Guide
Finding the right block
Search by what you are trying to add — "two addresses", "signature", "tick box" — instead of learning the names of the blocks first.
Where the search is
Everywhere you can add something:
- the Search button at the top of the block palette on the left, whether the palette is open or collapsed to its icon rail;
- the Search blocks… entry in every + Add block menu — the Contents list at the side, the "+" buttons on the canvas, and the adder inside an empty group or column.
It is the same panel in each place, with the same results.
What it searches
Every block you can insert, every ready-made layout, and your saved recipes. A block is found by its own name, by the words people use for it elsewhere, and by the sentence describing it. So "formatted paragraph", "rich text" and "heading" all reach the Text block; "tick box" reaches Checkbox; "line items" reaches Table.
Where one block offers several shapes — Label + value, or Code — each shape is listed under the name you would pick it by, not hidden behind the family. Searching "fill-in box" offers the box directly.
When a result was found by a word other than its name, the row says which word matched, so a result never appears without a visible reason for being there.
Four blocks are found here rather than in the palette
Stack, Repeater, Spacer and Page break have no tile. Each one is usually made from a block you have already selected — Wrap in Stack, Repeat for each record…, Add space below and Insert page break below, in the block's menu (⋮ or right-click). When there is nothing to select yet — an empty page, an empty group or column — search for them instead: "empty group", "repeating section", "blank space" or "page break". Blocks of these kinds that are already in your document select and edit exactly as before.
Text versus Markdown (formatting supplied by data)
"Formatted paragraph" and "rich text" both reach Text, and Markdown sits right next to it in the
results — so it helps to know what actually tells the two apart. It is not who can format text; it
is who supplies the formatting. In Text, you format it yourself, and a live value always
prints as plain words, even if it contains **stars**. In Markdown, a live value can carry its own
formatting — a # Heading or **bold** coming from your data renders as a real heading or bold
text, not the symbols. Search "supplied formatting" or "formatted content from data" to reach
Markdown directly; everything else about a paragraph of words lands on Text.
Ready-made layouts
Open the search without typing anything and you get the ready-made layouts: two addresses, signature columns, a totals box, a framed note. Each one shows a small sketch of what it produces.
The totals box works its figures out from your data rather than printing typed ones: the subtotal
adds up the "amount" of every record in your "items" list, the VAT applies the rate in "vatRate"
(0.19 for 19%), and the total is the two together. Its sketch shows these as {{ … }}, because
there is no data to work them out against there. In a template whose data has no "items" or no
"vatRate", the editor names the missing field. Without "vatRate" the VAT and the total print
nothing; without "items" every figure is zero.
A ready-made layout is not a special kind of block. It inserts ordinary blocks — a row, some text, a rule, a label and value — arranged for you. Everything in it selects, edits, moves and deletes exactly like a block you placed by hand, and the whole thing arrives as a single step, so one undo removes it.
My recipes
Below the ready-made layouts are your workspace's saved recipes — blocks you or your team saved to reuse. Typing searches their names and descriptions too. Picking one opens a short check of what it needs and where it goes before anything is inserted; from here you can also save the current selection as a recipe, or rename and delete recipes (see Saved recipes).
When a result is greyed out
Some places cannot take some blocks — a ruled form cannot go inside another ruled form, for instance. Those results stay in the list, greyed out, with the reason on hover, rather than disappearing: a choice that vanishes without explanation is harder to understand than one that tells you why it is unavailable here.
Finding a block that is already in your document
This search is for things to ADD. To find something you have already placed — "the billing address block", or a block a condition is hiding — use the Outline tab next to Blocks in the left panel (see The outline).
If nothing matches
Try the words you would use for it on paper. If a phrase you would naturally type finds nothing, it is a gap in our vocabulary rather than in yours — tell us and we will add it.
Words that work
Search by what you would call the thing on paper. A few that surprise people:
| Type… | You find… |
|---|---|
| "two addresses", "side by side", "columns" | Row |
| "page x of y", "pagination" | Page number |
| "repeat for each", "one per record", "repeating section" | Repeater |
| "group", "keep together" | Stack |
| "new page" | Page break |
| "scan code", "qr" | QR code and Barcode |
A Repeater, a Stack and a Page break have no tile in the palette. Search is the way to add them, or the Repeat and Wrap commands on blocks you already have.
If something looks wrong
- I cannot find a block. Try a different word for it; the palette groups blocks (Text, Layout, Data, Media, Scan codes, Shapes, Forms) and Search covers them all plus ready-made layouts and your recipes.
- A result is greyed out. It cannot go where you are aiming. Hover for the reason; the "Adding to:" line at the top of the palette says where the block would land.
- A block I added is not on the page I'm looking at. It went where "Adding to:" said: below the selected block, or in the header, footer or container you clicked.