WordPress Visual And HTML Editors Difference
Knowing the difference between the WordPress Visual and HTML editors, and when and how to use them will keep your blog looking more neat and professional.
I can’t say how often I have seen the same issue come up in a forum or from a client “My WordPress Blog is screwed up?! Please Help!“. And every time it is the formatting added into the post from an outside word processing program like MS Word or an HTML editor like FrontPage. I can’t really explain how it happens but it can really screw up your posts. Creating your post in another program and pasting into the WordPress Visual editor might bring in some formatting elements that WordPress doesn’t understand. And often these issues may not show up until after you create a new post that appears on top of the problem post.
So now that you can’t create a post in your favorite outside program and paste it into your WordPress post whats a newbie to do? Well first if you are doing it just for a spellchecker might I suggest Firefox as a browser. But if you insist on doing these types of things then try using the built-in tools available in the two different WordPress post editors.
Unless you have the visual editor turned off in your profile settings you will have two tabs available when creating a new post. The Visual and HTML editors are similar to the different tabs available in an HTML application like FrontPage. The Visual being the WYSIWYG and the HTML for the purist who knows code better than I know the back of my hand. Well the HTML editor can be useful to us non-geeks, say you create your posts in MS Word or similar just for the spell-check, punctuation and other advantages. You can paste the post into the HTML editor and it will not bring in all that extra formatting. The HTML editor will treat any regular text pasted or typed into it as plain text. you can then click the Visual editor tab and use the Visual toolbar to add any formatting to the post.
So you are thinking if you create something in an HTML editor like FrontPage and then copy the raw HTML and paste it into the WordPress HTML editor all will be good. Well maybe, but probably not. Again there may be some HTML code that WordPress or PHP can’t understand or process so your better off pasting just text into or typing in the faster WordPress HTML editor and then tabbing over to the Visual editor and styling the post as you want.
The WordPress Visual editor is very useful for adding images into posts, creating links and even changing the text size or color among other things. And if you have an advanced WYSIWYG editor plugin like TinyMCE Advanced, that adds even more tools to the Visual toolbar, you really don’t need to use any other outside application to create your posts. Adding and keeping plugins up to date like TinyMCE Advanced can be a pain but if you really need all the bells and whistles then it may be worth the time.
So to sum up, try to use the HTML editor for just plain text (unless of course you know the raw code) then tab to the Visual editor to add the formatting, links and images into the post. This will assure that WP can handle what you are asking it to do.
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Comments
WordPress Visual editor seems like a good way to solve the format problem. I like to use the html editor, as there will less room for mistakes.
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I have a client who writes in word and pastes into the CMS…there is a tonne of junk generated but they don’t get the message. Frontpage also adds a lot of junk. The only clean way of doing it is to write directly into the CMS or use a text editor like notepad IMO.
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Great advice, I like the visual editor, however some times I have to go to the HTML editor to accomplish different things.
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I am used to with HTML editor. I have not tried using the visual editor. HTML editor for me is a user-friendly and I can easily understand them.
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IMO the WP editor is a quiet good tool to use. For me there is no need to edit my articles in dreamweaver or any other editor.
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Useful advice, some people used visual editor. However, most people keep on using html editor because it’s much easier to be used compared the other one.
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With all my clients for any WordPress installation and training, I always make a point of reviewing how to copy and work with Word and WordPress files. If they understand and can see the HTML code and the mess that Word puts in, then they understand
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I have been using the html editor in wordpress more than the visual as I started looking at the code when I would do it solely visual and it was messed up. For instance I would bold a word and I would see multiple strong code tags everywhere which isn’t great for SEO. I will write something in visual at times and then clean it up with the html section before publishing.
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I like the visual editor, however some times I have to go to the HTML editor to accomplish different things.
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He he he, thanks jeff for the great post. Frontpage also
adds a lot of junk.
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The HTML is important to me. The visual one i use mainly to change sizes of pictures other than that html is the easiest. But the visual is great for newcomers to blogging.
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Don’t forget that the visual editor is only as good as your theme CSS. Content in the visual editor can still look nothing like the eventual finished post if the theme creator didn’t do sensible things with the various tags you can use.
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I think it all really depends on experience & preference. Im actually quite fond of still using html editors such as frontpage.
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I think html editor is better.Plus I’m learning Html now!
