Textarea Editor

[hurtdidit]

VERY impressive!

[Owen]

Wow! Excellent software -- one question, though... how difficult is it to disable parts of the script? I don't want my users to use tables or images.

Great stuff

Owen

[Skunk]

I'm very interested in Editizer. There are a lot of HTML richediting tools around, in fact I wrote one myself about 8 months ago:

http://simon.incutio.com/incutio/old/editor/

These are easy to write because Internet Explorer has a bulit in WYSIWYG HTML editing tool accessible through scripting using the contenteditable property.

The problem with this is that IE's tool generates revolting HTML, only works on Windows with IE and gives the developer very little control over what HTML can be entered in to it. As a result it is not an optimal solution for a CMS, where you want the user to only be able to use a few HTML tags that won't "break" your site.

Here are my questions about Editizer:

• How does the Java applet "talk" to the other form elements on the page? When I was looking in to Java editor solutions I ran in to the problem that IE has a system for dynamically updating / recieving information from applets which is not supported in other browsers
• Can we customise Editizer to limit the available tags, or even use it to generate documents using our own XML scheme? Can we define our own custom tags to be made available within Editizer?
• Can we pay extra money for specific features or for the chance to edit the source code to fit our own requirements?

The company I work for have a CMS product which needs an editor like the one described by my questions. Is Editizer likely to be an option for us?

[Mark Harbottle]

Kevin will answer your technical questions in a moment. As for the option to customize editize for your specific needs, this is definitely a possibility.

[Kevin Yank]

How does the Java applet "talk" to the other form elements on the page?

The various APIs for Editize that we provide for free (currently: PHP, ASP, ASP.NET, and JavaScript) generate the browser-specific code to place the Editize field in the page. This includes the JavaScript neccessary to fetch the HTML content out of the Editize field and stick it in an <input type="hidden"> (which is also generated for you) on form submission.

Can we customise Editizer to limit the available tags,

Every formatting feature can be turned off separately, and many of the features can be customized. Email me if you'd like an early copy of the documentation to look over.

or even use it to generate documents using our own XML scheme?

Output is HTML only at this time. We are considering making versions available for XML (we have looked at the Simple DocBook format, for example) and other markup languages. Let us know what you want so we can write it!

Can we define our own custom tags to be made available within Editizer?

Not at this time; however, Editize outputs fairly generic HTML tags that you can style with CSS. For example, by enclosing a document created by Editize in a <div class="editizeDoc">, you can define CSS rules of the form "div.editizeDoc h1" "div.editizeDoc h2" "div.editizeDoc p" etc. to customize the formatting of the document in the page. By configuring Editize to match this formatting, you have a very customizable WYSIWYG editing solution.

Greater flexibility in formatting and features are definitely on the books for updates if the product is a success.

[marcel]

I installed HTMLBOX on the new version of one of my sites

I installed it in about 1 hour. It works well and the price is right - even if it opens in a new window.

If you've got clients who are paying $ US 2000+, Editize will be affordable. If your working on a small budget like myself, HTMLbox is excellent.

Knowing the usual quality of SitePoint services I am eager to try out Editize also.

A neutral writer needs to write a article comparing the online WYSIWYG HTML editors out there.

[creole]

This sure is great. Especially for the price!

[Mark Harbottle]

A neutral writer needs to write a article comparing the online WYSIWYG HTML editors out there.

I agree! This is a great idea. We'll get on to it as soon as we've launched Editize.

I also agree with your comparison between Editize and HTMLEditBox. Editize is ideal for professional Web Design projects over or around the $1K to $2K mark.

HTMLEditBox is more for your hobbiest Web Designer. For this purpose it's a handy piece of software.

[lgomez]

Hello all,

I just downloaded Editize but got the following error when testing:

java.lang.ClassNotFoundException:com.sitepoint.rapidapps.rapidedit.RapidEditApplet

This was inside the applet window.

Any thoughts on how to fix this. I've never seen this kind of error before.

Thank you,

[M. Johansson]

Originally posted by Mark Harbottle
HTMLEditBox is more for your hobbiest Web Designer. For this purpose it's a handy piece of software.

... or for people whose clients want to add images or tables.

[Kevin Yank]

Originally posted by lgomez
Hello all,

I just downloaded Editize but got the following error when testing:

java.lang.ClassNotFoundException:com.sitepoint.rapidapps.rapidedit.RapidEditApplet

This was inside the applet window.

Any thoughts on how to fix this. I've never seen this kind of error before.

