CKeditor - FCkeditor on Steroids

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eigentor's picture

have you guys checked out CKeditor? http://ckeditor.com/ Demo here http://ckeditor.com/ckeditor/3.0b2/_samples/index.html It is as far as I know a complete Rewrite of FCKeditor.

So it has the beloved function set, but has improved one thing that troubled most of us: it is BLAZING FAST!

Plus some cool features like inline editing (a text changes into an editable area on doubleclick and stuff).

Check it out! (no, i am no CKeditor developer and salesman)

Comments

1,000 things

sun's picture

1,000 things, yes.

But still not even resizable. I really wonder how people actually work with this editor...

Daniel F. Kudwien
unleashed mind

Daniel F. Kudwien
netzstrategen

You should reconsider your position

FredCK-gdo's picture

Daniel, being you a TinyMCE fanboy or not, it's your problem. But, considering that you aim to be the project leader for the WYSIWYG module, which is supposed to be the "editor neutral" solution for wysiwyg, you should avoid attacking other project efforts, being also a bit "neutral".

It's quite a delusion for us, at the FCKeditor/CKEditor team, to hear stuff like that from Drupal's (wanna be) core developers. We're really working hard at our side, not only to provide a wonderful editor, but also to bring better support on Drupal. We have always been at Drupals side, providing one of the most complete wysiwyg projects for it (the FCKeditor project). You have followed that, so if you really don't (want to) have anything positive to say, at least avoid the negative stuff. It's unfair.

We'll continue working hard to move our steps into Drupal, and be sure we'll bring the best wysiwyg solution ever. Hopefully there are also others in this group that instead stimulate us to achieve that.

(PS.: if your most needed wysiwyg feature is the resize thing, you should be happy... we'll have it with CKEditor)

Biased

sun's picture

Obviously you are not aware of my rants on other editor libraries. Which is perfectly understandable, because you probably do not track discussions about TinyMCE, NicEdit, or YUI the same way you are tracking discussions about (F)CKeditor. I'm speaking out loud both the obvious (most often usability) issues as well as the non-obvious when it comes to technical implementation issues. That is very important for users and developers, because people need to know the difference between all these editors. I don't believe "the one" or "the best" editor library does exist, because all of them suck in one way or the other and lead to major headaches on our side. In reality, and given Wysiwyg API's abstraction, all editor libraries are just duplicate efforts. I foresee that the time will come when developers of major editor libraries are joining forces to (finally) build a library that's rock-solid and Just Works(tm).

It's quite a delusion for me to hear that (F)CKeditor's (wanna be) core developers can't handle and admit the weaknesses of their own library. I did not even compare to other libraries, so I do not really understand why you turn a fact into a personal attack. We worked very hard to implement proper support for Drupal plugins in Wysiwyg API's integration for FCKeditor, where we could have used some help from FCKeditor developers, but managed to do it on our own due to tremendous efforts by TwoD. In short: None of the Wysiwyg API developers are biased towards a certain editor library in any way and we continue to see each library like any other.

That said, I'm happy to see progress on CKeditor and I already wonder when we will add support for it in Wysiwyg API (which could have a great and positive impact on its development if it would happen during CKeditor's development already, since Wysiwyg API is most probably the most challenging editor integration project on the market).

Daniel F. Kudwien
unleashed mind

Daniel F. Kudwien
netzstrategen

humbleness is a noble virtue

jjmackow's picture

and you'd be surprised how far a simply '...my humble apologies' can go.

indeed

tregeagle's picture

I second that... could've just said, sorry.

cheers
ruben

I appreciate your sharing the

funknut's picture

I appreciate your sharing the pros/cons of various solutions, as is the Drupal way. That said, it's okay to be careful with words so as not to step on anyone's toes. Hah hah! You made a nice recovery though.

