Rich Text Fields

What is a rich text field?

A rich text field stores formatted content — headings, bold, italic, links, lists, blockquotes, and embedded media. It is the field type used for long-form content like blog post bodies, descriptions, and bios.

When to use rich text

Use rich text when the content needs:

• Headings — section titles within the content.
• Lists — bullet points or numbered steps.
• Links — inline hyperlinks.
• Bold/italic — emphasis within paragraphs.
• Images — embedded visuals within the text.

Use plain text instead when the content is:

• A title, name, or label (short, no formatting).
• An excerpt or summary (one paragraph, no structure).
• A form input like email, phone, or URL.

Rich text vs. plain text

Plain Text	Rich Text
Formatting	None	Headings, bold, italic, lists, links
Use case	Titles, names, short descriptions	Body content, bios, long descriptions
CMS editor	Simple text input	WYSIWYG editor
Output	Raw string	HTML
Search	Easy to index	Requires HTML stripping

Formatting best practices

1. Use headings for structure — H2 for main sections, H3 for subsections. Never skip levels (H2 → H4).
2. Keep paragraphs short — 2-4 sentences per paragraph for web readability.
3. Use lists for scannable content — bullets for unordered items, numbers for sequential steps.
4. Limit embedded images — use a dedicated gallery field for photo collections. Embedded images are hard to style consistently.
5. Avoid excessive formatting — bold everything and nothing is bold. Use emphasis sparingly.

Platform considerations

Webflow CMS

Webflow's rich text field supports: headings (H2-H6), bold, italic, links, lists, blockquotes, images, and videos. It does not support tables or custom HTML.

Airtable

Airtable's long text field supports Markdown-like formatting. When syncing to Webflow, you will need to convert Markdown to HTML.

Common mistakes

1. Using rich text for titles — titles should be plain text. Rich text titles break sorting and display in reference dropdowns.
2. Storing structured data in rich text — if you need a list of items with attributes (name + price + description), use a separate collection with references, not a rich text blob.
3. Ignoring content guidelines — without formatting guidelines, editors will produce inconsistent content. Document which heading levels, list styles, and formatting conventions to use.

Syncing rich text between platforms

When syncing rich text between Airtable and Webflow, format conversion is one of the most common challenges.

Airtable → Webflow

Airtable's "Long text" field with rich text enabled uses Markdown-like formatting. Trellis converts this to HTML before pushing to Webflow:

• bold becomes <strong>bold</strong>
• # Heading becomes <h2>Heading</h2> (Webflow rich text supports H2-H6)
• Lists, links, and blockquotes convert cleanly
• Tables in Airtable rich text do NOT convert to Webflow (Webflow rich text doesn't support tables)
• Code blocks convert to Webflow's styled code elements

Webflow → Airtable

Webflow rich text is stored as HTML. When reading from Webflow's API, you receive raw HTML that can be stripped or converted to Markdown for Airtable storage.

Formatting loss scenarios

Some formatting will not survive a round-trip between platforms:

• Airtable tables → lost in Webflow (no table support)
• Webflow custom CSS classes on rich text elements → not preserved in Airtable
• Embedded Webflow components → cannot be represented in Airtable

Plan your content structure to avoid relying on formatting that doesn't translate between your platforms.

Styling rich text in Webflow

Webflow provides a "Rich Text" element that renders CMS rich text content. You can style each element type (H2, H3, paragraphs, lists, links, images, blockquotes) inside the Rich Text element. Key styling tips:

• Set max-width on embedded images to prevent them from stretching full-width.
• Add margin-bottom to headings and paragraphs for consistent spacing.
• Style blockquotes with a left border and italic text for visual distinction.
• Set link colors and hover states for inline links.
• Use "All H2 elements" inside the rich text wrapper to style all headings at once.

SEO and rich text

Rich text content is the primary driver of organic search traffic for content-heavy sites. Best practices:

• Use H2 headings for major topics (these become potential featured snippet triggers).
• Include the target keyword naturally in the first paragraph.
• Use lists for "how to" and "best of" content — Google often pulls these into featured snippets.
• Add alt text to embedded images (Webflow prompts for this in the rich text editor).
• Keep paragraphs under 300 words — long blocks of text reduce readability and engagement.

When to split rich text into multiple fields

Sometimes a single rich text field for the entire body is not enough. Consider splitting when:

• Different sections need different layouts — an "Introduction" rich text field and a "Main Content" rich text field let you design each section differently.
• You need structured content blocks — use separate fields for "Problem", "Solution", "Results" in case studies instead of one continuous body.
• Content needs to appear in multiple places — a separate "Summary" plain text field works in cards, meta descriptions, and feeds, while the full rich text body only appears on the detail page.