What is a WYSIWYG editor
WYSIWYG Editors Simplify Online Visual Content Creation
Imagine being able to create visually appealing content for websites, blogs or documents without needing to understand complex codes or programming languages. This is possible thanks to WYSIWYG editors, this type of tool simplifies content creation without users needing to understand HTML. In this article, we’ll explore what a WYSIWYG is, the features it has, and some popular examples of widely used WYSIWYG editors, demonstrating how they’ve made text and design editing more accessible and intuitive for a wide range of users.
What is a WYSIWYG Editor
WYSIWYG is an acronym for “What You See Is What You Get”. A WYSIWYG editor is a tool that allows users to create and edit content in a visual way, while the end result resembles what will be seen by the end user. This means you can format text, insert images, create links, and adjust the layout of a web page or document, all in an intuitive environment and without needing to understand the code behind the formatting, which is usually HTML and CSS.
WYSIWYG Editor Examples
There are several examples of WYSIWYG editors widely used in different contexts. One of them is Microsoft Word, which allows users to format text and create documents visually. To create websites, platforms like WordPress offer a WYSIWYG editor called Gutenberg, which simplifies the creation of web content through content blocks. TinyMCE, which was previously the default editor for WordPress, is a JavaScript library that provides a visual editing interface to integrate into web applications, widely used in content management systems. Tools like Google Docs and Seletronic HTML Cleaner also offer WYSIWYG editing capabilities to create documents and websites intuitively. See a list of example WYSIWYG editors with a brief explanation of each one:
- Microsoft Word: Microsoft Word is one of the tools most popular word processing software in the world. It offers a wide range of features for formatting text, inserting images and creating documents visually. With its intuitive interface, Word allows users to create content without needing to understand markup or programming languages.
- Seletronic HTML Cleaner: Seletronic HTML Cleaner is an online tool that combines a WYSIWYG editor with advanced HTML code cleaning features. This tool has two display windows, where one shows how the content will look and on the other side what the HTML looks like in real time. This allows users to create and edit HTML content visually while providing options to optimize and clean up the generated code. This tool is especially useful for writers and bloggers when copying content from another website or Word documents, allowing them to clean up styles that are copied along.
- WordPress (Gutenberg): WordPress is a widely used content management platform for blogs and websites. Its default editor, called Gutenberg, is a block-based WYSIWYG editor that simplifies web content creation. With Gutenberg, users can add and format content visually, using pre-designed blocks for different types of media and layout.
- TinyMCE: TinyMCE is an open source JavaScript library that provides a highly customizable WYSIWYG editor for integrate into web applications. It offers a wide range of editing features such as formatting text, inserting images, creating links, and more. TinyMCE is widely used in content management systems and blogging platforms due to its ease of integration and flexibility.
- Google Docs: Google Docs is a cloud-based productivity suite that includes a text with WYSIWYG editing features. With Google Docs, users can collaborate on documents in real time and format text visually, without the need for additional software. It offers basic text formatting and image insertion features, making it a popular option for collaborative work.
These are just a few examples of WYSIWYG editors that are widely used in different contexts. There are a variety of editors, each with features and functionality to meet the needs of different users, from writers and bloggers to web developers and designers.
WYSIWYG editors have changed the way we create and edit content online and offline, making the process more accessible and intuitive for users of all skill levels. Without them, we would have to do everything manually. From formatting text to creating complex layouts, these tools provide a visual editing experience that simplifies the work of designers, writers, bloggers, and many other professionals. What is your favorite editor?