What the community wants

CKEditor is based in many cases on community feedback. Not only is it functional, flexible and fast but also innovative, smart and user friendly.

  • Repository & Builder

    You can download a perfectly customized WYSIWYG text editor using the CKBuilder, and easily integrate additional add-ons from our Repository.

     

  • Paste from Word

    Avoid having to modify text pasted from Word with the Paste from Word feature. Everything is done for you at the click of a single button. No more fiddling around!

     

  • Strong accessibility

    Accessibility standards like W3C WCAG and US Section 508 were given attention from the very beginning. The visually impaired can use screen readers, high contrast and keyboard navigation. More info…

     

  • Inline editing

    To improve the editing experience CKEditor now includes inline editing - a tool that removes the editing area. Say goodbye to impractical text boxes! Now What You See Is Really What You Get.

    Spell check as you type

    CKEditor includes a zero installation spell check as you type (SCAYT) solution. No server integration required. The application is based on the quality spell checking services provided by WebSpellChecker.net.

  • Safe undo function

    With CKEditor you don't need worry about mistakes because every single action can be safely reverted, guaranteeing that you'll never break things or lose your texts.

    Right to left interface

    Several languages are read from "right to left", like Arabic, Farsi or Hebrew. For those users, CKEditor will also render from right to left, making them right at home.

  • UI language auto detection

    If you have international users CKEditor can automatically detect their language and localizes the interface accordingly. The editor is translated into over 60 languages!

    Quality XHTML output

    CKEditor uses advanced W3C DTD controls to ensure that HTML is properly generated. Users will not enter broken code so your pages will easily validate.

End user

Developer

Formatting

Basic & advanced styling

Apply basic styles like bold and italic with ease, as well as more complex styling and semantic rules defined by the website developer. Rich styles, under control.

Real block-quoting

Properly quote text using the correct and semantics-aware <blockquote> tag. Other editors simply focus on the visuals, adding margins to standard paragraphs (that's so 90s).

Colors

Plain text may be boring. It’s sometimes nice to distinguish or highlight text with color or give tables more personality. With the color selector this job is a few clicks away.

Advanced paste from Word

Most content is written in Microsoft Word and web browsers use HTML. CKEditor's powerful and unique Paste from Word feature makes it easy to convert text.

Advanced linking

Other than creating usual web links with ease, CKEditor makes it possible to build advanced links that can open popups, links to anchors, e-mails or any kind of web resource.

E-mail linking

Creating e-mail links with CKEditor is as simple as inserting the desired e-mail address. Even the message subject and text can be set, so e-mails will be pre-compiled.

Interface Usage

Visual link anchors

Insert page "anchors" so other pages (or even the same page) can link to them, positioning the reader in the right place. These anchors are visible while editing, making their management easy and intuitive.

Maximize

When dealing with long texts or even images and tables, the more you see the better. With a single click CKEditor is "maximized", filling the entire space available in the page. Another click and it returns back to its original size.

Visible blocks

For those who want to have full control over the structure of their text, the "Show Blocks" feature comes to help. It's a visual tool which outlines every single block of text, making it easy to control the semantics and the quality of the edited content.

Resizable

Sometimes we just need a bit more space to have a better typing experience. CKEditor can be easily resized by simply dragging the edge, making it possible to have a perfect fit. That's usability and power at your fingertips.

Elements selector

Users with a bit of technical skills are able to precisely control the structure of their texts with our powerful Element Selector. It shows the hierarchy of HTML tags around the current cursor position, making it easy to manage them.

Find and replace

Finding words in the text is simple and effective with CKEditor. Even words with multiple styles (bold and italic) are properly caught. Replacing words is just as easy, including massive replacement operations.

Rich Content

Images

Pictures and photos bring life to articles. With CKEditor it's easy to insert and configure images in content. Having an integrated file manager like CKFinder uploading new images only takes a few clicks.

Flash content

Authors dealing with advanced websites have to deal with Adobe Flash content in their pages. Nothing could be simpler. CKEditor allows easy control of Flash video preferences.

Easy tables

There is no better way to explain and demonstrate data than using tables. With CKEditor users can create accessibility-compliant tables, as well as design them to better present their contents.

