WYSIWYG editor

[kate-nutri]

WYSIWYG editor for the Product Description and similar fields seems to be missing. I am more than happy to work with html but my boss isn't. The available editor isn't exactly 'user-friendly' and there is plenty of editors out there:
http://www.cmsreview.com/WYSIWYG/
Any chance of having that functionality? We use Actinic for a short time, but I was so surprised not to find it there.

Anyone else seeing that as a good way for improvement?

[grantglendinnin]

I'd like to see a real WYSIWYG editor within Actinic - I'd say we all do!

Unfortunately my biggest gripe with it is if I highlight a piece of text and click the 'B' sign, it adds the !!< and >!! to the end of the tag. Fair enough. But if you then decide you want the text bigger, so highlight the text again, and click size 14 from the drop down list, it'll add another instance of !!< and >!! - I know they can easily be taken out, but that's beside the point.

Good wish list entry, certainly gets my vote - unfortunately I do recall this coming up before but nothing was ever really done about it.

[RuralWeb]

It was highlighted in beta testing V8 many years ago

[kate-nutri]

OK. What did the tests find out? Many years ago = not as mature WYSIWYG tools

[RuralWeb]

What did the tests find out

Actinic works on a list of additions based on user feedback if not many people vote for an addition it generally goes to the bottom of the list so IIRC not many people wanted anything better.

Since then there have been several unrelated posts asking for things like bullet points etc but again not many votes so its unlikely that there will be any improvement in this area - for my clients what is already there works ok.

[kate-nutri]

guess I will need to perform a little campaing and find people that would like this feature. Any one searching for: WYSIWYG html editor | Easy way to write web content | htmlArea Editor | Rich Text Editor | What You See Is What You Get | textarea replacement ? (that should help intrested people find my post

After all the window I am using to write this post is a better editor than the one inlcuded in Actinic Business Plus! Value for money please

Please vote on this wishlist and maybe it will be included in Actinic!

I the meantime have a lok at one of the many editor I found http://www.openwebware.com/wysiwyg/demo.shtml

Cheers.

[RuralWeb]

Please vote on this wishlist and maybe it will be included in Actinic

Maybe but actinic is an ecommerce software first and foremost - there are lots of ecommerce type things I would like to see added before an editor.

[Duncan Rounding]

I can understand that this may assist those not conversant with coding but my concern would be the quality of code produced by the editor.

[Rich Brady]

A very good point Duncan, the wizard in V9 is a good example of this.

Part of actinic that has been developed to help non designers/coders to modify/edit beyond their knowledge.

I can understand the reasons behind the wizard and why people want an improved WYSIWYG function, but this may may fault finding coding errors a real nightmare further down the line.

[RuralWeb]

I remember that when V8 first was issued in beta that the editor had more functionality BUT it allowed people to make lots of errors such as using non standard fonts - after pointing this out actinic removed some features.

I use Adobe Contribute alot and many people complain about all the options it offers - most people just want to add text and images at the end of the day.

[grantglendinnin]

Maybe but actinic is an ecommerce software first and foremost - there are lots of ecommerce type things I would like to see added before an editor.

Well said Malcolm. Though on recent topics where future features of Actinic have been discussed, I'm asking myself why? There are several ecommerce features which Actinic doesn't have that most rival ecommerce systems have. I agree that a wysiwyg editor isn't the most important feature - but there are much more pressing issues which Actinic have to address.

IMO Actinic seem to be releasing versions too quickly, playing catch up with the competition, but never quite getting things right until it's too late, ie. v8.5 - and respectfully, 9.4(?)

Actinic is trying to be an ecommerce system and then some, but the quality is falling foul as it kicks the bucket at least 3 or 4 times a day when doing any design work, as I'm sure you're all aware.

Diversity is one thing, but not having bog-standard features is another.

[Steve G Griggs]

WISYWIG in Actinic

Hi all.
I'm afraid that I'm on the side of the "No to WISYWIG" campaign.
It's so easy to put a bit of innocuous looking HTML in (as I have found to my cost in the early days) that breaks a later section of java script.
Also the point about fonts is very valid, as quite possibly not everyone using Actinic knows or understands the basics of HTML, and why you need to stick to certain fonts.
Anyway if you wnat to mess with the default text the best way is to understand CSS, and use it to format the text --- as we are supposed to to get valid HTML.

[grantglendinnin]

Anyway if you wnat to mess with the default text the best way is to understand CSS, and use it to format the text --- as we are supposed to to get valid HTML.

Actinic....Valid HTML?.......lol

[Steve G Griggs]

Well as valid as it could ever be in Actinic (just a little bit of sarcasm showing...)

[grantglendinnin]

Well as valid as it could ever be in Actinic (just a little bit of sarcasm showing...)

OK - I am now firmly in your camp. I agree this would be a very useful time-saving feature for those who are familiar with HTML, as Actinic is intended for store owners rather than developers, I can see where you're coming from in that most users won't know HTML too well and a WYSIWYG editor will cause more issues than it solves.