Editor suggestions

[Samourai]

Hey !
As an addition to the bug fixes in the editor, that I think absolutely imperative for IPB's future, I'd just like to suggest two minor suggestions that my users asked me.

1. The ability for people to save directly their messages, as an addition to the auto save that is made. What I would actually like (if it's not already possible) is that users be able to click on a "save" button so that their posts can be saved in the database until they are submitted. Exactly as the auto-save, but adding a manual ability to do that.

2. The possibility, when using the plain text editor, to still click on the BBCode buttons, in order to use BBCode. For the moment, when we're typing text within IPB's plain text editor, we have to add manually the BBCode tags. What I would like would be the ability for my users to highline their text, for example, an then (to quote an example that my users brang to me) to click on the "center" button, so that the opening and closing center tags appear directly in the message, surrounding the text that has been highlined.

I hope my two suggestions are comprehensible enough, as I'm not a native english speaker.

Thanks ! :)

[Samourai]

Bump ?

[Ronald Epstein]

You know, I feel the need to continue to drive this point home....

The editor on IPS is horrible.

I do a lot of posting on our site. Whether it be press releases or reviews. I am constantly working with the editor.

Today, I just posted a movie review. Found the need to go in and edit it shortly after posting. The editor turned everything into HTML coding although I didn't ask it to. I then found a button to take the coding out but it managed to screw up the formatting of the post.

There has got to be a better WYSIWYG editor that can be built from the ground up that does a better job of handling anything you throw into it. If a company like Huddler can do it, why can't IPS?

[Cyrem]

You know, I feel the need to continue to drive this point home....

The editor on IPS is horrible.

I do a lot of posting on our site. Whether it be press releases or reviews. I am constantly working with the editor.

Today, I just posted a movie review. Found the need to go in and edit it shortly after posting. The editor turned everything into HTML coding although I didn't ask it to. I then found a button to take the coding out but it managed to screw up the formatting of the post.

There has got to be a better WYSIWYG editor that can be built from the ground up that does a better job of handling anything you throw into it. If a company like Huddler can do it, why can't IPS?

You shouldn't be seeing any HTML... and you can't ask it to show HTML because IPB parses it to BBCode. I think most problems come from the fact that the editor needs to be modified to support BBCode, which it does not support. They can't get rid of BBCode because people still need it. IPS is in a tight spot where they need a fully featured WYSIWYG (CKEditor which they use, is one of the leading editors) due to demand that supports old BBCode... which is kinda what WYSIWYG Editors are trying to get AWAY from... also due to demand.

[Samourai]

And do you agree with my ideas ?

@Ronald : are you using the latest version of IPB ? It seems that they have been fixing many issues for 3.4.4 :)

[Ronald Epstein]

You shouldn't be seeing any HTML

The codes I am seeing introduced into my posts are "<br> <p> and &nbsp;" which are all HTML codes used for spacing.

All I need to do is to take a normal post, edit it more than once, and then suddenly these codes are introduced.

are you using the latest version of IPB ? It seems that they have been fixing many issues for 3.4.4

Yes, we are. The same problems still exist that was in the prior version.

Listen....

I feel like the lone wolf out here. I have been complaining about this damn editor since the first day we arrived on this platform and it seems very few people have similar complaints.

As I noted above, I do a lot of extensive work within the editor.

We came from Huddler. Their editor (which is a form of CKeditor) is pretty unbelievable. You can cut and paste feature-rich text with pictures into the editor and it is perfectly preserved for post. Fancy fonts are preserved and formatting perfectly resembles the original whether it is copied from an email, Word or PDF document.

On IPS, you can't copy and paste pictures into the editor. Every picture must be uploaded individually and it's an annoying 3-step process which really should only be 2 steps (click on image button, select photo). Feature rich content with fancy fonts are dumbed down to regular type when posted on the IPS forum.

Furthermore, the editor does not support content put into tables (vertical columns) unless saved in HTML. The problem is, once you convert/save a post to HTML, you can't edit it because of all the coding in the message.