This should be fairly easy to solve. Please fill in the online support form on the Editize Web site and we'll figure out the problem together.

[Arkham]

I was just playing around with that fine demo...

The only thing I noticed that should be addressed is that Editize needs more universal shortcuts like word-delete (ctrl, shift, or alt), and backspace. Crucial.

But, I still love this thang.

[Kevin Yank]

Could you elaborate? I'm not sure what you mean by word-delete, and last time I checked Editize definitely supported backspace.

[Arkham]

Originally posted by kyank
Could you elaborate? I'm not sure what you mean by word-delete, and last time I checked Editize definitely supported backspace.

Word-delete? Uh, well, it means delete-word instead of delete character.

It seems to be a common oversight in PC apps and interfaces, abandoning key-shortcuts. Hitting a qualifier (ctrl or shift or alt etc.) and DEL or Backspace should delete words, or to-End-Of-Line or to-Beginning-Of-Line. These have been standard text interface conventions, with minor variations, for years. (OH! The days of CygnusED!!)

The standard textarea tag doesn't support this I don't think. At least, the vBulletin editor doesn't, either. I know Editize will appeal to mousepushers because of it's simplicity, but I'd like to see more support for keypressers.

That's always irked me about Windows/PC environments: the lack of consistent keyboard conventions. The mouse is great for clickdragging all the live-long day, but not everyone needs Tonka-Truck training wheels on their computer. Some people out there still know how to type.

Anyway, minor quibble. Nothing to make me hesitate choosing Editize.

[Kevin Yank]

Can you point me to a Windows application that does implement keyboard shortcuts for these operations in a standard way? Adding keyboard shortcuts is all well and good, but I don't want to add them if they're not standard.

[Arkham]

Originally posted by kyank
Can you point me to a Windows application that does implement keyboard shortcuts for these operations in a standard way? Adding keyboard shortcuts is all well and good, but I don't want to add them if they're not standard.

Hmm. Well, I'd have thought most coders out there would demand this sort of interaction.

Well, try TextPad for one. Delete/Backspace words, using ctrl, delete-to-end-of-line (ctrl-shift-DEL)...

Microsoft Word, for another. Delete-Word, backspace-word, and a few others.

"Typers" have been using these shortcuts on PCs, amiga, apple, plain teriminals, forever.

Helluva lot faster than shift-highlighting for the nimble-knuckled.

[Kevin Yank]

MS Word supports word-delete and word-backspace with Ctrl-DEL/Backspace. SHouldn't be hard to implement. I'll add this to the to-do for 1.0.4.

Anything else?

[Arkham]

Originally posted by kyank
MS Word supports word-delete and word-backspace with Ctrl-DEL/Backspace. SHouldn't be hard to implement. I'll add this to the to-do for 1.0.4.

Anything else?

CTRL-free_beer?

I think aside from that, I can't think of anything until I battle test it.

You. All. Rock. I can't wait to have vB3.0+"vB-CMS"+Editize all chugging along together some day.

[Kevin Yank]

We're anxious to add some spiffy new stuff too (I dream about an image library toolbar that slides open from the side...), but we're at the stage where we need to stop major development and see if the idea sells before we invest more time into it.

In short, if you want to help Editize become truly awesome, the best thing you can do is buy it.

[okrogius]

Sorry if I'm being too 'nosey' about stuff that really shoudln't be much of my concern.

But, out of curiosity, is it a big secret to know aproximate amount of licenses you sold so far for editize?

Once again, sorry if I"m asking for info you don't want to disclose.

[Kevin Yank]

Yes. It is a very big secret.

But consider: this is a product with a 30-day demo that has been released for just over a week. You do the math.

-Kev.

[anthony_irl]

Hi all,

Anyone know of a tool similiar to Editize and HTMLeditbox that's free? I've read Mitchell Harper's article on devarticles.com about making something similiar but the only problem I have is that it produces ugly code which Skunk mentioned. Both Editize and HTMLeditbox are not options as I dont make web sites commercially and so can't afford any outlay. Thanks for any suggestions.

[marcel]

yes


I tested a few posted on Hotscripts.com ( can't remember which ).
look at hotscripts.com competitors too ( searchscript.com ? - not sure)

They required some code hacking and were open source.

I didn't use them though...

Try them out...

[okrogius]

Think I"ll buy it today or tomorrow probably.

[Kevin Yank]

Arkham,

You'll be happy to know we just released Editize 1.0.4, which includes Word-Delete and Word-Backspace as per your suggestion (as well as a few other enhancements).