I use FCK Editor

wheatbix's picture

I have been a Drupal end user and fanatic for 5 years or so, and I use FCKeditor.
I currently use the FCKEditor module, and not the WYSIWYG module as I KNOW that FCKEditor is the only one I want to use, simply because it has been simple to use for many years.

Years ago I tried TinyMCE but it was difficult to configure. However I have never tried it through the WYSIWYG module.
The FCKEditor module is simple and easy to use for 'simple minded' end users like me. You download the module and the editor, lump them together and upload to the site.

As I understand it WYSIWYG module requires the editors to be stored elsewhere in the file system, doubling the complexity of the upload.
(Yes I know it not that hard, but one upload is easier than creating new directories and introducing greater possibility of file permission problems as many people on shared hosts have.)

I have seen the new CKEditor demo, and I would expect that if the other editors do not pick up their act CKEditor will become the ONLY editor used by 'normal' end users due to its speed!
The loading speed on the new editor is amazing. It loads faster than Gmail! My estimate is that it takes TinyMCE editor 30-50 times longer to load than this new editor.

I am in no way associated with (F)CKEditor or WYSIWYG or TinyMCE, or any other module. I just don't like it when someone attacks a module which I have grown to love and recommend to other part time web designers. Daniel F. Kudwien, please be a bit more considerate for those who have obviously put in so much time and effort to create what I consider to be the best editor out there. I hope you change your attitude towards other editors, especially if you are involved with the WYSIWYG module.

I Like FCK

my.wahyu's picture

I'm Newbie at Drupal

CK Editor :
1. Good Appearance
2. Attractive

FCK editor
1. Bored Style
2. Stability

Why I still choose FCK editor because ... CKEditor is Not Stabil.
Here
CK Editor (Edit MODE)
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_XE7k1yGWGhU/TFdfKJMiH8I/AAAAAAAAAN4/tscFi5UHYrA/s5...

CK Editor Preview (LOL...??)
Although I've try to Install Image Assist, CK Finder, and try to combine one by one
But Appearance still looks like this..

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_XE7k1yGWGhU/TFdfKPXHbUI/AAAAAAAAAN8/E8x4q0VgXio/s720/ckeditor%20preview.JPG


Don't worry Everything is Gonna be Oke!
http://www.gastia.com

"CKEditor is Not Stabil"

FredCK's picture

I'm very curious to hear why you're stating that. Do you have anything to point us? Thanks!

I have noticed some issues

escoles's picture

I have noticed some issues when multiple instances are loaded on the same page (a typical Drupal content type might load five or six instances). However, they appeared to be related to system/browser resource levels -- after a system restart, they went away. (The issue is that once you focus one of the instances, other instances on the same page would display outrageously poor performance, and some dialogs simply wouldn't work anymore. This appeared to be cross-platform and cross-browser, but since I only use CK on Drupal, it's hard to tell if that was an issue with CK or the way it was loaded.)

Also, there's an issue that may or may not be related to CKEditor: In Chrome [edit]on a Mac[/edit], if you un-load it by clicking the 'plain text' link, then paste into the textarea, the instance of Chrome that's rendering that page will crash. (Chrome being Chrome, of course, you just have to reload the page.) The workaround is to use CK's source mode instead. (Issue doesn't show up in Safari.)

Other than that, CK has shown much, much better performance, by any measure I can think of: Faster load times, faster dialog displays, less lag-time.

I don't use Image Assist or CKFinder, but IMCE seems to integrate quite nicely.

[edit to stipulate Mac]

Things to check

FredCK's picture

Regarding the multiple instances issue, I think it's related to the SCAYT plugin, which since CKEditor 3.3.1 is enabled to start by default (to be disabled in the 3.3.2). You may try config.scayt_autoStartup=false.

As for the Chrome crash, that's hardly a CKEditor issue, as the editor is already out of the page when you paste the contents. It's almost certainly a browser bug.

