The design of instructional text is an important consideration when attempting to design a successful learning environment. With the rising involvement in online distance education, it is becoming even more important to adhere to good principles of text design. The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework of possible instructional systems design strategies and their associated tactics to use in an online environment based on research studies conducted on traditional paper-based materials. The paper argues that the focus on content, and particularly the focus on designing quality content should not be discouraged, but rather, it must be considered as a fundamental foundation for the development of other online components. The intellectual property of the faculty member, the content, the "text" as it is called in its fundamental sense, should serve as the basis by which communication, understanding, and interactions in an online distance education course are grounded. (Contains 55 references.) (Author/AEF)