1. Front-end Editor

The Front-end Editor plugin allows you to make changes without having to go to the WordPress built-in editor. It’s a great tool if you have already created and published your blog and just want to make quick edits. It’s great for making edits that do not require any significant changes. However, it’s not really a standalone-type of editor. It’s more to use alongside another one. It doesn’t have any additional features to add to the WordPress built-in editor, but it is nice to have something that doesn’t require you to go to the WordPress administrative area.

2. TinyMCE Advanced

The TinyMCE Advanced plugin adds 16 buttons to the WordPress built-in editor. One of the great things about it is that it’s easy to drag-and-drag the buttons in and out of the window. Therefore, you are able to choose what buttons to have accessible to you when creating or editing a post. You are also able to add your current theme’s CSS stylesheet, so you are able to visualize how the post will look like when you are done.

3.  Dean’s FCKEditor For Wordpress

Dean’s FCKEditor For Wordpress plugin enhances your WordPress built-in editor by providing desktop-word-processing-type of editor. Out of all the editors, this one has the most functionality. Other than the basic word processing features: formatting, styles, find/replace, printing, etc, it comes with a built-in file and upload manager. In addition, it integrates well with the WordPress default media manager and also allows you to insert flash movie and smiley icons into your post.

The plugin also provides you three templates that help in creating your blog posts. It’s definitely worth looking at, if you don’t want to download a desktop blog editor.

4.  WP Super Edit

Just like the above-mentioned plugins, the WP Super Edit plugin allows you to add plenty of additional functionality to your default text editor. Like TinyMCE Advacned, it allows you to add extra buttons (and hence more functionality) to your toolbar. What is more important is that it provides a way for you to arrange your toolbar according to the user role. Now, you can restrict your subscriber or contributor to only a limited set of toolbar while the author or users with higher level of permission to access to the full range of functionality.

In addition, there are also a whole lot of useful HTML tags (like DIV, STYLE, TABLE etc) that you can use in your post. This is particularly useful for coders/developers.

WP Super Edit allows bloggers to control the editor better than the other two. Additionally, it has more features than the other two. However, it can be tedious adding buttons and arranging them in a way that makes sense. It would be easier if they start with all the buttons, and allow users to remove the ones they do not need.

5. Custom TinyMCE

The Custom TinyMCE plugin provides the same type of functionality as the WP Super Edit and TinyMCE Advanced plugins.  However, it lacks the flexibility that the latter provides bloggers. You are able to go into the administrative panel and check the check boxes of the buttons you would like to appear in the your editor. It’s much easier to navigate in that aspect.

However, if you choose the majority or all of the buttons, instead of going to two or more lines, they are just kept in one line. This causes a visual problem because you will have to search for the functionality you are seeking. Furthermore, it also disappears behind the sidebar. It’s a good plugin if you want to add a couple of more buttons to your editor. If you want to add more than that, then this plugin is not for you.

What other WordPress plugins do you use to enhance your text-editor?

Five WYSIWYG Plugins to Enhance the WordPress Built-In Editor originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

1. Co-Authors Plus

Co-Authors Plus allows a blogging team to assign a blog post (or even a page) to more than one author. It has a search-as-you-type input box that makes it easier to find the authors. This is a great tool because you do not have to know how to write their full name. After installing the plugin, you use template tags to allow the listing of the multiple authors. These are the allowed template tags:

• coauthors()
• coauthors_posts_links()
• coauthors_firstnames()
• coauthors_lastnames()
• coauthors_nicknames()
• coauthors_links()
• coauthors_IDs()

These posts will appear on the authors’ posts and feeds. It’s great because it provides blogging teams with many authors to have an easier way to find the desired authors. However, it’s a little difficult for people who do not know how to code.

To find out more information or download the Co-Authors Plus plugin, please visit: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/co-authors-plus/

2. WT Co-Authors

WT Co-Authors allows multiple authors in a different way than the previous plugin. It uses WordPress custom fields to show more than one authors. The custom name field to use is “coauthor.” The value will be the user’s name. There is no maximum in the amount of authors used. You have to ensure that the WordPress theme that you are using has “the_author()” function. If it doesn’t, you will have to manually add

if(function_exists(wt_the_coauthors_link)):
wt_the_coauthors_link();
endif;

It’s an easier way to show collaboration; however, it does not fully use the WordPress role functionality, so Administrators and/or Editors can assign Authors to one blog post.

To find out more information or download the WT Co-Authors plugin, please visit: http://anime2.kokidokom.net/all-team-blogs-attention-the-ultimate-mega-super-awesome-co-authors-plugin-is-here/

3. SP Authors

SP Authors provides a simple way of allowing multiple authors to be assigned to a blog post (or a page). After installing the plugin, you will se a new area that provides a way to manually enter the author’s name. It also has a drop-down menu of all the authors, if you are not sure how to spell their names. Another great feature is if you place the short code [sp-authors], you are able to show a list of the particular’s authors links of other blog posts that he/she has written.

SP Authors is the simplest plugin to use to collaborate among multiple authors in a single blog post. However, the drop-down menu might be overwhelming if you have many authors.

To find out more information or download the SP Authors plugin, please visit: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sp-authors/

If you have a blogging team, one of these plugins will really give you the flexibility of allowing multiple authors to colloborate on a single blog posts. This is especially useful in a complex post that allows you to assign different sections to various authors.

3 Useful Plugins For Multiple Authors Collaboration originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)