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Hard Returns and Soft Returns (Editing Email templates)
Hard Returns and Soft Returns (Editing Email templates)

This article explains the difference between hard returns and soft returns.

Matt Wheeler avatar
Written by Matt Wheeler
Updated over 2 years ago

Editing email text on the Inspection Support Network can sometimes leave you wondering why some text drops down a few lines and why some text does not. This seemingly magical text movement is due to something called a hard return and a soft return. They are significantly different and if you understand them and master them you can edit your templates like a design ninja.

First, we need to go back to the days of the typewriter. Those loud machines with messy ink and impossible correcting tape. If you remember when you got to the end of the line you would hit the enter key to signify you are done with that line and drop the carriage down. Now, usher in that world of word processing with all of its new rules. In the world of word processing, you do not have to hit enter to go to the next line. The program did this line thing automatically for us (amazing)! Thus, in the word processing era when you hit the enter/return key, it meant you were done with the entire paragraph. This is known as a Hard Return. It tells the editor you want to have a new paragraph and some white space in between the text.
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But that is not what I want! I just want to go to the next line!

The Soft Return on the other hand places the cursor on the next.
Hold "Shift" and press "Enter" for a soft return.
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If you have any questions about this information please let us know! You can reach us by chat, email at help@inspectionsupport.com, or phone at (800) 700-8112.

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