How do I make a WYSIWYG?

Hi, I'm trying to find a tutorial or a book that teaches me how to make a WYSIWYG editor. I know most of you will tell me to just use one of the existing WYSIWYGs, but thats not what I want. I want to make my own, and for a reason - none of the WYSIWYGs out there are what I want.

So does anybody know of a good tutorial (or book) on how to make a cross-browser WYSIWYG?...and if not, does anybody know what I need to know to figure out how to make one?

I've been trying to figure this out for the past year almost with no success. And all I want to know is how to make a javascript-based WYSIWYG that is cross-browser compatible and that I can play around with the look a bit - I have an idea for a new kind of WYSIWYG that, if it works, would be very cool and very useful...so I at least want to try and make it. Any Suggestions on what I should do (and what I should learn)?

 

Don't know of any books and unless you are a javascript guru I honestly don't think you will be able to make one

 

I haven't seen any tutorials like on this topic, but you could getting an open-source wysiwig and look at the code for that

 

Download wyzz (available from the most basic version to the most advanced one), look at the javascript code and it should give you some ideas.

 

Thank you all for your replies...I think I'm going to learn more about javascript and then go with the "read the source" idea. Thanks again.

 

i think any programming language can be used to make this. not necessarily java.

 

So your saying PHP can achieve the same effect as javascript??

 

openWebWare - Open Source

JavaScript can be just as good as PHP (a bit, no much), if you know how to play with it:\

 

You can't make a web-based WYSIWYG editor with PHP.

@OP: Good luck, you got a long way. You might want to check out the source for TinyMCE.

 

It's not difficult to make a WYSIWYG editor.

I think you should start with learning about execCommand method, JS.
It is simpler than you think.

 

Making a good one isn't.

 

You are right,
But it's all css tricks - that makes the big difference.

 

lol, what are you talking about?

 

You need javascript for the frontend and actual editing and such, but it would be nice to have a php backend to save the file you're editing to your server etc.

Google search: WYSIWYG JavaScript

And look at the sources. That should give you a good idea.

Learn JavaScript first. It's very useful.

 

TinyMCE
Link: tinymce.moxiecode.com/

 

several great WYSIWYG editors are available.. some are free and some great are for sell..

some great opensource free editors are;

fckeditor
tinymce
and just google... you will found many..

you can try planetsourcecode.com a big collection of useful scripts for free..

cutesoft.net are offering a great wysiwyg editor.. but its not free..

after getting a paying or free editor, if its not exactly as per your needs, and if you are good in programming, you can customize them as per your needs..

but creating from scratch will not be a good idea and you will not be productive enough.. will take your so much time and efforts...

so - the best way is to take some ready made and then customize it as per your needs..

 

but creating something from zero to top is really nice, i know. but mostly i find a script for free because i am not really not good at programming.

 

Is it hard to integrate it in existing scripts

 

not that hard.. all these editors comes with example files with help how to integrate.. but it depends how familiar you are with your existing script flow..