It amazes me that the potential to have a really first-rate editor is within grasp and IPS doesn't want to embrace it. I had thought that IPS was striving to be better than every other platform out there. The editor is its biggest hindrance.

Is it really a big deal for IPS to overhaul its editor so that its capable of handling whatever gets cut and pasted into it? If a company like Huddler can do it, and their large network of forum owners are happy with their efforts, why is it a problem for IPS to duplicate?

I am really sorry for the rant, but it's a constant struggle to deal with the IPS editor on a daily basis -- especially when I have seen something much better accomplished elsewhere.

[Rikki]

Rest assured we have plans to improve the editor. You do say yourself that it appears to be fine for most people, and in that situation, we can't start tearing it up on a whim - not on a point release.

The limitations you come up against are legacy issues - back in the early days, everything was processed as BBCode (even if it was displayed as rich text to the user in the editor). Even though we now process HTML through the editor directly, the legacy considerations still mean copying and pasting complex documents isn't as simple as it could be. These aren't arbitrary limitations, they're due to the low-level way user content has been handled in the past. Changing them isn't as simple as adding a few lines of code.

4.0 gives us the opportunity to approach the editor from a fresh angle, and that's what we're aiming to do. 4.0 is a complete overhaul, so it's the appropriate time to make such sweeping changes in the way user content is handled.

So it's not that we're not listening to the problems you and some others are having, it's that fundamental changes can only happen with the major updates. I can't guarantee that it'll be exactly how you want it to be, but it will be better.

[Saiga]

Rest assured we have plans to improve the editor. You do say yourself that it appears to be fine for most people, and in that situation, we can't start tearing it up on a whim - not on a point release.

The limitations you come up against are legacy issues - back in the early days, everything was processed as BBCode (even if it was displayed as rich text to the user in the editor). Even though we now process HTML through the editor directly, the legacy considerations still mean copying and pasting complex documents isn't as simple as it could be. These aren't arbitrary limitations, they're due to the low-level way user content has been handled in the past. Changing them isn't as simple as adding a few lines of code.

4.0 gives us the opportunity to approach the editor from a fresh angle, and that's what we're aiming to do. 4.0 is a complete overhaul, so it's the appropriate time to make such sweeping changes in the way user content is handled.

So it's not that we're not listening to the problems you and some others are having, it's that fundamental changes can only happen with the major updates. I can't guarantee that it'll be exactly how you want it to be, but it will be better.

Never forget.

In regards to BBCode, I must admit, I would have just as soon gotten rid of it as well. That is, until feedback here has convinced me that we're not at that point yet. Many third party sites such as flickr, speedtest, etc. still provide links in bbcode format.

Source: http://community.invisionpower.com/topic/374960-editor-patch/?p=2355988

Remember that other sites do use bbcode and when they give share code we need to be able to post it on our communities.

[Rikki]

Never forget.
Source: http://community.invisionpower.com/topic/374960-editor-patch/?p=2355988

Remember that other sites do use bbcode and when they give share code we need to be able to post it on our communities.

We have plans to address that, while still making the fundamental changes necessary to move forward.

[Ronald Epstein]

Rikki,

I very much appreciate your responses here. I wanted IPS to be aware of my concerns and the fact that you took the time to address them is most welcome.

All I am asking is that you take a look at how extensively CKeditor is being used elsewhere and mimic that here.

The editor is THE most important aspect of any forum platform. It should be the very best available.

I greatly look forward to 4.0 and anticipate that IPS will address the concerns brought up here.

[wimg]

What about iOS and the editor? It appears it is broken going from.e.g., 3.1.4 to 3.4.4.

No WYSIWIG stuff available at all anymore, only HTML, and no way to switch it off. We've got lots of users complaining about this. I checked the settings in ACP, but couldn't find anything in there either, although I may have overlooked something.

Any help is much appreciated.

Warm regards, Wim

[mat206]

If the editor doesn't end up being a plug-in that can be swapped out as per the needs of the admin/community (like every other major CMS/community suite) then you guys are continuing down the wrong path.

