djangocms-text

djangocms-text is a flexible and extensible rich text editing solution for Django CMS. This package is designed as a replacement for djangocms-text-ckeditor, introducing a swappable rich text editor interface and supporting enhanced data storage in both HTML and JSON formats.

Features

• Swappable Rich Text Editors: Choose and switch between different rich text editors as per project requirements.
• Customization and Extensions: Easily add new or customized versions of your favorite rich text editors.
• Enhanced Data Storage: Store content in either HTML or JSON format, offering versatility for different use cases.
• djangocms-text-ckeditor Compatibility: Initial version includes a port of the CKEditor 4 interface and child plugin functionality. This editor is compatible with the djangocms-text-ckeditor plugin, and can be used as a drop-in replacement.

Installation

1. Install: pip install djangocms-text
2. Add to INSTALLED_APPS: INSTALLED_APPS = [..., "djangocms_text", ...]
3. Run migrations: python manage.py migrate djangocms_text
4. Start your server and add a Text plugin!

Optionally, add an editor frontend to your installed apps (if different from the default TipTap frontend), and set the editor you want to use:

INSTALLED_APPS = [..., "djangocms_text.contrib.text_ckeditor4", ...]
TEXT_EDITOR = "djangocms_text.contrib.text_ckeditor4.ckeditor4"

Upgrading from djangocms-text-ckeditor

djangocms-text's migrations automatically migrate existing text plugins from djangocms-text-ckeditor, and clean up old tables. All you have to do is:

• uninstall djangocms-text-ckeditor
• remove djangocms_text_ckeditor from INSTALLED_APPS
• add djangocms_text to INSTALLED_APPS (see above)
• run python -m manage migrate djangocms_text

Attention: The migration command also deletes djangocms-text-ckeditor's tables from the database (to avoid referential integrity issues). To be on the safe side, make a backup of its content.

When transitioning from CKEditor4 to Tiptap as the rich text editor in your project, consider the following points:

• Switching Editors: The biggest challenge will likely be adapting to the differences between CKEditor4 and the new default rich text editor Tiptap. Tiptap offers a more modern editing experience, but there are important distinctions in how content is handled.
• No HTML Source Code Editing: Tiptap does not support direct HTML source code editing. While this simplifies the editor for most users, it could be a drawback for those accustomed to manually editing HTML, such as advanced users or developers.
• Loss of Non-standard Formatting: Formatting created through CKEditor4 plugins or manually added HTML classes may not be preserved. Tiptap stores content in an abstract JSON format and regenerates the HTML upon editing, which can lead to a loss of non-standard formatting. However, this only happens if a field is edited after migration.
• Potential Workaround: If maintaining CKEditor4 functionality is essential, you could circumvent these issues by using the CKEditor4 backend provided with djangocms-text. This allows you to retain the familiar CKEditor4 behavior while benefiting from other updates.

You can continue to use ckeditor4. Compared to djangocms-text-ckeditor, the ckeditor4 sources have moved to static/djangocms_text/vendor/ckeditor4. Please reflect this if you use custom ckeditor4 plugins.

Editors

djangocms-text supports multiple rich text editors, which can be swapped out as needed. The following editors are currently supported:

• TipTap: A modern rich text editor with a modular architecture, TipTap is currently in development and is the default editor. It supports text-enabled plugins, dynamic linking, and conversion of pasted markdown text into HTML. TipTap does not allow the user to edit HTML directly, which means that some formating options are lost when switching from CKEditor 4 to TipTap.
• CKEditor 4: The initial version of djangocms-text includes a port of the CKEditor 4 interface and child plugin functionality. This editor is compatible with the djangocms-text-ckeditor plugin, and can be used as a drop-in replacement. It supports inline editing and text-enabled plugins.
• CKEditor 5: To keep licenses separated, there is a separate package djangocms-text-ckeditor5 which provides CKEditor 5 as a rich text editor.

Configuration

Rich text editor selection

To select a rich text editor, add the editor's package to your INSTALLED_APPS and add the setting TEXT_EDITOR to point to the editor's RTEConfig path.

Example:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...,
    "djangocms_text.contrib.text_ckeditor4",
    ...
]

TEXT_EDITOR = "djangocms_text.contrib.text_ckeditor4.ckeditor4"

Rich text editor global configuration

The TEXT_EDITOR setting points to a RTEConfig object. You can create your custom RTEConfig instance. The following attributes are available:

• name (str): The name of the RTE configuration.
• config (str): The configuration string.
• js (Iterable[str]): An iterable of JavaScript files to include.
• css (dict): A dictionary of CSS files to include.
• admin_css (Iterable[str]): An iterable of CSS files for the admin interface only.
• inline_editing (bool): Whether to enable inline editing.
• child_plugin_support (bool): Whether to support child plugins.
• configuration (dict): Additional configuration options for the RTE.
• additional_context (dict): Additional context to pass to global editor configuration.

