A better text editor, on Forum and Blog posts[LIVE]

[Emily]

For Ning Creators and members alike, adding content is an essential part of any Ning Network. When it comes to adding text, the text editor members rely on should be as easy to use as possible. Starting tomorrow afternoon, adding and editing text on Ning will become even easier.

Previously, all text editors on a Ning Network allowed members to add photos, add links and format text. But using those tools produced HTML code that many non-technical Internet users didn't understand. So a few weeks ago, we rolled out a new, WYSIWYG editor to the forum, while still keeping an "HTML" tab so that advanced users could still edit HTML as they always had.

WYSIWYG stands for "what you see is what you get", and it means that when you're doing something like making text bold, you'll actually see bold text, instead of code for <b>bolded text</b>. In the last few weeks, we heard feedback that the WYSIWYG editor wasn't as easy to use as it could be. And so we're rolling out a number of improvements to make it an even better experience editing forum discussions on Ning, while also rolling out this editor to the blog feature:


The major improvements include:

• More space: 400 pixels of vertical space to edit the text, instead of the previous, 160 pixels
• Smaller font: A smaller font, so more text can fit in the text editor
• Resized images: Even though images in the forum and blog can't be any wider than 721 pixels (the full width of the forum and blog), they weren't being resized while editing. Now, any image added wider than 721 pixels will be resized to 721 pixels.
• Edit image: Previously, once you'd added an image to a text editor, you couldn't change the size, alignment or link unless you knew HTML. Now, in "Rich Text" mode, you'll be able re-open the Image dialog.

When working on these updates, we also realized we made an oversight when adding the WYSIWYG editor to the forum. We accidentally omitted the "Options" drop down, which allows you to customize images that you add to text. We've brought back the Options drop down, with rewritten, clearer text and the ability to customize images even if you add them via URL, not your computer.

Here's what it will look like:



All of these improvements should make editing forum discussions or writing blog posts a breeze. And we'll continue to take your feedback and improve text editors in the future.

Copying pasted text

One note about copying text from other programs or Web sites. One of the nice parts of a WYSIWYG editor is that you can copy and paste not just text, but also links, images, tables and more into your forum or blog post. However, when a WYSIWYG editor tries to maintain all those items, the outcome isn't always perfect. If you're looking to paste text and nothing more, try using the "HTML" tab, and no special formatting will be pasted.

You can usually copy and paste content into the WYSIWYG editor with good results, but the "HTML" tab is a good bet if you're just looking to copy only text.

[Emily]

Hi everyone!

This afternoon, we have successfully pushed out a patch release to fix the bugs that you've reported here and through the Help Center:

*Upload Image Options: Set Image size is broken [FIXED]
*The image does not get saved if there is no text below the image [FIXED]
*Adding a blog post via Quick Add feature does not preserve paragraph breaks [FIXED]

In addition, we've added back the file attachment capability when creating a blog post. We've also added the ability to switch back to the original simple text editor. You can find this setting under Feature Controls from your Manage page.

Thanks again for everyone's feedback. We really appreciate it! If you're still seeing an issue with the bugs described above or with the text editor, please send us a note through the Help Center. Thanks!

[Sixfour]

Oh thank you Emily. I have changed it back over the HTML text editor and my members and I are a happy bunch again !

Many thanks !!!

[Rick Bradford]

We've also added the ability to switch back to the original simple text editor. You can find this setting under Feature Controls from your Manage page.

Is it not possible to offer them both at the same time via the tabs? So the new editor would be one tab and the old editor would be the other?

[Sheldon Gay]

Thanks so much for adding that option in...however I'm copying embed code directly from youtube or other pages and the same issue is occurring...the space is there, where the video would go...but no video actually appears...what might be the issue?...the browser?

[Evan]

Hey Rick!

Ideally, both the HTML and Rich tabs have the exact same buttons. Unfortunately, this wasn't easy to do in the new WYSIWYG editor, which is why we've given you back the option to switch to the old editor.

Down the road, though, we're going to look to have a single editor that functions easily and performs well in both the Rich view and the HTML view.


/Evan
Ning Product Manager

[Merseyrose]

A BIG thank you from me to you and your colleagues for this option! I've just switched my network back to it and am very happy - and I'm sure so will be my members. :-)

Please keep it this simple for the less computer-savvy people. Thank you so much in advance! :-)

[Sheldon Gay]

Are we going to get an official announcement about this "new text editor" when it does arrive or will it be automatically defaulted? I just don't want to have to keep checking this thread lol

[Andy P]

Thanks Big time, Emily.

[Sheldon Gay]

I think the embedding issue was fixed after I went through the "Help Center" although the videos only appear after you push "Publish" and then refresh your window...(for whatever reason it shows up blank at first)

[Emily]

Hi Sheldon!

This bug was just filed today which is reproducible only in Chrome web browser. We're looking into getting this fixed as soon as possible. Thanks!

[Jane]

I love the text editor! You've changed my life!

[Nancy Yellowbird]

Thanks for the option of using either the HTML editor or the RICH TEXT in our managers "features"....I have returned to the HTML (old way) and now my members can post an image when they edit their forum discussions.

I will be looking forward to the RICH TEXT editor when all the glitches are corrected...I love the idea of being able to center an image and also would love to see different sizes and colors of FONTS availabe one day in the future.....Thanks, NancyBird