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Question

Friendly variable interface and Rich Text Formatting in string variable


Zoek Lin

Hi Figma team and community,

 

First off, I just want to say that variables have been a game changer for me and my team. They’ve helped us improve both the efficiency and accuracy of our designs in a big way.

As we move toward treating our Figma files as the single source of truth for all customer-facing content, I wanted to share some feedback that might make variables even more powerful—especially for teams that are serious about using them to scale design operations.

Disclaimer: I haven’t searched to see if these ideas have been raised already, so if there’s any overlap—pardon the redundancy!

 

1. Rich Text Formatting Support

There are many times when a string includes things like hyperlinks, bold or colored text, or even superscripts—especially in compliance disclosures. It would be tremendously helpful if variables could support some basic rich text formatting to reflect these needs more accurately in design.

 

2. Composable String Variables (and Maybe Formulas?)

Right now, if I want to create a sentence that includes dynamic and static parts (e.g., a name that changes based on user context), I have to create multiple separate strings.

It would be amazing if a string token could:

Include multiple variables (like Variable A + Variable B)

Allow one part to switch dynamically while keeping the rest constant

For example, in a social app:

“Welcome back, Tom!” → where "Welcome back," is fixed, and "Tom" is a variable that switches depending on the profile.

Bonus: if some kind of formula or lightweight logic could be added in the future, that would open up even more possibilities.

 

3. Better Interface for Editing Long Strings

This one’s pretty straightforward—the current UI for editing longer strings isn’t very friendly. The small text cells truncate input, making it easy to make mistakes or miss issues while typing. A more flexible or expandable editing interface would make auditing and editing long strings much smoother. Also as the variable becomes long and all the interrelations of tokens become complicated, I just cannot tell if I am selecting the right one in the right box.

 

Thanks again for building such a thoughtful tool. These are small suggestions, but I think they could go a long way in helping teams really scale their use of variables effectively. 🙏

4 replies

Mickaël Perrier

Agreed. I’m tired of having to separate words into separate string objects just to have one or two words in Bold format. 😅


Rene_Lopez
  • New Member
  • 1 reply
  • July 2, 2025

having this would be great, and also a UI similar to the visualize variables plugin from Mr. Biscuit


martiankid
  • New Participant
  • 12 replies
  • July 4, 2025

Agree, especially for the formulas, so I could combine multiple variables within one alias variable (similar to how it works in TokensStudio)! Use cases are endless. I think it’s a must for building versatile and dynamic design systems, but also for prototyping!


Emile_S
  • New Participant
  • 6 replies
  • July 10, 2025

Please please for the love of all things sane and usefull, don’t map ctrl+v/cmd+v to duplicate variable. Especially when i’m trying to cut and paste copy into the variable itself. Absolutly insane that this was enabled.

Using the variables editor is like juggling razor blades. not fun. 

Also, please allow use to extend the width of the left side to accomodate deeply nested content. 


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