The default configuration is:

DEFAULT_EDITOR = RTEConfig(
    name="tiptap",
    config="TIPTAP",
    js=("djangocms_text/bundles/bundle.tiptap.min.js",),
    css={"all": ("djangocms_text/css/bundle.tiptap.min.css",)},
    admin_css=("djangocms_text/css/tiptap.admin.css",),
    inline_editing=True,
    child_plugin_support=True,
    configuration={},  # Default configuration (see below)
)

You can use the admin_css attribute to include CSS files that you need to be loaded into the dialog window, e.g., to declare custom colors or other styles.

Adding configuration to rich text editor frontend

Configuration to the rich text editor frontend can be passed by adding entries to the configuration property of the RTEConfig. The contents depends on the rich text editor frontend (TipTap, CKEditor 4, etc.).

The preferred method to add configuration to rich text editor frontend. Some configuration can be done using the TEXT_EDITOR_SETTINGS which is a dictionary that corresponds to the configuration property of the RTEConfig. For backwards compatibility with djangocms-text-ckeditor, CKEDITOR_SETTINGS is also passed on the the rich text editor frontend (even if it is not CKEditor 4).

Here is an example for Tiptap which represents the default configuration:

# TipTap configuration
DEFAULT_EDITOR.configuration = {
    "inlineStyles": [  # Styles menu, by default contains some rarer styles
            { name: 'Small', element: 'small' },
            { name: 'Kbd', element: 'kbd' },
            { name: 'Var', element: 'var' },
            { name: 'Samp', element: 'samp' },
        ],
    "blockStyles": [],
    # Block styles menu, e.g., for paragraphs, etc.; empty by default
    # Example entry: [{"name": "Lead", "element": "div", "attributes": {"class": "lead"}},]
    "textColors": {  # Colors offered for the text color menu - the keys are CSS classes
            'text-primary': {name: "Primary"},
            'text-secondary': {name: "Secondary"},
            'text-success': {name: "Success"},
            'text-danger': {name: "Danger"},
            'text-warning': {name: "Warning"},
            'text-info': {name: "Info"},
            'text-light': {name: "Light"},
            'text-dark': {name: "Dark"},
            'text-body': {name: "Body"},
            'text-muted': {name: "Muted"},
        },
    "tableClasses": "table",  # Classes added to new(!) tables
}

Here's an example to configure the classes which should be added to new tables:

# Option 1:
# Modify the default editor configuration and point the ``TEXT_EDITOR`` setting to it
from djangocms_text.editors import DEFAULT_EDITOR

DEFAULT_EDITOR.configuration["tableClasses"] = "table ui"

# Option 2:
# Modify the default editor configurartion to offer choices to the editor
from djangocms_text.editors import DEFAULT_EDITOR

DEFAULT_EDITOR.configuration["tableClasses"] = [
    ["table", _("Default")],
    ["table table-striped", _("Striped")],
]

# Option 3:
# Both of the above can be replaced adding TEXT_EDITOR_SETTINGS to your settings.py
TEXT_EDITOR_SETTINGS = {
    "tableClasses": "table ui",
}

Inline editing feature

Inline editing allows editors to directly click on a text plugin and change the contents in django CMS' edit mode. The CKEditor appears directly around the text field and can be used normally. Changes are saved as soon as the text field leaves focus.

Inline editing requires to encapsulate the HTML text in a <div> in edit mode. This might cause some side effects with a site's CSS, e.g. direct child rules.

Inline editing is active by default. To deactivate inline editing add the following line in your project's settings.py:

TEXT_INLINE_EDITING = False

With inline editing active, a toggle button to the toolbar to allow to switch inline editing on and off for the current session.

When inline editing is active the editor will save the plugin's content each time it loses focus. If only text has changed the user can immediately continue to edit. If a text-enabled plugin was changed, added, or removed he page will refresh to update the page tree and get the correctly rendered version of the changed plugin.

Text-enabled plugins

djangocms-text supports text-enabled plugins, not all rich text editor frontends will, however.

If you have created a plugin that you want to use within Text plugins you can make them appear in the dropdown by making them text_enabled. This means that you assign the property text_enabled of a plugin to True, the default value is False. Here is a very simple implementation:

class MyTextPlugin(TextPlugin):
    name = "My text plugin"
    model = MyTextModel
    text_enabled = True

When the plugin is picked up, it will be available in the CMS Plugins dropdown (puzzle icon), which you can find in the editor. This makes it very easy for users to insert special content in a user-friendly Text block, which they are familiar with.

The plugin will even be previewed in the text editor. Pro-tip: make sure your plugin provides its own icon_alt method. That way, if you have many text_enabled-plugins, it can display a hint about it. For example, if you created a plugin which displays prices of configurable product, it can display a tooltip with the name of that product.

For more information about extending the CMS with plugins, read django-cms doc on how to do this.

