How the Style tab works. Add and remove settings, shorten long text with Truncate, balance a heading, and turn a whole box into a link.
Updated 20 Oct 2026
Click a block on your page, then open the Style tab in the panel on the right. This article explains how that tab works and covers three newer settings: Truncate, Balanced wrap and Link on a box. For the sizes, position and layout sections, see Size, position and layout of a block.
The tab is split into sections: Layout, Position, Size, Spacing, Typography, Background, Border, Effects and Interaction. A section shows the settings your block actually has, plus a few basics that are always there, such as Width and Height on a box. A small count such as 4 set on the header tells you how many are in use. A section with nothing in it is a single quiet line.
The setting appears as a new row, already holding a starting value you can change. A setting that is already on the block stays in the menu, ticked and greyed out. The less common settings are under Advanced in the same menu.
You can also type in the search box at the top of the tab. It lists the matching settings that are already set, and the ones that are not yet set show a dashed Add in place of a value. Click Add and the row is added, just as if you had picked it from the + menu.
Everything can be undone with Ctrl + Z (Cmd + Z on a Mac). Each change is one step.
On Tablet and Phone, a small dot before a label means that screen has its own value for that setting. Click the dot to remove it, so the screen goes back to following Desktop.
On a heading or a paragraph, the font rows such as Font family, Size, Weight and Color are always there. Open the + on the Typography header to add the others, such as Text shadow, Balanced wrap and Truncate. On a box that holds other things, the + also adds the font rows, and Typography applies to the text inside the box.
Truncate cuts off text that is too long and ends it with three dots.
The line under the row tells you what it is doing, for example "One line, cut off with an ellipsis." or "Cut off after 3 lines." Click the x to turn Truncate off. This removes only what Truncate added, so your other settings are not touched.
Truncate does not work on a Stack or a Grid. On those, the row greys out and says: "Truncate does not work on a Stack or Grid. Clear Type in Layout, or put the text in its own box." To fix it, either clear Type in the Layout section (a box with no Type set is a plain block, which is what Truncate needs), or put the text in its own box inside the stack.
Truncate never overwrites a setting you made yourself. If you have set Type in Layout yourself, even to Block, one line still works but more than one is refused, because several lines need Type left unset. Clear Type and all the lines work. The line under the row tells you why. If you set White space to something other than nowrap, one line is refused in the same way. Clear that setting first and Truncate works.
Truncate has no visible effect on a piece of text that sits inline inside a sentence. Put the text in its own box, or use a heading or paragraph.
On Tablet and Phone, the Truncate label shows the dot when that screen has its own Truncate. Click the dot to go back to the Desktop setting.
Balanced wrap evens out the length of the lines in a heading, so you do not end up with one lonely word on the last line. Click the + on the Typography header and choose Balanced wrap. The row is a menu with Balance already chosen. It works best on short text such as headings.
A box such as a card or a tile can be a link, so a click anywhere on it goes somewhere.
While a box is a link, it is a link and nothing else. A box that was set as a section or a nav loses that tag until you take the link off, and gets it back after.
A box that holds a link or a button cannot be a link itself. A link inside a link does not work on the web, so ContentMetric switches the outer box's own link off and the panel tells you: "This box holds a link or button, so its own link is off." This includes a link or button anywhere inside the box, not only directly in it, and a link inside a piece of text counts too. Remove the link or button inside, or put the link on a different box, to make it work. Your Link address is kept, and it works again as soon as nothing inside is a link or button.
The row of eight align buttons above the settings and the Place in cell and Grid span controls for blocks inside a grid are explained in Size, position and layout of a block. Two things to remember:
The tooltips on the align buttons also name a keyboard shortcut, such as Alt + A. These are labels only, and the keys do nothing, so use the buttons.
I cleared a section by mistake. Can I get it back? Yes. Press Ctrl + Z (Cmd + Z on a Mac). The whole section comes back in one step.
I cannot find a setting. Type its name in the search box at the top of the tab. If the block does not have it yet, you will see Add.
My Truncate row will not let me change the lines. The block is a Stack or a Grid. Clear Type in Layout, or put the text in its own box.
Why did my box lose its link? It holds a link or a button, so its own link is switched off. Take the inner link or button out and the box link works again.