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What Text Editor Do You Use For WordPress Posts?

by npaige
20 replies
Hi folks,

I am in the "ask lots of questions to get going" mode.
Thanks for your time and assistance... appreciated!

So do you use the WP Editor to create your posts?
With any special editor plugin?

Or do you prefer to write first in Word or another format and then integrate into your WP post?

Seems as though the basic WP editor does not even make it simple to change the font style or size...? Or am I missing something?

Thanks much,
Dr. Nicki
#editor #posts #text #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author eternalwarrior
    I use Windows Live Writer.
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    • Profile picture of the author npaige
      You prefer this to MS Word? Why?

      Thanks...

      Originally Posted by eternalwarrior View Post

      I use Windows Live Writer.
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  • Profile picture of the author Troy_Phillips
    First off MS word puts weird looking characters in your text.

    I use the editor provided as it will do basically anything you need for a blog post .. if you open up the kitchen sink.
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    • Profile picture of the author npaige
      Hmmm. In opening up the kitchen sink, I don't see options for font style or size...

      Originally Posted by Troy_Phillips View Post

      First off MS word puts weird looking characters in your text.

      I use the editor provided as it will do basically anything you need for a blog post .. if you open up the kitchen sink.
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      • Profile picture of the author Troy_Phillips
        Originally Posted by npaige View Post

        Hmmm. In opening up the kitchen sink, I don't see options for font style or size...
        It is in the click down that says paragraph before clicked. You have several preset options as well as a preformatted option. You can set anything else by using HTML.

        I don't know why you want to change it much as most of what the theme can handle is already provided. You will probably find out why certain fonts and such wasn't offered once you actually use them.
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  • Profile picture of the author UMS
    If you install Tiny MCE Advanced plugin (or any of the other similar MCE plugins), you'll find loads more editing options, including font style, color, size etc.
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    • Profile picture of the author npaige
      Thanks... So how do you think this compares to using Windows Live Writer? What are the pros/cons of using the plugin vs the external editor?

      Originally Posted by UMS View Post

      If you install Tiny MCE Advanced plugin (or any of the other similar MCE plugins), you'll find loads more editing options, including font style, color, size etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author Marcus Rockey
    Windows live writer is perfect.

    you get none of those annoying formatting problems. Everything appears exactly as you want it with the click of a button.

    Use it now!
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  • Profile picture of the author Marcus Rockey
    The Tine MCE range is excellent but once I used live writer I never went back.

    tons of options, easy to publish, clean and crisp to use, format images with a simple crop.

    It's a no brainer for me.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      Nicki,

      You are right, the WP editor does leave a lot to be desired compared to a program like WORD that specializes in layout, font, and editing options.

      As others have already said, writing something in WORD and then simply copying it over to WP doesn't always give you the look and feel of what you want because of the extra "junk" that WORD surrounds your text with.

      I can't stand the fact that WP doesn't have tables and other pretty elementary formating capabilities. Yes, there are plugins that will make tables, but then there are typically associated problems that come with most plugins.

      Another alternative that I sometimes turn to, if you have an HTML editor, is to create your post in that editor first (I use the old "Front Page" program) then copy and paste it into the HTML editor in WP (as opposed to the visual editor.)

      Depending upon how clean your original HTML copy is, this method can produce good results.

      Unfortunately, I have not found a simple method to do everything I would like in WP.

      Another alternative would be to create the post in WORD, then save it as an HTML file and post it on your WP site. I have gotten various results from this method, good and not-so-good.

      Finally, if your post is short, you could create it in WORD then take a screen shot (capture) of it and post to your WP site as an image. It will be formatted exactly as you want it, but obviously because it is an image it will have some limitations (like SEO benefit, etc).

      Good luck to you,

      Steve
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      Steve Browne, online business strategies, tips, guidance, and resources
      SteveBrowneDirect

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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    I write it in Word, paste it to Notepad. Then I copy it again from Notepad and paste it into WP editor and make it pretty. Simple.
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    • Profile picture of the author sunray
      Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

      I write it in Word, paste it to Notepad. Then I copy it again from Notepad and paste it into WP editor and make it pretty. Simple.
      This way you'll loose all formatting (bold, underline, italic etc). A much better idea would be to use an editor that has a special paste from Word button. This filters out everything unnecessary, but preserves text formatting.


      I mostly use Word -> CKEditor (via paste from Word). CKEditor preserves even tables, uploads pictures from the inside of the pasted text and puts them in place, arranges footer links and much more. And the code it makes is pure and clean. CKEditor is the current industry standard that most big companies use on their websites (be it Wordpress or anything else).
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      • Profile picture of the author npaige
        Interesting.. So how does CKEditor compare w/ Windows Live Writer?



        Originally Posted by sunray View Post

        This way you'll loose all formatting (bold, underline, italic etc). A much better idea would be to use an editor that has a special paste from Word button. This filters out everything unnecessary, but preserves text formatting.


        I mostly use Word -> CKEditor (via paste from Word). CKEditor preserves even tables, uploads pictures from the inside of the pasted text and puts them in place, arranges footer links and much more. And the code it makes is pure and clean. CKEditor is the current industry standard that most big companies use on their websites (be it Wordpress or anything else).
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      • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
        Originally Posted by sunray View Post

        This way you'll loose all formatting (bold, underline, italic etc). A much better idea would be to use an editor that has a special paste from Word button. This filters out everything unnecessary, but preserves text formatting.


        I mostly use Word -> CKEditor (via paste from Word). CKEditor preserves even tables, uploads pictures from the inside of the pasted text and puts them in place, arranges footer links and much more. And the code it makes is pure and clean. CKEditor is the current industry standard that most big companies use on their websites (be it Wordpress or anything else).
        I don't lose any formatting because 'making it pretty' means I format in WP editor. In my experience editors with a paste from Word feature sometimes still allow cooties to get through.
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        • Profile picture of the author sunray
          Originally Posted by npaige View Post

          Interesting.. So how does CKEditor compare w/ Windows Live Writer?
          I've never tried Live Writer, so I cannot compare.

          Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

          I don't lose any formatting because 'making it pretty' means I format in WP editor. In my experience editors with a paste from Word feature sometimes still allow cooties to get through.
          Some do have bugs. I've had problems with Tiny MCE and one other that I do not remember by name at the moment. But I advise you to try CKEditor, it's really above all others.
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    • Profile picture of the author UMS
      Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

      I write it in Word, paste it to Notepad. Then I copy it again from Notepad and paste it into WP editor and make it pretty. Simple.
      Even simpler if you cut out the unnecessary step of using Notepad and pasting direct into WordPress with the standard "Paste as Text" button.
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        I've used Live Writer, and it works well enough.

        With MS Word, even if you save as html, Word still inserts a lot of garbage you don't need unless you need the file to be compatible with other Office apps.

        I use Open Office Writer for long blog posts, and save the file as html. Much cleaner code than Word.

        For short posts, I'll use the built-in editor or a text editor like NoteTab or TextPad and just add my own html/css.
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      • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
        Originally Posted by UMS View Post

        Even simpler if you cut out the unnecessary step of using Notepad and pasting direct into WordPress with the standard "Paste as Text" button.
        I don't trust it. I've done that and ended up with those weird, satanic symbols in my text. The only way I've found to consistently keep the text clean is to use the Notepad condom approach.
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  • Profile picture of the author anandshaw
    I use notepad to write my article & use Tiny MCE for formatting. I am not sure if i am helping you but I use minimum formatting options such as bold, bullet etc & avoid fancy formatting.
    Sometimes I have used divs & css for more fancy effects.
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