Text-enabled plugins can have their own icons with djangocms-text. If the plugin class has a text_icon property, it should contain a SVG source code of an icon. The icon will be displayed in the CMS plugin pulldown menu, or in the toolbar.

class MyTextPlugin(TextPlugin):
    name = "My text plugin"
    model = MyTextModel
    text_enabled = True
    text_icon = '<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path d="M12 2C6.48 2 2 6.48 2 12s4.48 10 10 10 10-4.48 10-10S17.52 2 12 2zm0 18c-4.41 0-8-3.59-8-8s3.59-8 8-8 8 3.59 8 8-3.59 8-8 8zm-1-13h2v6h-2zm0 8h2v2h-2z"/></svg>'

You can also configure text-enabled plugins to be directly accessible from the rich text editor toolbar by adding the plugin's name to the toolbar configuration, e.g. "LinkPlugin".

Default content in Placeholder

You can use TextPlugin in "default_plugins" (see docs about the CMS_PLACEHOLDER_CONF setting). TextPlugin requires just one value: body where you write your default HTML content. If you want to add some "default children" to your automagically added plugin (i.e. a LinkPlugin), you have to put children references in the body. References are "%(_tag_child_<order>)s" with the inserted order of children. For example:

CMS_PLACEHOLDER_CONF = {
    'content': {
        'name' : _('Content'),
        'plugins': ['TextPlugin', 'LinkPlugin'],
        'default_plugins':[
            {
                'plugin_type':'TextPlugin',
                'values':{
                    'body':'<p>Great websites : %(_tag_child_1)s and %(_tag_child_2)s</p>'
                },
                'children':[
                    {
                        'plugin_type':'LinkPlugin',
                        'values':{
                            'name':'django',
                            'url':'https://www.djangoproject.com/'
                        },
                    },
                    {
                        'plugin_type':'LinkPlugin',
                        'values':{
                            'name':'django-cms',
                            'url':'https://www.django-cms.org'
                        },
                    },
                ]
            },
        ]
    }
}

Configurable sanitizer

djangocms-text uses nh3 to sanitize HTML to avoid security issues and to check for correct HTML code. Sanitisation may strip tags useful for some use cases such as iframe; you may customize the tags and attributes allowed by overriding the TEXT_ADDITIONAL_ATTRIBUTES setting:

TEXT_ADDITIONAL_ATTRIBUTES = {
    'iframe': {'scrolling', 'allowfullscreen', 'frameborder'},
}

Note that the TEXT_ADDITIONAL_ATTRIBUTES setting is a dictionary, where the keys are the tag names and the values are sets of attribute names.

If you have settings in the style of djangocms-text-ckeditor, which utilizes both TEXT_ADDITIONAL_TAGS and TEXT_ADDITIONAL_ATTRIBUTES, those will be translated for you automatically, but you will get a warning from the Django checks framework at server startup.

NOTE: Some frontend editors will pre-sanitize your text before passing it to the web server, rendering the above settings useless.

To completely disable the feature, set TEXT_HTML_SANITIZE = False.

Usage outside django CMS

django CMS Text can be used without django CMS installed. Without django CMS it offers the HTMLField, HTMLFormField, and the TextEditorWidget class which can be used by any Django model or form.

If django CMS is not installed with django CMS Text, add the following to your MIGRATION_MODULES setting:

MIGRATION_MODULES = {
    ...,
    "djangocms_text": None,
    ...
}

This will prevent the creation of the model for the django CMS text plugin.

Markdown-support

The TipTap frontend supports some (minimal) Markdown support:

• Markdown is converted to HTML when pasting. (To prevent XXS attacks, the pasted content might not be converted if it contains javascript scritps.)
• When typing, markdown syntax is converted on the fly

Supported Markdown syntax includes:

• Headings: # Heading 1, ## Heading 2, ### Heading 3, etc.

• Bold: **bold text** or __bold text__

• Italic: *italic text* or _italic text_

• Strikethrough: ~~strikethrough~~

• Links: [link text](http://example.com)

• Lists: - Item or * Item for unordered lists, and 1. Item for ordered lists

• Blockquotes: > Quote

• Code: `inline code` für Inline-Code, und dreifache Backticks für Code-Blöcke

• Tables (pasting only): Tables can be created using the | character to separate columns. For example, a simple table can be created as follows:

  | Header 1 | Header 2 |
  |----------|----------|
  | Row 1    | Row 2    |
  

• Horiuzontal rules: --- to create a horizontal rule.

Contributing

Contributions to djangocms-text are welcome! Please read our contributing guidelines to get started.

pre-commit hooks

The repo uses pre-commit git hooks to run tools which ensure code quality.

To utilise this, run pip install pre-commit and then pre-commit install.

Building the JavaScript

djangocms-text distributes a javascript bundle required for the plugin to work, which contains frontend editors themselves and all the necessary plugins for functioning within CMS. To build the bundle you need to have to install dependencies with nvm use, npm install and then to run npx webpack:

$ nvm use
$ npm install
$ npx webpack

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to the Django CMS community and all contributors to the djangocms-text-ckeditor project.

License

This project is licensed under the BSD-3-Clause License - see the LICENSE file for details.