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

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.

Tags: blog, forum, text editor, wysiwyg

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Almir on February 8, 2010 at 4:26pm

I would like to report that I can't add an image to blog post in one of my networks. It adds it in working mode but when I publish it, it just deletes it from the post.

Permalink Reply by Rick Bradford on February 8, 2010 at 4:47pm

This was mentioned earlier in the thread. If memory serves, it's a bug that happens when there's no text after the image but they're working on it...

Permalink Reply by Almir on February 8, 2010 at 6:38pm

Thanks, I missed it :)

But in my case, there is a text after image. Image is on the beginning of the post, wrapped around the text.

Permalink Reply by Jim Boles on February 8, 2010 at 8:51pm

Okay, thanks! Funny though. I can see the toolbar on my phone when I go on the website, but not from my home computer. Thanks for responding! I was wondering if anyone was out there.

Permalink Reply by Evan on February 8, 2010 at 6:27pm

Hey James!

If you could contact our Help Center, we can investigate and see what's going on!

/Evan
Ning Product Manager

Permalink Reply by Nancy Yellowbird on February 8, 2010 at 5:11pm

Recently several of our members have been unable to "edit" their graphics in a discussion under FORUM that they have posted. I made sure I had x'd in the box to allow members to do this in my management page.....

I am only able to edit the "title" of their discussion and cannot edit any graphic they post, except to delete their post.

One of my members has a discussion that continues daily and he likes to change his original post graphics from time to time.....and in the past he was able to do so, why is he now unable to edit his original discussion?

NancyBird, creator of The Hideaway

Permalink Reply by Evan on February 8, 2010 at 6:28pm

Hey Nancy!

You cannot edit the body of your members' posts, so this is something that they'll need to fix. I'd encourage you to have the member contact us via the Help Center so we can see what's happening.

/Evan
Ning Product Manager

Permalink Reply by Jim Boles on February 8, 2010 at 8:49pm

I still don't have the tool bar on my website on my home computer! I cannot add a picture, nor do I see any option such a rich text or html? Its funny when I go in through my phone I can see the toolbar. Can someone guide me in the right direction. My website is www.ChattaCountry.com . Just try to add a blog and you will see what I am talking about.

Permalink Reply by William Douglas on February 9, 2010 at 2:54am

Jim,

I have just posted a blog on your website - with an image! You may want to delete it now....

On the 'Add a Blog' page, click on the Options button to find the editing stuff.

Good luck.

Permalink Reply by Nancy Yellowbird on February 9, 2010 at 11:56am

One of my members has a discussion that continues daily.

He likes to change the "ORIGINAL" post "GRAPHIC"..from time to time..

In the past, he was able to change the picture or graphic in the original post of the discussion.....

What can he do to get the graphic or image to appear when he "edits the discussion???

My room is http://thehideaway.ning.com

HELP

NancyBird - Creator

Permalink Reply by Evan on February 9, 2010 at 12:42pm

Hey Nancy!

He should go to the discussion and simply click "Edit". If for some reason he's having trouble changing the image once he's done that, ask him to contact the Help Center and we can see what's going on.

/Evan
Ning Product Manager

Permalink Reply by Nico Das on February 9, 2010 at 1:13pm

Is anyone else having issues with formatting in the blog? I am trying to copy and paste an interview I conducted with a member and when I hit preview the format is all over the place. I have tried first pasting into an email, also directly from a Word doc, none of it works properly. I have tried from Mac- where it was showing stuff like "Lucida Family Font" in the preview itself, and then now on PC when the text is really big, does not change size when I try to make it smaller and cuts off at random parts of the sentence. Any suggestions?