diff --git a/doc/api/hooks_client-side.md b/doc/api/hooks_client-side.md
index 8e2d3da79..f9ad9147c 100644
--- a/doc/api/hooks_client-side.md
+++ b/doc/api/hooks_client-side.md
@@ -203,6 +203,13 @@ Things in context:
 
 This hook is called before the content of a node is collected by the usual methods. The cc object can be used to do a bunch of things that modify the content of the pad. See, for example, the heading1 plugin for etherpad original.
 
+E.g. if you need to apply an attribute to newly inserted characters, 
+call cc.doAttrib(state, "attributeName") which results in an attribute attributeName=true.
+
+If you want to specify also a value, call cc.doAttrib(state, "attributeName:value")
+which results in an attribute attributeName=value.
+
+
 ## collectContentImage
 Called from: src/static/js/contentcollector.js
 
diff --git a/src/static/js/contentcollector.js b/src/static/js/contentcollector.js
index e428c63f9..cb3cf7b0b 100644
--- a/src/static/js/contentcollector.js
+++ b/src/static/js/contentcollector.js
@@ -297,7 +297,23 @@ function makeContentCollector(collectStyles, abrowser, apool, domInterface, clas
     {
       if (state.attribs[a])
       {
-        lst.push([a, 'true']);
+        // The following splitting of the attribute name is a workaround
+        // to enable the content collector to store key-value attributes
+        // see https://github.com/ether/etherpad-lite/issues/2567 for more information
+        // in long term the contentcollector should be refactored to get rid of this workaround
+        var ATTRIBUTE_SPLIT_STRING = "::";
+        
+        // see if attributeString is splittable
+        var attributeSplits = a.split(ATTRIBUTE_SPLIT_STRING);
+        if (attributeSplits.length > 1) {
+            // the attribute name follows the convention key::value
+            // so save it as a key value attribute
+            lst.push([attributeSplits[0], attributeSplits[1]]);
+        } else {
+            // the "normal" case, the attribute is just a switch
+            // so set it true
+            lst.push([a, 'true']);
+        }
       }
     }
     if (state.authorLevel > 0)