Here’s Everything You Need to Know About WYSIWYG

Are you one of those people who want to know more about WYSIWYG and its uses? Maybe you are attracted to this topic but don’t know where to begin your reading.

Lucky for you because this post got you covered. This guide aims to discuss how to use the WYSIWYG Editor. Keep in mind that this editor is not what you see is what you get. Most formatting choices are highlighted immediately in the editor. However, others are shown as their BBCode markup equivalents.

Are you ready to find out more? Then, without further ado, let’s begin!

Introducing WYSISYG

In case you didn’t know yet, WYSIWYG is often referred to as a software or app user interface where the images or text you edit look like the finished product. That’s true, no matter if it’s a printed document, graphic, blog post, comment, or a web page.

Modern publishing software nowadays permits for WYSIWYG experience, be it content management systems, word processors, and website builders.

Many developers are also integrating WYSIWYG elements because of the manifold benefits it provides. Some of these include the following:

1. Optimized workflow. Imagine if users can see the product as they are making it. That enables them to create adjustments in real-time without publishing, editing, or republishing it to obstruct their workflow.

2. Fast publishing. The WYSIWYG editor is quicker to utilize WYSIWYG text editor compared to formatting the text from scratch

3. No-code editing. Did you know that WYSIWYG software enables you to click, drag, and type to make things happen without knowing the commands or code? How awesome is that?

What is not WYSIWYG?

Imagine if users don’t know about WYSIWYG. You are obliged to type in plain text. Further, you need to utilize tags or code tot format and style the text along with underline, bold, italic, fonts, sizes, breaks, and other elements.

In short, what you see is not what you get. That is not perfect due to the following reasons:

• Many content authors don’t have the skills or knowledge to code. Often, they don’t have the free time to learn about that.

• It builds separation between composition and formatting

• Formatting choices are sometimes constricted

• Learning the markup takes a huge amount of time

• Other programs utilize their markup or language

• Tags and code visually confuse the text

Nonetheless, what about user interfaces, which fall in the center?

Imagine if you can see mostly what you get

How close does what you see must be what you get? In short, should the fine lines match up flawlessly, and should the colors be perfectly on-point?

Most of the time, WYSIWYG indicates users expect the output to be an exact replication of the display or input. However, there are also cases that the final output will have differences because of the limitations with compatibility issues, technology, or concerns with responsiveness.

You see, that’s the reason the meaning of WYSIWYG can change based on the type of software or user. Often, a WYSIWYG experience is not for the user to accomplish their goal. Nonetheless, the interface is still categorized as WYSIWYG compared to the alternatives.

Did you know that the very first WYSIWYG experiences weren’t that flawless?

History of the First WYSIWYG Interfaces

Bravo is the first WYSIWYG user interface. It was a program utilized to organize documents for printing on the Xerox Alto in 1974. It allows users to see text showed with formatting options such as sizes, margins, fonts, and many more.

Alto’s screen resolution did not match up with the laser printers utilized during that period. Hence, what you saw on the screen wasn’t what you’d get when you hit the print.

Several early WYSIWYG software, which was designed on this attempt, is composed of Apple’s MacWrite and LisaWrite, WordStar word processor, and HP’s Bruno.

Best Examples of WYSIWYG

Look at the following examples of WYSIWYG software to help you determine and show WYSIWYG.

• Project.co Project Management Software

Project.co has increased its userbase with over 1,500 corporations on board already since its launch in 2019. The company upgraded its project description section from basic text without formatting choices to add more functionality for users.

It allows users to include links, underlines, bolding, points, and even checklists.

• Elementor WordPress website builder

Drag and drop website builders are becoming more famous. That trend has many things in common, along with WYSIWYG text editors. That enables users to create sites without using a code.

In case you didn’t know, Elementor is considered the most famous page builder accessible today, with more than three million active installs. Elementor has a WordPress text editor that utilizes TinyMCE’s text editor.

That simply suggests that you can quickly add and edit text blocks while you create your site. You simply click to edit, type text, format it through the toolbar options, and see the enhanced text shown on the web page.

• Microsoft Word

MS Word is designed, so on-screen display signifies the final product. The default view on Word is set to Print Layout. You may also find other options such as:

- Show Rules, Navigation Pane, Gridlines

- Side to Side or Vertical Page Movement

- Focus

- Draft

- Outline

- Web Layout

- Read Mode

WYSIWYG In the Future & Beyond

WYSIWYG is here to stay. Below are the trends emerging, which will influence the future of WYSIWYG word processors and text editors.

• WYSIWYG on all devices. WYSIWYG publishers and editors will continue responding to this trend by ensuring their tools are always functional on every device.

• More control for developers. Users can lower the number of errors, make a more consistent feel and look, and control their brand experience.

• More choices with less overwhelm. You will notice better UIs, which highlight the features users needed today while hiding anything, which might mess up their view.

• Enhanced accuracy. Developers can anticipate the gap between WYSIWYG to continue to shrink.

As you can see, TinyMCE is the planet’s most sought-after open source WYSIWYG HTML Editor. We support developers to add rich editing functionality to their CMS, email marketing platforms, website builders, and many more.

Want to find out more? Get in touch with us today!