I think it's got to be the

escoles's picture

I think it's got to be the result of interaction between CK, the CK module, and the browser. It only happens when CK's been loaded and then made to go away, so either CK or the CK module is doing something that exposes the browser bug. In any case, I don't have time to debug it for Google ;-).

o.k.

eigentor's picture

You are right about this historically grown weakness of the poor old chap, one should expect they solve this.
Some gory implementation details about the editor here http://docs.fckeditor.net/FCKeditor_3.x/Design_and_Architecture/Dialog_S...
I guess the resizability mentioned there just means the height of the edit field.
But I will just now post a feature request for horizontal resizability....
https://dev.fckeditor.net/ticket/3343
Now we see what they have to say.

Er - Daniel - I believed you without trying myself, and I just see it IS resizable horizontally, at least if I resize my entire browser window.

So do you mean something else?

Life is a process

Life is a journey, not a destination

It's "vertical" resizing

FredCK-gdo's picture

The editor takes it's width and height from the configurations. So one can freely decide its size. The width can be set in percent values, and the best option here is "100%". In this way the editor takes the entire horizontal space for it, automatically resizing itself when the windows gets resized.

Daniel is instead talking about the "vertical resize" feature, just like the one we have here with Drupal's textareas. It makes it possible to enlarge the editor height by simply dragging the resize handle placed at the bottom of it. This is planned and we'll have it in CKEditor.

width sizing issue

jasenward's picture

I am trying to decide on a WYSIWYG editor and from what I have seen initially comparing all of the libraries offer under the module named WYSIWYG, CKEditor seems to be the best suited to my needs with one exception.

I'm having a bear of a time trying to get CKEditor custom settings to work with the WSIWYG module handling CKEditor. It just seems to ignore the config.js file altogether and runs with its own configurations which don't offer the ability to resize the width of the editor. I'm working on a site whose content column doesn't fit the editor and I'd had to give up a module for such a silly reason.

Does anyone know how to convince WSIWYG to allow CKEditor's config.js file to work as documented here?
http://docs.cksource.com/Talk:CKEditor_3.x/Developers_Guide

Appreciated

eigentor's picture

Thanks FredCK for joining in. I like project-to-project communication, happens much too less...

I was not aware Drupal was on your landscape so clearly and feel honored. Actually you are popular here, so I believe this goes not unheard.

Is the speed really that fast? (loading i mean, which I believe is most important) because I could hardly believe this could perform as well on a Drupal site.

Life is a process

Life is a journey, not a destination

Thanks!

FredCK-gdo's picture

Actually, wwalc, the maintainer of the FCKeditor module, is one of the core FCKeditor developers. One of his tasks is maintaining our project in line with Drupal needs. We are always looking for making this integration better and better.

Back to the topic... yes, it's that fast! The loading performance of the editor is one of our top priorities, and we have achieved really good results with CKEditor. We're also focused on other interesting features, like first class accessibility support and a brand new and powerful API and plugin system.

We're in an advanced beta stage. The RC should come public soon. So, stay in touch... we'll have much to talk about in the next few months.

Comments are really welcome. Thanks for your post!

Fred

FCKEditor is my default

thtas's picture

FCKEditor is my default choice of all the available options for drupal (and i've tried a lot of options...).
Seeing this new version is very exciting and I'm watching this space very closely :)

Module

eidolon night's picture

I was a total TinyMCE fanboy (as most WordPress users are) until I couldn't find a Drupal module that actually worked and provided enough customization for permissions and the editor. That's when I grabbed the FCK module and fell in love.

My one question is whether the current FCK module will support CK editor or if a new module will be created? Also (sorry, more than one question), is there a roadmap for development somewhere? I'm pondering whether or not I should upgrade to the new 2.x module branch or just wait for CKEditor.

I also love the new name. I can finally say the name of the editor without feeling like there's a missing vowel in there.

CKeditor integration...

sun's picture

...is on the way and basically already working: http://drupal.org/node/462146

This is one of the cases where Wysiwyg module can demonstrate and harness its power.

btw: An announcement for the roadmap for Wysiwyg 3.x will be published shortly in this group.

