Content Formatting, Media & HTML Specifications

The 3BL Editor is a structured, HTML-based publishing environment. Formatting is not decorative — it is a technical decision that affects how content is rendered, indexed, and distributed.

Character Limits

Headline: 255 characters
Subheadline: 255 characters
Body: No limit
Short teaser previews (email distribution): 280 characters

HTML Elements

Group	Feature	HTML Tag	Property
			OWNED	SYNDICATES	AFFILIATES
Headings	Heading 2	<h2>	✅	✅	✅
	Heading 3	<h3>	✅	✅	✅
Paragraph and Alignment	Paragraph	<p>	✅	✅	✅
Text Formatting	Bold	<strong>	✅	✅	✅
	Italic	<em>	✅	✅	✅
	Underline	<u>	✅	✅	✅
	Subscript	<sub>	⚠️	⚠️	⚠️
	Superscript	<sup>	✅	✅	✅
Links	Link	<a>	✅	✅	✅
Lists	Unordered list	<ul>	✅	✅	✅
	Ordered list	<ol>	✅	✅	✅
	List item	<li>	✅	✅	✅
Structure & Formatting	Break	<br>	✅	✅	✅
	Horizontal line	<hr>	✅	✅	✅
	Blockquote	<blockquote>	✅	✅	✅
Tables	Table	<table>	✅	✅	✅
	Table row	<tr>	✅	✅	✅
	Table cell	<td>	✅	✅	✅
	Table header cell	<th>	✅	✅	✅
	Table head	<thead>	✅	✅	✅
	Table body	<tbody>	✅	✅	✅
	Table caption	<caption>	✅	🔴	✅

Media Elements

Group	Feature	HTML Tag	Property
			OWNED	SYNDICATES	AFFILIATES
Featured	Image		✅	✅	✅
	Image caption	<figcaption>	✅	✅	✅

Inline	Image		✅	✅	✅
	Image caption	<figcaption>	✅	✅	✅
	Video		✅	🔴	✅
	Video thumbnail		✅	🔴	✅
	Video caption	<figcaption>	✅	🔴	✅
	Audio		✅	🔴	✅
	Audio caption	<figcaption>	🔴	🔴	🔴
	Embed		✅	✅	✅
	Embed caption	<figcaption>	✅	✅	✅

Additional	Image		✅	🔴	✅
	Image caption	<figcaption>	✅	🔴
	Video		✅	🔴	✅
	Video thumbnail		✅	🔴	✅
	Video caption	<figcaption>	🔴	🔴	🔴
	Audio		✅	🔴	🔴
	Audio caption	<figcaption>	✅	🔴	🔴

Rich Content & Performance Considerations Rich content is more than just visual enhancement, it affects rendering behavior, how information is consumed by search engines, accessibility, and consistency distributed across channels.

Your headline should clearly communicate what the content is about in less than 60 characters.
Use the description to add context about why this topic matters and why your organization is positioned to speak about it.
Secondary headers (H2, H3) help break up your content and transition from one topic to the next, which is more readable to robots than a long block of text.
Keep each section modular, using short and self-contained sections with one clear idea to avoid long, blended paragraphs covering multiple topics.
Add descriptive alt text to images to help visually impaired readers and AI systems interpret the visuals you use.

Read more about 3BL’s framework for optimizing content in our 2026 LLM and Generative AI Writing Guide

The 3BL Content Editor gives marketing, communications, and PR teams the creative flexibility to produce rich, multimedia-driven stories—while ensuring content is structured, sanitized, and distributed consistently across 3BL’s network of 79 partner sites.

Content Formatting, Media & HTML Specifications

This guide provides a comprehensive overview of how the editor works, what it supports, and how to maximize performance and discoverability using structured content.