WYSIWYG editor enhancements/replacement

[Peter Paluch]

Hi all,

I would like to ask about the WYSIWYG editor we are currently using on CSC to write posts. I think I am not the only one who does not feel entirely comfortable with it. Are there any plans to replace it with a different editor, or are there at least any concerted efforts underway to make it more usable?

Quite honestly, the editor I liked the most was the enhanced editor from the former Jive site (and sometimes the simple editor for casual responses). I understand that those editors may be part of the Jive suite and they can not be easily carried over to the current Drupal-based site without resolving licensing issues. However, the current editor - even after correcting the copy&paste issue - just doesn't seem right. Without going into detail, my feeling is that is has lots of bells and whistles which are ultimately useless, and it lacks some of the basic features we need whenever we respond to a post.

If there are plans to replace the editor then I am going to hold my breath and wait for the surprise. If not then I will compile a more in-depth overview of what I think should and should not be in this editor.

Thanks!

Best regards,
Peter

[Richard Bennion]

We are in the process of enhancing / replacing the editor in the next release.

One of those options is using the same enterprise editor used in the Jive suite.

What would be most important to me is to understand basic features you feel we lack. 

No matter how we enhance/ replace the editor, they are so configurable that understanding your needs in basic functionality is paramount to making sure we get it right.

I would be grateful if you could share your observations of what is missing today. This will help me drive the requirement.

Thanks,

Rick

[Peter Paluch · Accepted solution]

Hi Rick,

I apologize for responding so late. Hopefully, we can still catch on this discussion.

These are my observations about the existing editor in an arbitrary order (and I hope other friends here will add their own!):

• Loading the editor after a Reply button is hit takes several seconds. I know that this time has improved but it still is surprisingly long.
• The editor window cannot be resized although the bottom right corner provides a "grip" for doing so. It does not work, though. The editor window should definitely be resizable.
• URLs entered into text are not automatically converted to hyperlinks. It is outright inconvenient to paste a link into text, then select it, click on the 'Link' button in the editor, and paste the link again to truly make it a hyperlink.
• The 'Image' button usability is questionable. It duplicates the functionality of 'Add media' button to an extent, and it is somewhat counterintuitive in that it does not allow to upload own images but rather link to already published images using their URL. I am not sure how useful this feature is - to me, it does not seem to be particularly usable. Perhaps it could be merged with 'Add media'.
• The list of 40+ colors in the 'Text Color' selector is in my opinion too extensive. Personally, I believe that limiting the selection to 8 or 16 at most colors plus an option to define user's own colors would be entirely sufficient.
• The list of available fonts in the 'Font' drop-down list is, similarly to my opinion about the color selection, too extensive. I do not suppose that apart from a selection of truly a couple of basic and visibly distinct fonts (Arial, Lucida Sans, Tahoma, Trebuchet and Verdana all look almost the same; Georgia and Times New Roman look almost the same; Comic Sans should be banned and not even offered), anyone truly needs such a list. Personally, I vouch for keeping Arial, Courier New, Times New Roman, and removing all others.
• Inserting/uploading images using 'Add media' button is way too complicated. The amount of compulsory data to be filled in (Alt Text, Title Text, Description) discourages from uploading own images. While I do not doubt the necessity of these items, they should be made optional.
• The list of available formats in the 'Format' drop-down list is not really useful. The Normal and Address do not appear to be significantly different; having 5 different headings is unnecessary (by the way, why is Heading 3 larger than Heading 2?); the meaning of Normal(DIV) style is unclear. On the contrary, the list of formats sorely lacks any style for quoting the original text - none of the available formats are even remotely usable for that.
• When performing a modification of the visual style (for example, changing colors), after the change is applied, the cursor is moved to the absolute beginning of the post. Especially when the post is large, this behavior is annoying, as it is necessary to scroll down back again. The cursor and the overall focus should stay on the text that was modified.

My recommendations for the new editor are:

• Speed up the loading of the editor.
• Support resizing of the editor window.
• Support a distinct visual style for quoting the post that is being replied to, either the entire text or any selection of it (obviously copied&pasted from the original post). Support for nested quoting is also strongly called for.
• Automatize the conversion of URLs into hyperlinks in the text.
• Streamline and simplify the inclusion of pictures.
• Streamline and simplify the text color selection (a set of basic colors is sufficient - think CGA 16-color palette!).
• Streamline and simplify the font selection (better a few that are used than a dozen of similar fonts that are unused).
• Rework the format selecton with a list of useful formats (better a few that are used than a dozen of similar styles that are unused).
• Support autosave so that when user's network connection is broken, browser cache erased, or if the user inadvertently hits the 'Cancel' button, the autosaved copy can still be offered to the user when he clicks on the 'Reply' button of the same post.
• Make sure that whenever a style modification on a text is performed (changing colors, applying formats, changing font, etc.), the cursor stays at the end of the modified text and does not move to the beginning of the entire post.

The editors (basic and advanced) used at Cisco Learning Network are the ones we had on Cisco Support Community before, and I cannot help but still feel most comfortable with them. The advanced editor seemed to best suit my needs.

Anyone feeling that I haven't touched an acutely missed feature please join in!

Best regards,
Peter

[Dan Lukes]

whenever a style modification on a text is performed (changing colors, applying formats, changing font, etc.), the cursor stays at the end of the modified text and does not move to the beginning of the entire post

Workaround: move cursor using keyboard arrow (any direction).

[Dan Lukes]

See also No way to edit embedded media tag in source mode, issue in WYSIWYG mode as well.

[Helena Pechaver Starc]

The editor was released to production on 10/27. Please use this thread to indicate or log any concerns or issues with the new editor.   Fyi, in reply to an inquiry about spell-check in the new editor, Here is the response from our Product Manager, Alex: There is a fix for this issue, and we are looking to deploy it in our next development release.

[Alexander Jelinek · Accepted solution]

Some great ideas in this post.  Closing the loop on this thread with our invitation to try the new WYSIWYG Editor here.  We've addressed many of the requests outlined here, but would be great to love feedback there to compile a full list in one place.