How do I use ligatures and extra characters from a font in Webflow? Can you explain how to enter them?
TL;DR
- Ensure your font supports ligatures or alternate glyphs using tools like Glyphfinder or FontBook.
- Add custom CSS with font-feature-settings to enable ligatures and apply it to a Webflow class.
- Manually insert special glyphs using character maps or Unicode lookup tools, or use custom uploaded fonts with OpenType features enabled via CSS.
To use ligatures and extra characters (glyphs or stylistic alternates) from a font in Webflow, you need to ensure the font supports these features and then activate or manually enter them using Unicode or OpenType settings.
1. Verify Your Font Supports Ligatures or Glyphs
- Make sure your chosen font (e.g., OpenType fonts like Adobe Fonts or Google Fonts) includes ligatures or alternate characters.
- Use tools like Adobe Illustrator, FontBook, or glyphfinder.com to preview available characters and their OpenType features.
2. Enable Ligatures with Custom CSS
- Webflow Designer does not expose ligature controls by default, so you need to add custom CSS to turn them on.
- Add a custom embed with a
<style>tag in the page’s Before </body> tag custom code area or inside a <style> tag in the Page Settings:
Example (for discretionary ligatures and stylistic alternates):
font-variant-ligatures: discretionary-ligatures;
font-feature-settings: "liga" 1, "dlig" 1, "salt" 1;
- Apply those CSS rules to a class (e.g.,
.ligature-text) and use that class in Webflow’s Designer.
3. Manually Insert Special Glyphs
- Use external tools such as:
- Character Map (Windows) or Font Book (Mac) to find and copy special characters.
- Glyphfinder, Unicode-Table.com, or BabelMap to locate Unicode values of alternate glyphs.
- Once copied, paste the character directly into a Webflow text field in Designer or CMS.
4. Use Custom Fonts with OpenType Features
- If you're uploading a custom OpenType font (.otf) to Webflow:
- Go to Project Settings > Fonts and upload your font files.
- After uploading, assign the font in Designer and apply custom CSS as needed to activate specific features.
5. Test in Supported Browsers
- Some OpenType features (like
font-feature-settings) are not uniformly supported across all browsers. - Chrome, Safari, and Firefox support most modern font features, but always double-check especially if using complex scripts or lesser-known stylistic sets.
Summary
To use ligatures or extra glyphs in Webflow, first verify your font includes them, then either paste special characters directly or use custom CSS (with font-feature-settings). Webflow doesn’t provide a UI for these features, so manual insertion or code is required.