Daniel F. Kudwien
unleashed mind

Daniel F. Kudwien
netzstrategen

The CKEditor Module

FredCK-gdo's picture

I'm happy to hear that you're enjoying the hard work we've put on the FCKeditor module. Your feedback is appreciated.

As you may have been following at our web site, we're working to close CKEditor 3.0. We're on Beta 2, and the RC is to be released this week. You can follow its status here:

http://dev.fckeditor.net/milestone/CKEditor%203.0

As soon as we have the RC, we can start thinking about the Drupal integration with it. Actually, Wiktor, our Drupal expert and maintainer of the FCKeditor module, will be also very busy on implementing our new CKEditor web sites now (with Drupal of course ;)), but we should start defining the road to take for it.

One of the options we have is integrating it with the WYSIWYG module. Probably this will be our first move. We just need to check if the WYSIWYG module provides the rich set of features we have with the FCKeditor module. We should integrate with it anyway, but based on this analysis and on users feedback we may also consider coding the standalone CKEditor module. After all, you can find standalone modules for several editors and someone could find it strange that the CKEditor one is missing.

We're definitely looking for suggestions here. Let us know!

Fred

I haven't used WYSIWYG API

eidolon night's picture

I haven't used WYSIWYG API since the dev builds of 2.x. In my opinion, the FCK module provided many more features and it just worked. I haven't installed WYSIWYG API for a little while, but I sincerely hope that a module specific to CK editor is made. The idea behind WYSIWYG API is idealistic and noble, but at the end of the day I'd rather have just one editor that works really well. That's the route WordPress took, and look at where they are. They have one of the best editing interfaces available.

"I'd rather have just one editor that works really well."

sun's picture

All users want that, regardless of the editor they want to use. We had many editor integration modules in the past that duplicated the effort to integrate editors properly in Drupal. As more and more Drupal modules become more complex and use more AJAX/AHAH logic, integrating an(y) editor properly has become quite a challenge.

All those separate (duplicate) modules are the reason why Drupal still lacked better WYSIWYG support in general. The goal of Wysiwyg module is more though. It not only allows you, as a user, to use the editor of your choice. It also allows all the 4,000+ contributed Drupal modules to integrate with the editor - regardless of which editor you are using.

We started with the new 3.x development branch for Wysiwyg module recently. One of the most important new features will be that each editor will be completely configurable, including all advanced editor options.

Daniel F. Kudwien
unleashed mind

Daniel F. Kudwien
netzstrategen

started with the new 3.x development

eidolon night's picture

That's what I like to hear. I'll give 3.x a try one weekend.

ETA? :)

konfuzed's picture

So uh any eta now that CKeditor has been released...you know, day of simultaneous release or anything hehe ..had to ask ;)


Atlanta, GA USA

plans ?

muldos's picture

So will ckeditor have its own drupal module like fckeditor or will it be only available with the wysiwyg module (or both )?

Ckeditor will be supported by

perandre's picture

Ckeditor will be supported by the wysiwyg module; seperate modules for the different editors are not encouraged.

Per André Rønsen | Front | Twitter: @perandre

A bit confused

kappaluppa's picture

So I checked out the FCKeditor site, says they renamed it to CKeditor:

CKEditor and FCKeditor

FCKeditor has been around for more than six years. Since 2003 it has built a strong user community becoming the most used editor in the market, accumulating more than 3,5 million downloads. On 2009, we decided renaming the editor, bringing to the light our next generation solution: CKEditor 3.0.

CKEditor inherits the quality and strong features people were used to find in FCKeditor, in a much more modern product, added by dozens of new benefits, like accessibility and ultimate performance.

I don't suppose we'll have to change all of our existing use instances of the FCKeditor & module. And I guess I have the same/similar question, and more...

