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Wordpress WYSIWYG editor recommendation

by SageSound
11 replies
I'm trying to create sales pages and related site content in Wordpress and I'm really getting annoyed at the silly ways that WP's built-in TinyMCE editor reformats things. It refuses to let you have blank lines; it does strange things with alignment tags; and it "optimizes" things by removing stuff you put in that it thinks aren't important.

I've got something on a page that it absolutely REFUSES to center-align. Five different tags don't work. So I had to put in a table just to get this thing center-aligned. I can't believe this is all due to CSS settings, in part because the doggone editor changes the alignment tags when I save the content!

I know it's possible to replace this with another WYSIWYG editor.

I'm curious of anybody who may have done this and has had better results with formatting than what TinyMCE does.

What editors have you tried and found worked or didn't work well?

Thanks!
-David
#editor #recommendation #wordpress #wysiwyg
  • Profile picture of the author espradley
    I'm sure you tried <p style="text-align:center;">content</p>?

    If that doesn't work, you'll probably do best at using a firefox plugin called firebug to inspect which elements are off.
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    Eddie Spradley

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    • Profile picture of the author SageSound
      Originally Posted by espradley View Post

      I'm sure you tried <p style="text-align:center;">content</p>?

      If that doesn't work, you'll probably do best at using a firefox plugin called firebug to inspect which elements are off.
      The PROBLEM is TinyMCE!

      I'm sick of wasting my time trying to figure out how to use just the right tags so it won't screw things up. That was just one of MANY examples I've run into.

      There are half a dozen LEGITIMATE ways to do something like center-align text. Why the stupid editor only works with one or two -- and doesn't give you a clue WHAT THEY ARE -- is beyond me. I want an editor that isn't so darned "helpful".

      I want to replace it.
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      • Profile picture of the author espradley
        Yea I know. All of them have their issues. Atleast the ones I've used. Fck was the best I found.
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        Eddie Spradley

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        • Profile picture of the author SageSound
          Originally Posted by espradley View Post

          Yea I know. All of them have their issues. Atleast the ones I've used. Fck was the best I found.
          Foliopress uses Fck. But it appears to be used mainly for people working with images. Is it useful for regular content with few if any images?

          -David
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      • Profile picture of the author espradley
        Actually didn't like the image feature. of it much at all, but it was better than the default. Note, fck editor and ck editor are the same I believe.
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        Eddie Spradley

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  • Profile picture of the author TimCastleman
    Wordpress Sales Engine man.

    Once you use it you won't go back.

    You can see an example of how a sales page looks like in my sig line but that's not the reason I mention it.

    As a guy who is all thumbs I can actually use this plug in with my theme already not to mention it took me like 3 minutes to construct that sales page.

    I'd check it out if it interest you.

    You can also see more at wpsalesengine (not an affiliate link).
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    • Profile picture of the author SageSound
      Originally Posted by TimCastleman View Post

      Wordpress Sales Engine man.
      That appears to be using the built-in TinyMCE editor.

      I don't need a page layout tool. I want a better editor that doesn't corrupt my pages and rewrite the HTML code you put into it.

      Another example: paste code for Ultimate Belcher Button into the HTML pane, switch to the Visual tab, then switch back. It screws up the code. If you go back to the Visual tab, the button is no longer visible. It's not the UBB code -- it does this with embedded videos, flash code, all kinds of things.

      -David
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  • Profile picture of the author Kezz
    Hey David,

    THE best Wordpress WYSIWYG is Tiny MCE Advanced in my opinion. I always install it as a standard on my own sites.

    You can grab it here: WordPress › TinyMCE Advanced « WordPress Plugins

    If that one doesn't work for you, my second preference is Foliopress: WordPress › Foliopress WYSIWYG « WordPress Plugins

    It's a little trickier to work with as to get it how you like you really need to use the settings to customize the buttons you have showing up.

    And my third preference is the Fck editor as mentioned, which in the case of WordPress comes via the CKEditor plugin: WordPress › CKEditor For WordPress « WordPress Plugins

    One of those should make your life easier.

    Oh and P.S. sometimes the centering issue can actually come from the theme. By default WP tries to do center alignment via the CSS class "aligncenter".

    If that class is being applied but the centering is still not working, try pasting the following into your theme's stylesheet:

    HTML Code:
    img.centered, .aligncenter, div.aligncenter {
display: block;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
}
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    • Profile picture of the author BillyBee
      I use the CKEditor plugin and I like it.
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    • Profile picture of the author SageSound
      Originally Posted by Kezz View Post

      Hey David,

      THE best Wordpress WYSIWYG is Tiny MCE Advanced in my opinion. I always install it as a standard on my own sites.
      I regularly use TinyMCE Advanced because how it enhances the toolbar. To my knowledge, it does nothing to alter the way TinyMCE messes up your edits.


      Originally Posted by Kezz View Post

      my second preference is Foliopress
      . . .
      And my third preference is the Fck editor as mentioned, which in the case of WordPress comes via the CKEditor plugin
      Foliopress uses Fck.

      How do you compare Fck vs. TinyMCE in terms of reformatting your tags?

      Thx
      -David
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      • Profile picture of the author Kezz
        Originally Posted by SageSound View Post


        How do you compare Fck vs. TinyMCE in terms of reformatting your tags?

        Thx
        -David
        Honestly I've always found Fck just ran too slowly for me and gave up and switched back to TinyMCE Advanced pretty quickly, so I couldn't give too much detailed valuable feedback.

        What kind of tags and edits is it messing up? I've found a few ways of working around some of the issues over time so perhaps I can help on that front.
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