# CV Builder interaction patterns

Updated: 2026-08-15

## Research scope

Current public product/help material was reviewed for [Reactive Resume](https://docs.rxresu.me/guides/fitting-content-on-a-page), [Resume.io](https://help.resume.io/en/articles/3785216), [Enhancv](https://help.enhancv.com/en/articles/14432262-how-to-add-a-new-section-to-your-resume-in-the-new-editor-toolbox-on-top), [Novorésumé](https://novoresume.com/career-blog/novoresume-templates-science), [FlowCV](https://flowcv.com/) and [Canva](https://www.canva.com/create/resumes/). This is pattern research, not a claim that authenticated/private product flows were inspected.

## Repeated useful patterns

| Pattern | Product signal | JobTracker decision |
|---|---|---|
| Structured content beside live output | Resume.io, FlowCV and Reactive Resume emphasise immediate preview rather than editing a raw document | Keep Career Profile as factual source and the variant editor as a presentation lens beside one server-rendered preview |
| Defaults first, advanced controls second | Novorésumé documents safe-zone typography/spacing choices; FlowCV emphasises guided creation | Preserve professional theme defaults; expose theme, font, density, page format and visibility without pixel-level design controls |
| Reorder at section and entry level | Enhancv exposes add-section/add-entry actions; Reactive Resume exposes drag ordering | Keep drag plus named arrow controls; place custom and profile-backed sections in one order |
| Pagination is visible and actionable | Resume.io documents page navigation and line spacing; Reactive Resume documents content fitting and page formats | Count partial pages with `ceil`, respect A4/Letter, show boundaries/navigation and warn—not auto-shrink—at 3+ pages |
| Export reuses preview content | Reactive Resume documents one content/render path | Preserve one `CvRenderModel`/`ThemedCvRenderer` path for preview, PDF and public CV |
| Free-form design is optional, not the default | Canva is strong for visual freedom but less constrained around semantic resume structure | Do not reproduce a canvas editor; keep content portable, accessible and ATS-aware |

## Rendering rules

- Long unbroken values must wrap inside the page, including names, titles, employers, email addresses, URLs and skill chips.
- Ordinary entries stay together across a page boundary. Entries or list items too large for one page may flow; an unsplittable over-height block is a clipping bug.
- A section heading stays with following content where Chromium can honour paged-media rules.
- Typography is never globally reduced to hide overflow. Density remains an explicit user choice.
- A4 and Letter use their actual physical width and height in both the renderer and preview controls.
- Export first saves the current variant, so PDF/public output cannot silently use stale settings.

## Product boundary

Career Profile owns facts. A CV variant owns ordering, visibility, wording overrides, custom sections and appearance. Templates remain data. PDF, public CV and browser preview consume the same resolved render tree. This avoids duplicate sources of truth and makes future DOCX output an exporter concern rather than a second editor.