Will the FCKeditor module be upgraded to use the CKeditor? If so, if we upgrade the module will we have to upgrade the editor as well?
Or, will there be a new CKeditor module. leaving the FCKeditor module to carry on and, I guess, some day, fade off into the sunset?
I haven't found the answer yet on the FCKeditor/CKeditor site, but I wonder how long FCKeditor will be supported by those folks?
If I understand correctly, CKeditor is already available to be used with WYSIWYG?
One of the biggest issues I have with editors is the ability to upload and manage images and files. I love that about FCKeditor - its very easy to set up. I am wondering if CKeditor is going to keep that - i suppose that is a question for a different website...
What I don't like about the FCKeditor is the tedium in setting up the editor to match the look of the output between View & Edit. I'd love to see an easy admin to customize the editor options and look and feel. (again, probably a discussion to be had at the ckeditor site...)

I'm a bit apprehensive about this since I am very familiar with FCKeditor. Just some thoughts... I guess I'm ranting outloud...

CKEditor is Resizable in one click

jjemmett's picture

I just checked out the CKEditor online demo, and it's got a wonderful corner-drag feature for resizing. It also has a "maximize" button that allows it to take over the entire browser window. I have been playing with it for a couple hours and I am very impressed with it. http://ckeditor.com/demo

By "fast", do you all mean

escoles's picture

By "fast", do you all mean that it loads fast? Because that's my biggest issue w/ FCKEditor.

I've been using FCKeditor on all my projects for the past several years, as it had the best behavioral characteristics that I could find the last time I did a comprehensive comparison. But the load time has been incredibly frustrating. I toy w/ switching to WYMEditor (which I like a lot) or Nicedit, and either would be fine for me, but for different reasons they wouldn't be acceptable for our clients.

Plus, every time we have a pre-launch conference my creative director cracks up at the name. She insists on referring to it as "F*ck-editor". I'll be happy to put that gag behind me ;-).

EDIT:

Well, it seems to load fast. But I've seen FCKEditor and TinyMCE implementations that seemed brisk, where I can't get them to load quickly on my projects at all. So we shall see. But it looks really nice.

EDIT MANY MONTHS AND SEVERAL CKEditor IMPLEMENTATIONS LATER:

In my experience (implemented on 7 drupal sites since writing the above), CKEditor loads dramatically faster than FCKEditor. Some of the configuration is more difficult, though -- e.g., the styles menu has to be coded in JavaScript rather than XML as before. Well worth the trouble, though, as far as I can see.

Which Editor

colinawright's picture

I'm an absolute newbie and would just like to get my first website going. Please Oh! please will someone just tell me which editor to use and why am I advised not to download CKEditor from Drupal?? Just like most other modules? All the apparent infighting does no-one any-good and totally confuses me. I thought Drupal wqs a joint effort.
Can someone point me to a simple explanation of what it is all about and HOW to download and install an editor?

I agree with you,

streever's picture

I agree with you, Colinawright; the apparent infighting is ugly and not in the spirit of openness which Drupal fosters. I see very little arguing in Drupal in general; this is an exception.

For a new developer, I recommend (what seems to be) a good combination of simple & flexible:
install wysiwyg module
follow instructions in that to install TinyMCE 3.5.10 (DOES NOT Work with latest, 4)
install IMCE module
install IMCE bridge module

Once you've installed IMCE bridge, go to your Wysiwyg profile settings, and enable it.

IMCE lets you upload images in the editor, so it is really useful if you're a newbie to website development; unless you'd rather upload via FTP and copy/paste urls :) (I expect not!)

CKEditor

loopduplicate's picture

Hi colinawright,

I used to like TinyMCE the best but for the last year or two I've been using CKEditor. If you use the CKEditor module instead of the WYSIWYG module, the setup is a little easier, but both methods get the job done. CKEditor is in Drupal 8 so it's handy to get to know for that reason. Most of the big sites I've worked on use the WYSIWYG module with either TinyMCE or CKEditor.

