MicroTiny issues

[gocreative]

I realise another thread on WYSIWYG editors was already created (and subsequently locked), however if the purpose of this section of the forum is to report bugs and offer feedback, I don't understand why that topic was locked in the first place. Surely if a number of users have an issue with a change that has been made, it's better to gather a consensus on the validity of the change prior to the release of the next version.

With that in mind, I have a number of complaints about MicroTiny:

1) No HTML/source code view. Whether the belief is that most users don't require this feature or not, the reality is that a fair proportion of them will use it. If the purpose of CMSMS is to provide simple content management, then surely reducing usability for a significant number of editors (which often includes administrators, too) isn't the way to go.

2) No tables. Users need to create tables for all kinds of purposes, such as service/price lists, countries they sell to (e.g. with freight prices), and so on. CSS can control the appearance of that table, so this feature is not necessarily an issue for the separation of design and content.

3) Users are often web designers. Without some of the features from TinyMCE, it's simply not possible to achieve the same outcomes.

4) It's not flexible enough. TinyMCE allowed you to choose different profiles for different users, easily customise the toolbars, adjust the CSS for the editor itself, and so on.

I've read (and understand) the argument from Calguy that administrators can simply install TinyMCE (or any other editor) if they wish, however I don't think this is valid because:

1) If a significant number of administrators need to download, install, configure and set the new editor as the default, wouldn't it be better to simply use that in the first place? Especially given that it would arguably be quicker to remove a few items from the TinyMCE toolbars than it would be to perform the aforementioned actions with every CMSMS installation.

2) For me personally, there's no discernable difference in speed between the two editors. If the only other major reason for this change was due to the file size of TinyMCE, I don't see that as a problem. I don't think anyone really cares about the CMSMS package being slightly smaller in exchange for a second-rate editor.

With this in mind, I have a couple of suggestions:

Option 1
* MicroTiny installed but with a couple of additional formatting controls (tables, indentation etc).
* Multiple, unlimited MicroTiny profiles to allow administrators to configure the editor for each type/level of editor. Alternatively, two profiles (editor and admin) with different settings, and then an option under user permissions to choose which profile the group/user can use.

Option 2
If it's not possible/feasible to add extra controls to MicroTiny, then I really think either TinyMCE or a better solution needs to be the default editor. MicroTiny simply won't provide everything the typical user requires, and although CMSMS is designed for editors to update their website, the developer/designer needs to be factored into decision-making as well.

In either case, one partial solution would be a permission setting such as 'Allow HTML editing on WYSIWYG editors' which shows the old 'Show/hide WYSIWYG' option when editing content. There would just remain the problems with formatting limitations on MicroTiny that myself and other users have.

Just my two cents - please don't view this as me telling you what to do. But as an experienced designer/developer, this is how I see things. I'm happy to leave the decision making in the hands of the CMSMS team who, of course, provide this software at no cost, which I'm extremely thankful for as it's without a doubt the best CMS I've ever used.