[wp-hackers] Greetings from FCKeditor

Wed Mar 12 11:46:49 GMT 2008

Hi Andy and devs,

Based on Andy's message, let me try to reply to all of you, giving some more
information and coming with some ideas. 

Let me first clarify why we're coming with these proposals right now. 

During the analysis phase of V3 (FCKeditor 3), we have realized that,
working with development groups which will effectively use FCKeditor in
their systems could definitely enhance the final result. The idea is
interacting right now during the development phase, than later when
everything is ready, so we can consider every single factor beforehand.

We have chosen three areas where a WYSIWYG editor may have a relevant
importance: CMSs, Bulletin Boards and Blog Systems; picking up one important
OSS for each of those areas: Drupal, phpBB and WordPress. We are now
starting our contacts with these dev groups.

Andy, you have pointed out two relevant things: "it (WYSIWYG) is such an
important part of the software" and "not at all simple". These factors are
the base of our proposal to WordPress and to other projects.

Being the WYSIWYG editor such an important thing, we believe that the
WordPress dev group should propose the correct solution for it, instead of
simply picking A or B. But, as Andy said, it is quite complex to develop and
editor, so you are forced to choose a ready to use solution.

We would like to solve this problem. We want your team to participate in the
"WordPress Editor" design, leaving the implementation of it to our team, as
we are specialized on it. So, we are working on the editor, according to
your needs and specifications, while you are working in the WordPress side
to properly inject the editor on it. The idea is giving you some control and
understanding on something that is out of your hands today.

This is a long term thing. We are starting V3 right now, and we'll be
writing it from scratch. This is the right moment to talk about integration.
I predict we would starting seeing some results of it for the Q3 this year.

Let me also underline one thing. We are not proposing an FCKeditor plugin or
any kind of coding in the WordPress side. We are not WordPress developers
and we are not specialized on it. We are able to work in the editor
instead... that small text box which brings so much problems, hate and love
to all of you. But we want to do that integrated and synchronized with you,
so you will have the best solution to your community needs. 

> it is such an important part of the software and not at all
> simple

I also agree with that. It would just make end developers life confusing:
Which one is better? And so, why choosing if one of them is better?

> The person you must convince (after you have convinced users, devs,
> testers, and experts) is Matt Mullenweg.

Hopefully Matt could leave some words about it here, or please drop me a
message, so we can discuss it further.

Anyway, all the above is just a generic proposal. Nothing on that is static.
It is just a bunch on ideas. Please take that positively, as a theoretical
situation. Then, let's continue talking, possibly giving a format that would
satisfy your team. I'm just trying to offer cooperation.

Thanks again!

Fred

Frederico Caldeira Knabben
Project Manager, FCKeditor
----
http://www.fckeditor.net

> -----Original Message-----
> From: wp-hackers-bounces at lists.automattic.com [mailto:wp-hackers-
> bounces at lists.automattic.com] On Behalf Of Andy Skelton
> Sent: 12 March 2008 01:02
> To: wp-hackers at lists.automattic.com
> Subject: Re: [wp-hackers] Greetings from FCKeditor
> 
> On Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 10:48 AM, Frederico Caldeira Knabben
> <fredck at fckeditor.net> wrote:
> >  These are our first steps inside the WP devs territory, so please point
> me
> >  to the right directions to expose our ideas to you. A nice option would
> be
> >  having a quick chat with anyone or many of you, to catch up your
> >  impressions. Feel free to send me a message directly in that case.
> 
> Hi Fred,
> 
> As the guy who did most of the maintenance on it for two years, I can
> tell you that a lot of work went into making TinyMCE fit with
> WordPress as well as it does. Automattic sponsored this area all along
> because it is such an important part of the software and not at all
> simple. Personally, I have no special love for TinyMCE or any other
> rich editor.
> 
> There are many who have asked for your editor to be added to WordPress
> and at least one plugin-based implementation has crossed my radar. It
> is very unlikely that there will ever be two rich editors in the core
> WordPress package, so you have two options: develop or sponsor a
> plugin to add your editor, or become the chosen one by integrating
> your editor into core and demonstrating its superiority.
> 
> The person you must convince (after you have convinced users, devs,
> testers, and experts) is Matt Mullenweg. To my knowledge, there has
> not been produced an integration of FCKeditor into WordPress that
> surpasses the value of the existing system. It would be wise to
> discuss it with Matt before you invest much time or effort into such a
> project.
> 
> Cheers,
> Andy
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