Currently the FAQ for " How do I add text? Is there a titler?" is very outdated.
https://shotcut.org/FAQ/#how-do-i-add-text-is-there-a-titler
It still lists 3D Text and Overlay HTML as available filters. Also the wording about how text can be produced sounds outdated:
You must apply a filter to your clip or track. There are 3 suitable filters at this time: 3D Text, Overlay HTML, and Text. If you just want to use a simple background, you can use an image file, or to use a solid color choose File > Open Other > Color.
It could say instead something like:
There are 2 text filters at this time: Text: Simple and Text: Rich. You can apply the text filters to a video clip, an image file or a whole track. You can also apply a text filter to a transparent clip to act as its own text clip by choosing File > Open Other > Text or Open Other > Text. The default background color in Open Other > Text is transparent which as well can be changed to a solid color by clicking on the “Background color” button.
It follows with this information that is not relevant at all anymore:
See the video tutorials for more information about the Overlay HTML filter. Shotcut includes a simply WYSIWYG (i.e. visual) HTML editor accessible through the Edit button on this filter’s control panel.
The last paragraph has information that is also outdated:
You can also create text with an external program as an image with an alpha channel and composite it. To composite, you add a video track to the Timeline to use as a layer. Make sure the C button in the new track’s header is “on” to enable compositing. Finally, you open an image, set its Properties to adjust duration or enable an image sequence, add it to the new video track, and further adjust its position and duration as-needed. You might also want to apply the Size & Position filter to the image clip. The image file formats that support an alpha channel are PNG, SVG, and TGA. You can also use Quicktime Animation format. There are many tools that can create images with alpha channels for this purpose. Some of them include GIMP, Inkscape, Krita, Paint.NET, Photoshop, etc. For animation, consider Blender and Synfig.
A simple re-edit of it could be:
You can also create text with an external program as an image with an alpha channel and composite it. To composite, you add a video track to the Timeline to use as a layer. Then, you open an image, set its Properties to adjust duration or enable an image sequence, add it to the new video track, and further adjust its position and duration as-needed. You might also want to apply the Size, Position & Rotate filter to the image clip. The image file formats that support an alpha channel are PNG, SVG, and TGA. You can also use Quicktime Animation format. There are many tools that can create images with alpha channels for this purpose. Some of them include GIMP, Inkscape, Krita, Paint.NET, etc. For animation, consider Blender and Synfig.