[Idea] The ultimative WYSIWYG module

[Waldschwein]

Hello!

Ok, I upgraded (WYMEditor), released (nicEdit) and started (CKEditor) some WYSIWYG editors the last weeks.
That's quite nice having a few editors besides the (right now, soon won't be) standard FCKEditor.

But there is one problem providing a bit "more" - the WYSIWYG module itself.

What does the current WYSIWYG module?
You perhaps know it from daily work - clicking on "WYSIWYG" - inserting some text in a nice editor.
In fact the current WYSIWYG module is "just" providing an API (function show_wysiwyg_editor($name,$id,$content,$width,$height) ) for the editors.
It is providing a textfield, where you can input HTML, that's being saved to the database with a few security measurements / charset compatibility and that.

What lacks the current WYSIWYG module - and what's the problem with editors?
I don't want to lie, I looked very much to other CMSes and their editors ("How did they...?") when working on the above ones. And I always looked with some desire to the Drupal ones... No, Drupal doesn't have a WYSIWYG editor by default, they have a pure textfield, that's it. But every editor you can customize you want - user based, click in the Admin-tools pendant your toolbar, this plugin and that style and get it. No "Go with your FTP browser or AFE to the include.php / config.js line XY and change this to that". No, that's not user friendly.

The real problem is, that WYSIWYG editors are no real modules. Well - they don't need any database, because - we have the WYSIWYG module, and the editor are just a few nice JavaScript frames for the textfield that should make live and HTML editing easier.

The idea: A customizable WYSIWYG module
It's no good idea beginning to code Admin-tools for every editor - we have in the end 5 half baked tools nobody uses and the developer are too disappointed to finish it.
No - (looking to Drup...) - we should have a more customizable WYSIWYG module.
thorn did already the beginning with a history: http://nettest.thekk.de/docs/wysiwyg_history/files/naturaldocs_txt/title-txt.html
Of course history would be better for everything, but it's a beginning.
And - there should be a WYSIWYG module Admin-tool!
That administrator can easily choose here what they want - toolbar "WB small without tables" here, skin "very dark" there, and please only Polish language. They can even choose "choose editor for each id". And for nice output we can activate "HTML purify" here. Or even using a filebrowser that is _not_ defined by the editor. Would be much more secure! We had so many problems (and have...) with filebrowsers of editors.

And all that merged with a history module that's already existing - I really would like the idea.

This module should replace the current one, should contain no (or only a basic) editor itself, but should have an API for all common editor like TinyMCE, FCKEditor, CKEditor, XINHA, WYMEditor and so on.

How do you like the idea? Wishes, critics, no-gos? Would you help?

Yours Michael

PS: Inspired from http://drupal.org/project/wysiwyg

[Stefek]

Hello Michael,

this is a thing I am thinking off for about half a year.

The standard WYSIWYG Module should have more features.
I am not sure if the WYSIWYG Module should have the Admin-Tool.

I think, the Editors (as CKE, FCK, TINY) may have one.
But from within the WYSIWYG Module you should have the ability to define which EDITOR to use here (by section_id).

But you will come in troubles with it.
What happens once you delete/remove the EDITOR you have assigned to sections?
etc. etc.

But it's worth thinking in this direction.

I think there should be at least one GOOD Editor with an Admin-Tool, where you can predefine the Buttons and Fields based on the group id (or Name).
And (in case of CKE), there should/could be also the possibility to say which Block ....
(don't mix with Section, I mean Layout-Blocks which are defined in the templates info.php)
.... has to use which CSS (for the Editors text area).

Just some of my Ideas to this Problem.

Best Regards,
Stefek

[mahalleday]

This sounds great.  IT would be nice to have something standard, something that would be easy for module authors to make use of in both the front and backends.  I'll be following this closely as adbaker version 2 will fully support wysiwyg in FE and Be's.

[Waldschwein]

Hello!

I think it's better not to think of editors first - in my eyes it's better having something "abstract" where later on the editor with it's customization is being called. Just have a look at my painting what I mean. 
Of course there needs to be some "fallback".

Yours Michael