[Ronald Epstein]

Again, I will repeat this only because it continues to be a glaring

problem...

If I have to edit a message, it turns itself into HTML coding without

me even selecting that option.

Also, anytime I save something in HTML (which I am forced to do

to get any kind of proper formatting) I can't go back and add anything

to the post such as an image or any additional information.

I work with this editor hours on end every day and I am pulling out

what little hair I have left on my head.

[bfarber]

Again, I will repeat this only because it continues to be a glaring

problem...

If I have to edit a message, it turns itself into HTML coding without

me even selecting that option.

Also, anytime I save something in HTML (which I am forced to do

to get any kind of proper formatting) I can't go back and add anything

to the post such as an image or any additional information.

I work with this editor hours on end every day and I am pulling out

what little hair I have left on my head.

I don't understand what you are describing. Editing a post should not turn it into HTML, unless it was posted in HTML posting mode to begin with, or you intentionally change it to HTML posting mode. If that is happening you should submit a ticket (unless I'm just misunderstanding what you are describing).

[Samourai]

What about iOS and the editor? It appears it is broken going from.e.g., 3.1.4 to 3.4.4.

No WYSIWIG stuff available at all anymore, only HTML, and no way to switch it off. We've got lots of users complaining about this. I checked the settings in ACP, but couldn't find anything in there either, although I may have overlooked something.

Any help is much appreciated.

Warm regards, Wim

Did you create a support ticket regarding that bug ? If not, I'd suggest it.

If the editor doesn't end up being a plug-in that can be swapped out as per the needs of the admin/community (like every other major CMS/community suite) then you guys are continuing down the wrong path.

I quite agree...

[wimg]

Yes, I did create a support ticket.

Apparently it doesn't work with IOS and 3.4.4 - it did under 3.1.4 however.

Warm regards, Wim

[bfarber]

iOS support in earlier versions of CKEditor is not reliable and we disabled it. We are revisiting it when we update to CKEditor 4 (a major overhaul from them) alongside the 4.0 Suite. For now, mobile devices are forced to a standard textarea.

[wimg]

Well, I am starting to regret we moved to 3.4.4 by now. Unfortunately there is no way back. We have more than 2.6 million posts, almost 77,000 registered members, with about half of them being very active, and 40+ % using iOS devices. Nobody ever complained about instability in 3.1.4.

So, how do we enable this again for iOS, even if instable, at our own risk?

Thanks in advance.

Warm regards, Wim

P.S.: it is not stable under Windows either. Never has been, and isn't now either. But it is better than nothing.

[MathewC]

For mobile problems why not use Tapatalk - it allows full functionally of the forum in a user friendly UI - I'm lost without it.

[wimg]

Yep. However, I would be lost with TapaTalk. If I really wanted to open the world to spam- and other unwanted ware again, I would certainly select TapaTalk. We currently have a rather secure server, using TapaTalk would just mean opening it up again. I really wish ZBBlock would work well with Invision software - gives at least a factor 2 speed increase, thanks to very effective spammer and other stuff blocking, before it even gets close to the software.

Warm regards, Wim

[Ronald Epstein]

I don't understand what you are describing. Editing a post should not turn it into HTML, unless it was posted in HTML posting mode to begin with, or you intentionally change it to HTML posting mode. If that is happening you should submit a ticket (unless I'm just misunderstanding what you are describing).

It's not usually on the initial edit. Sometimes I have to add material to existing posts on several occasions. Usually on the second or third edit there are HTML codes thrown into the message without me even checking off the HTML box.

I will submit a ticket along with a Jing video.

[bfarber]

It's not usually on the initial edit. Sometimes I have to add material to existing posts on several occasions. Usually on the second or third edit there are HTML codes thrown into the message without me even checking off the HTML box.

I will submit a ticket along with a Jing video.

It sounds like maybe the editor is failing to load when this happens? If so, this might likely be a bug that was resolved with 3.4.5 (not yet released). But yes, a video would clarify.