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Configuring filters and macros

You can configure filters and macros for the entire community and override the settings for specific spaces. Filters and macros have different roles to modify text at runtime, and you can turn these changes on or off or change the settings that control how they work.

Understanding Filters and Macros​

Here's how filters and macros work in general:

  • Filters operate on all of the text in content. They are useful for tasks such as changing every link URL or looking for particular text throughout a piece of content.
  • Macros are designed to operate on specific parts of the content, such as a section of text. For example, a macro formats a link to a blog post with the CSS style reference needed to display the blog icon. Note that in the user interface, these operations may appear as selections on the content editor toolbar, but they continue to be referred to as macros in the Admin Console and developer documentation.

The Filters and Macros page lists the filters and macros installed for the selected space. By default, each space inherits the set of filters and macros from the global configuration defined in the root space.

However, the list isn't shown for sub-spaces until you choose to copy filters to the sub-space. When you click the Copy Global Filters button on the Filters and Macros page for a subspace, the application copies the global list and configuration to the page. If you want to edit the list for a sub-space, you need to click the button first.

Fastpath

Admin Console: Spaces > Settings > Filters and Macros

Pre-Processing Filters​

Pre-processing filters are the very first filters to operate on your content. They perform on the initial version of the content before any other macros and filters have processed it to generate the final output. For example, the HTML filter should be executed before any other macros or filters; otherwise, it would strip out the HTML content that other filters and macros introduce.

By default, there are no editable pre-processing filters.

Macros​

A macro operates on or adds a specific part of content. For example, a macro could format a link or embed a window to display video.

In the list, you can see all of the macros installed on the system. Many macros, especially those tightly integrated into the content editor toolbar, cannot be disabled. Those you can disable or delete are generally macros installed as separate components, such as in plugins.

Filters​

Filters — think of them as mid-processing filters — operate on text after macros have been executed but before post-processing filters have done their work. By default, the application doesn't include any editable filters.

Post-Processing Filters​

Post-processing filters provide a final sweep of content before it is seen by others. This is where you can catch any text issues, including what has been added by other filters or macros.

Some important filters you can enable include:

Related

Filtering and formatting content