Once you figure out the WYSIWYG editor of choice, you still have to learn about input filters and media handling. Input filters are a tough subject; not possible to really break it down quickly here. For images, videos and files, most people use the Media module. There is also the Scald module, which has good traction as well but is not quite as popular.

I've spent years messing around with editors in Drupal... that's kinda the only way to really learn... just keep at it, it will start to make sense eventually!

Cheers,
Jeff

Slightly off topic but Jeff,

awasson's picture

Slightly off topic but Jeff, have you looked into Drupal 8's implementation of CKEditor? I find it quite limited and can't find any way to improve it (add features like the ability to add rel="" to links or a better file manager like IMCE). Even though D8 has CKeditor as a standard feature, I think I'll either switch it out for a full featured CKEditor or I'll switch it out for TinyMCE.

D8

loopduplicate's picture

Hi awasson,

I think your comment is on topic! It's important to think about how upgrades will work when building a site's architecture. For configuring CKEditor, they have a really nice API which you can read about on their site http://docs.ckeditor.com/ . Usually, you just find a way to hook into CKEditor's js settings add have it load up a custom configuration file that you use for your own customizations ( http://docs.ckeditor.com/#!/api/CKEDITOR.config ).

I haven't had much time to get to dig deep into Drupal 8 editor UX yet, so I can't comment on the current integration.

Cheers,
Jeff

Here's an example of hooking

loopduplicate's picture

Here's an example of hooking in to WYSIWYG in D7 to add a custom config file in a module. First, create a module:

<?php

/**
* @file
* example.module
*/

/**
* Implements hook_wysiwyg_editor_settings_alter().
*/
function example_wysiwyg_editor_settings_alter(&$settings, $context) {
  if (
$context['profile']->editor === 'ckeditor') {
   
$settings['customConfig'] = base_path() . drupal_get_path('module', 'example') . '/example_config.js';
  }
}

?>

Then, add your settings file, which can be named anything, but I've chosen example_config.js for this example:

// http://docs.ckeditor.com/#!/api/CKEDITOR.config

// Uses 2 spaces instead of a tab for indentation.
CKEDITOR.config.dataIndentationChars = ' ';
CKEDITOR.config.tabSpaces = 2;

Cheers,
Jeff

Fantastic! Thanks Jeff. I've

awasson's picture

Fantastic! Thanks Jeff. I've got 90% of my D7 sites using TinyMCE but moving forward I figured I'd need to brush up on CKEditor. This will be very helpful.

wysiwyg CKEditor, FCKEditor

colinawright's picture

Thank you all for your comments, but you've gone way past me. All I wanted to know was how to do an initial set-up to start learning Drupal. What I have learned is that one has to read EVERY item that one can find on the web and also check the dates and versions to compare relevance.
I have resolved to use CKEditor and turn off WYSIWYG for the moment.
Thank you all for your support.
Colin

Colin, No problem; glad to be

streever's picture

Colin,

No problem; glad to be of (any!) help.

I don't want to speak out of turn here, but I'd say that Drupal, as a development platform, does require that level of care and work. I don't say that as a bad thing (I think Wordpress does too, if you want to do anything complicated with it or anything outside of paid themes/modules), but I do think that, in general, custom web development requires a level of reading, research, and time that isn't completely obviated by using a framework or open-source system.

I'll have to concur with

streever's picture

I'll have to concur with Jeff; I had forgotten that CKEditor was default in D8.

I'd take his advice, considering the future upgrade path, and he is right; CKEditor module is much easier to initially setup.

I agree with streever.

awasson's picture

I agree with streever. WYSIWYG, IMCE + TinyMCE is a very nice combination. Also get IMCE_Mkdir so you can add & remove directories.

Under Configuration -> Media -> IMCE, make sure you assign your roles their appropriate permissions to use IMCE and under Configuration -> Content Authoring -> wysiwyg Profiles, adjust the settings for TinyMCE for buttons, CSS, etc...

Wysiwyg

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