert a table
Place the cursor where you want the table.
Click +Table in the toolbar.
A 3×3 table inserts at the cursor with empty cells.
Fixed 3×3 is the only starting size; grow or shrink it with the table menu.
Edit a table
While your cursor is inside a table, a floating table menu appears just above the table's top-left corner (it moves below the table when there is no room above). It is one row of buttons and applies to the row and column your cursor is in.
Move to next cell — Tab.
Move to previous cell — Shift+Tab.
Insert row above / below — + Row↑ / + Row↓.
Delete row — − Row.
Insert column left / right — + Col← / + Col→.
Delete column — − Col.
Delete the whole table — ✖ Table (shown in red). There is no confirmation, but Ctrl+Z brings the table back.
Resize column width — drag the border between two columns.
Conventions for readable tables
Every article you write is also displayed inside the chat-widget Help tab. The widget grows when an article is open, but it is still a side panel — roughly 720 px wide on a desktop and narrower on small screens — so tables that look fine on the public reader can horizontal-scroll painfully there.
Keep cells short. One sentence per cell, ideally a single phrase. Move long prose into the body around the table.
Prefer four columns or fewer. Wide tables wrap or scroll in the widget.
Headers should be a single word or two. "Status", "Where visible", "Set by" — not "What sets this row's value in the database".
Wrap acronyms / IDs in inline code. kb_article in code stays on one line and is visually separated.
Consider a list instead. A "Label — text" bullet list reads well at any width and needs no scrolling.
Don't put callouts inside callouts
The sanitiser allows it, but the result looks confusing — overlapping coloured stripes, unclear hierarchy. If you find yourself nesting callouts, refactor the article: split a deep callout off into its own section, or convert the inner block to a paragraph with a bold lead-in.
When not to use a callout
A single sentence of prose is rarely worth a callout. A bold lead-in ("Note: …") inside a regular paragraph reads better.
Lists of items. Use a bullet list, not a callout-of-bullets.
Reference data. Use a table or a "Label — text" list, or split the data into a separate …field definitions article.
Related
The Editor — the rest of the toolbar and shortcuts.
Editor keyboard shortcuts field definitions — every shortcut at a glance.
Insert images and embeds — the other block-level insertions.