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I agree with using the html editor for advanced features, if its at all possible. However, one problem is when you run a publishing site that lets average non techies publish web pages and news stories. They usually don’t understand html code, so instead we update our wysiwyg editors to only allow text to be pasted in plain text. That’ll strip out all formatting and such and then we force the users to reformat using the wysiwyg editor. We’ve were bitten too many times by the entire site being hosed up because of some malformed html.
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CSS layout is very sensitive to mismatched opened and closed div tags. That usually the issue encountered in most blog when the editor just copy and paste the content from a text editor such as MS word into a wordpress visual editor box. Besides the fact that MS word use some custom MS tags it’s never a good idea to use a copy verbatim from Word to wordpress or Dreamweaver: your HTML code carries a lot of junk.
The best way is to copy the code from your favorite editor, paste it in a Notepad to remove all the formatting then copy it once more from Notepad to the final destination say your WordPress visual editor. Then you can break your content into paragraphs and use the other tools available for formatting.
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Hey, that’s exactly what I do all the time. I always write my posts in Ms Word since I need the spelling check (English is not my mother language so I really need it), then copy it to notepad and copy it again to wordpress, I think that’s the simplest way and works for newbies like me and those who don’t understand such codes.
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Jeff Replied:
October 7th, 2009 at 6:59 am
You can skip the Notepad step and paste it into the HTML editor.
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I like to use the html editor most.
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For instance I would bold a word and I would see multiple strong code tags everywhere which isn’t great for SEO.
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Suppose that the preference to either Worldpress visual or HTML language depends on the skills of the creator of the site.So the main advantage of HTML is that it is much more universal and common in whole so the choice depends only on you.
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It’s simple. I using both of them to design my article and post.
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I use quiet often the HTML editor when I have to adjust images but I have to say I don´t know any visual editior which works perfect.
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I’ll use the HTML editor mainly. I guess the visual is good for those who have less of a web scripting background. Peace
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Great advice, I like the visual editor. thanks for this post!
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Once I tried to do something using WordPress but there were some difficulties and I didn’t start making it out. I get used to HTML. But with your advice I perhaps try it again, thank you.
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I like the visual editor because content in the visual editor can still look nothing like the eventual finished post if the theme creator didn’t do sensible things with the various tags you can use.
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I didn’t have sufficient awareness of visual editor. But here i am able to point out some difference like: Visual editor is good way to solve the format problem.
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I always choose the HTML editor when I edit posts, because I think it gives much more control. If you know HTML, use that editor. My experience of WYSIWYG editors is that WYS Is not always WYG, if you know what I mean. I’ve never seen the perfectly flawless visual editor.
That’s my tip.
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yes both of them are different, wordpress editor are totally related with PHP scripting while HTML is totally different from them. But now a days there are many tools available which contains both editors in a single module.
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I follow the same process as mentioned by @Blog Design Center above and copy everything into Notepad (actually Notepad++, more advanced and free) and then copy that text into WordPress. Seems to work flawlessly each time.
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Yes, the HTML and Visual in wordpress 2.8.4 is sometimes different, but if you copy paste from notepad it will not change. Like when i add subsribe button in my blog it’s setting is crash and error. Maybe in 2.8.5 it will not crach anymore….
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I follow the same process as mentioned by @Blog Design Center above and copy everything into Notepad (actually Notepad++, more advanced and free) and then copy that text into WordPress. Seems to work flawlessly each time
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yes both of them are different, wordpress editor are totally related with PHP scripting while HTML is totally different from them.
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I am used to with HTML editor. I have not tried using the visual editor. HTML editor for me is a user-friendly and I can easily understand them.
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Generally, I use HTML Editor but when i need to change font color or size then i use Visual Editor. So, I like both editor depends upon needs.
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i use both of them . it makes my life easier
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I’d never use the visual editor unless you really can’t help yourself cause if you don’t learn how to do it with html you miss out on some very important learning expirience.
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I love that visual editor, it is such great advice. Thanks
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I have a client who writes in word and pastes into the CMS…there is a tonne of junk generated but they don’t get the message.
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yes both of them are different, wordpress editor are totally related with PHP scripting while HTML is totally different from them. But now a days there are many tools available which contains both editors in a single module.
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I actually like the visual editor because content in the visual editor can still look nothing like the eventual finished post if the theme creator didn’t do sensible things with the various tags you can utilise.
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Well, to be sure, I always choose the base HTML editor when I edit posts, because I think it gives much more control – of course, only if you know rudimentary HTML, use that editor. My experience of WYSIWYG editors is that the WYS is not always WYG, to coin a phrase. This said, I believe that WordPress WYSIWYG editors are still among the best found online today.
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