Smilies

CKEditor may be used inside community websites, like forums or blogs, where people desire to express their feelings in text. The editor comes with a set of exclusively designed smiley graphics that can easily accomplish that.

Print breaks

With CKEditor you'll be able to precisely control the printing break points of your content, assuring that prints will look as good as you wanted them to be.

Templates

With the "Insert Template" feature your web designer can create pieces of HTML that can be reused throughout the site, ensuring a common design quality in your pages.

Form creation tools

Imagine if your end users could define web forms that could be used for e-learning tests, polls, research, etc. Well, you can! CKEditor brings all the necessary tools to properly create and manage forms and fields in your pages.

Usability

Interface usability

The CKEditor interface is based on common desktop editing applications, making it familiar and intuitive. Having conducted research in usability we are confident the editor will give your users the best editing experience.

Strong accessibility

Accessibility was considered since the project's very first design considerations. Visually impaired users can safely use CKEditor with screen readers. The feature is compliant with worldwide accessibility standards like W3C WCAG and US Section 508.

Spell check as you type

CKEditor offers a "zero installation" spell check as you type solution. No server integration required. This spell checking service is provided by WebSpellChecker.net.

Keyboard navigation

As part of our accessibility efforts, CKEditor is "totally" keyboard navigable. This means that you don't need a mouse to use its features, and you will never be limited because of it.

TAB key friendly

Using the TAB key to navigate through pages, especially forms, is quite common and intuitive. CKEditor respects that by not interfering in the way users expect pages to behave. It makes usability natural.

Intuitive context menu

Context menus are easy and intuitive ways to add functionality to applications. CKEditor smartly uses them, bringing powerful features to tables, images, links, etc., with a few mouse clicks. People are just used to it.

Safe undo function

The best way to learn and understand an application and its features is by using them. With CKEditor you don't need to be worried, because every single action can be safely reverted, guaranteeing that you'll never break things or lose your texts.

Customization

Rich JavaScript API

CKEditor is an advanced editing platform, offering a strong and extensive JavaScript API. It's possible to interact with the editor at runtime, creating customized and innovative features and content manipulation.

Plugin-based

The editor structure is totally plugin-based, including many of its core features. Plugins live in separate files, making them easy to organize and maintain. Our JavaScript API makes developing plugins a rich experience.

Customizable & extensible

It's possible to customize every single aspect of the editor, from the toolbar, to the skin, to dialogs, to the context menu, data parsing, styling, etc. Our plugin system makes it easy to separate your custom logic from the editor core.

Custom interface color

The CKEditor interface can be colorized and personalized. Irish web sites may like it green. American parties can choose a variant of blue or red. Dutch pages may have it orange. What about you? Just use our UI color picker and have fun!

Total toolbar control

Too many features can make things difficult for users. Even the toolbar arrangement is important. With CKEditor you can customize the interface by keeping the tools you need, offering full control of the editor’s functions.

Precise ENTER control

The ENTER key is supposed to break lines and create paragraphs, right? It depends who you ask. CKEditor makes it possible to precisely configure the desired behavior of the key, guaranteeing the same results in all browsers.

Easy Integration

AJAX ready

CKEditor is perfect for AJAX applications. You can create, interact and destroy editor instances with ease, minimizing server-side communication and offering a rich user experience. CKEditor is in line with present and future applications.

Easy textarea replacement

Replacing <textarea> fields in your pages is a simple task. You can use CSS classes for that, decide which to replace by code, or even replace all of them with ease. You'll be ready to go in 5 minutes.

Static elements replacement

Some applications may also benefit from the nice way CKEditor is capable of replacing any kind of HTML element, like a <div>. For example, a Wiki system can make it possible to edit articles by double-clicking the text.

Easy to upgrade

All customizations and configurations can be separated from the editor installation folder, making it easy to upgrade. It's just a matter of overwriting the CKEditor directory with new files, and you're done.

TAB index support

Advanced TAB key handling in CKEditor also respects the tabindex definition web developers want to have. Even when replacing <textarea>s, their tabindex values are preserved. It couldn't be simpler than that.

On demand loading

In AJAX applications or even dynamic form-based tools, like CMSs, you never know if a user will use one of the features at a given moment. For that, you can simply add a 6KB (uncompressed) script to your pages, and the full editor will be loaded only when needed.

