UI -> Editor -> Suggestion to use DevEdit

[Jamie Edwards]

Would like to see Varun / Ryan posting their thoughts on this really.

Their sentiments are the same as mine - what will be implemented (if any at all - I have explained this to you time and time again that we are far from any decision stage) will be decided on what is easiest for us to support and most flexible.

I am afraid that just because DevEdit is your favourite editor is not going to get it implemented for certain. Also, four people do not represent a majority of our customers. The only thing that will decide on what WYSIWYG editor is used is what is easiest for us to maintain and what is most flexible - thus making whatever this choice is the best choice for our customers.

This may be DevEdit. This may be TinyMCE. We do not know yet, and won't decide for some time.

[Jamie Edwards]

To add my opinions to the matter (I have also used both suites):

DevEdit: http://www.interspire.com/devedit/demonx/demo1.php?
TinyMCE: http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/example...p?example=true

I am of the opinion that TinyMCE is very well coded and very modular (to counter what Craig has said about it). Of course, DevEdit is too.

The TinyMCE interface is clean and its feature set is much bigger than that of DevEdit's - particularly, the powerful layer handling functions. It also appears to have several more readily available formatting functions at had.

TinyMCE's community has also produced a huge number of addons for the product - including very nifty features such as a "Paste From Word" utility that cleans up messy Word formatting; this would be a useful feature for many of our customers who draft their content in Word and wonder why formatting gets distorted in the TinyMCE version we currently use.

DevEdit's developer community appears much smaller and more importantly less active than TinyMCE's.

The only thing that I like about DevEdit as opposed to TinyMCE is the live switching between Preview/Editor tabs. However, this functionality can also be added to TinyMCE by a plugin that has been released.

To sum up why I prefer TinyMCE over DevEdit, and why I do not think DevEdit justifies it's expense:

• Bigger feature set
• Better DOM handling
• Does not force you to use tables to lay everything out (thus more compliant with the 'standards' of today)
• More active developer community
• Support backed by a developer community, or if we chose premium support from the company who drives TinyMCE (Moxicode)

My ideal preference is that we create a modular editor that comes with TinyMCE as standard, but allows you to replace the editor with your own (therefore if you really wanted you could purchase a single DevEdit license).

These are my thoughts on the matter.

[craigbrass]

DevEdit has Paste From Word included with it. Click the drop down arrow next to paste.

[Jamie Edwards]

Originally Posted by craigbrass

DevEdit has Paste From Word included with it. Click the drop down arrow next to paste.

Ah I missed that, that is good then. But still, it is a similarity and not an advantage.

[craigbrass]

My argument is tho that 3 people (Myself, Chris and WebStar) have worked with this product development wise. We all agree that DevEdit is the way to go.

[Jamie Edwards]

Why would it not suffice if the system was made so that you can add DevEdit yourself, replacing whatever editor was bundled?

Your wishes (and the 3 people who want DevEdit over another editor) will be taken into account when the decision is made.

[craigbrass]

It would be fine for myself, Chris and WebStar who have redistro licences but not for people who haven't as they would have to purchase it.

DevEdit equates to the sale of under 2 licences of SupportSuite, there is no reason you can add cost justification into this (notice you said above).

[Jamie Edwards]

Craig,

I do not think you are understanding me.

It is not a matter of how much that cost is, but in my opinion the cost will buy us no advantages over TinyMCE. In fact, the way I see it is by opting for DevEdit as opposed to TinyMCE we would actually lose out in support and in features. It would be like paying a pound for a penny.

[craigbrass]

Ah right. Well I await the comments from Varun / Ryan as I assume they get the final say?

[Jamie Edwards]

Originally Posted by craigbrass

Ah right. Well I await the comments from Varun / Ryan as I assume they get the final say?

All of us would be making the decisions on feature requests.

I am filtering them to begin with, and then roughly targeting them. For short term feature requests (for V3, for example) I will prioritise them (if there is a lot to get through, with the help of Ryan).

Batch feature requests will then be discussed and decided on in meetings I will have with Varun or Ryan or all three of us, or through a collaborative effort of some sort if meetings are not possible.

[Jamie Edwards]

I have discussed this with Varun, and the decision is that Version 4's editor will be implemented is TinyMCE.

It also will not be possible to 'plug in' other editors very easily, as we will be performing major customizations to handle cross-module media uploading and handling (such as image uploads), spell checking and so on. With modification I am sure you could get another editor working instead, but things will be more difficult when trying to replicate the functionality we will be adding to the editor.

TinyMCE will be easiest for us to develop with, implement and support. The footprint is small, and will integrate with our own AJAX functions well.

I am sorry to those who had preference for another editor. I believe that the TinyMCE platform is the best choice for our customers in the long-run; both in terms of us supporting and developing with the editor, and the functionality that it offers to users.

[Chris Boulton]

TinyMCE works too - however my only gripes with it are the crappy default layout, and the use of actual popup windows for things like the colour picker, inserting URLs etc.

That said, I use TinyMCE in a lot of my client work, and as long as you get it configured and looking nice (see my experiments here: http://www.surfionline.com/archives/...come-get-some/) then it's great to use.

[craigbrass]

GRRR, shame. Would be nice if you can use Chris' modded version tho! That looks good.

[Jamie Edwards]

Originally Posted by craigbrass

GRRR, shame. Would be nice if you can use Chris' modded version tho! That looks good.

TinyMCE is intended as a platform, not so much as an out-of-the-box editor. The intentions behind TinyMCE is that developers do what Chris as done; tailor it to their requirements.

[craigbrass]

Yea, I see what you mean. I was pushing down the DevEdit route as it looks nice from the outside and has a nice API.