Extremely fast loading

We're focused on providing a wonderful user experience. Page loading is an important part of it, and CKEditor is amazing in that sense. No matter how many editors you have in the page, it will always load fast... really fast.

Strong browser compatibility

CKEditor offers the best browser compatibility support. You can be sure the editor will behave the same way in all browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome and Opera. All browsers will manage and provide the same content.

Library collision safe

CKEditor will never interfere with other scripts present in the page. It offers a strong script structure, keeping in mind the advanced ways JavaScript can be used nowadays. No headaches for you.

Styles

Use your site styles

To provide a better WYSIWYG experience, you can precisely control the CSS that renders the editor input, making sure that your end users will see their content as intended.

Total styles control

Styles and value added semantics can be totally defined and controlled by developers. Not only advanced styling is controlled but also basic things like bold. You decide it to be <strong>, <b>, <span style="font-weight:bold"> or even <span class="myBold">.

Styling with class

This is a powerful feature in CKEditor. Every single style on it can be defined as CSS classes, including basic bold and italics, font colors, font faces, alignment, indentation, etc.

Font size settings

The font size selector is totally configurable. You can choose having any kind of sizing, in pixels, percents, em, relative sizing, and even CSS classes. You can also assign human readable names to the sizes, making them easy for use.

Font faces settings

The same power you have with font sizes can be found with font faces. Defining the list of supported (and desired!) fonts is easy. Here again, you can even assign CSS classes that represent font faces.

Force paste as plain text

External applications may inject unwanted styling into the editor on pasting. To be sure things will not get messed up, the editor can be configured to force the clipboard data to be always pasted as plain text, making your life easy.

Color control

It's nice to have a rainbow to colorize text, but sometimes is better to avoid "artists" making their articles too colorful and potentially unreadable. With CKEditor you can precisely define the colors that can be used, guaranteeing harmony among your pages.

Templates

Developers can provide users with predefined HTML snippets that can define an entire page, or even be used (and reused) in small fragments. With this simple feature your site can follow a common style line.

Interface Settings

Skins

If the default colorful Kama skin is not enough, you can download more skins from our Add-ons section. You can also totally personalize the editor by creating a custom skin. Your users will be happy while using "your" editor.

UI languages

CKEditor is an international application used all around the world. Its interface is currently available in over 60 languages and it's easy to add new languages. Right-to-left languages are also well supported.

Context menu settings

The context menu is an important and powerful tool in the editor. Developers can easily modify and add custom features to it by creating plugins that extend the editor code.

Keystrokes configuration

There is nothing faster than using keyboard shortcuts to activate specific commands. It's easy to configure the editor, specifying the keyboard key combinations to be used to activate custom or even default editor features.

Start with focus

The editor can be configured to automatically focus input text when created, this way users don't need to think what to do; they just do it. The less clicks the better!

Content Control

Output code formatting

Other than having a quality HTML structure, the editor will also produce code that's clean and readable. You can also include your custom formatting rules to have things the way you want.

Standards and Quirks content

Different browsers show subtle differences when rendering pages in standards (strict) mode or "quirks" mode. This behavior depends on your website rules, and with CKEditor you'll be able to precisely match your needs.

RTL contents support

The editor properly creates and manages content in languages that are written from right to left, like Arabic, Farsi and Hebrew. With CKEditor, writing in these languages is as natural as in any other.

Content in any language

Other than proper right-to-left support, CKEditor includes all languages that are properly compatible with web browsers, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian and Arabic.

Source protection

You can easily define rules to protect the original content being loaded by the editor. For example, it's possible to protect server-side scripts, or even tagging metadata available in the HTML.

HTML entities control

The editor automatically outputs HTML entities for all characters defined in the W3C HTML standards. It's possible to configure it to fit your needs though. For example, Greek users may not want to have Greek letters as entities, but other users may be ok with it when using them in formulas.

Content parsing

"Rich text editor" is the best description for CKEditor, that's because sometimes the final results must be rendered differently during the editing phase. It's possible to include your custom rules on data parsing, making it easy to edit any kind of content.

Data processor

HTML is a standard but it's not the only data format. There is also Wiki format, bbcode, xml, docbook and thousands of others. CKEditor is able to handle all these formats with the use of custom Data Processors. That's powerful!