HTML editor software resides in most web applications and websites nowadays. Blogs need it for copywriting, email platforms need it for campaigns, ecommerce apps use it for product descriptions, and so on. Because of the efficient way it allows users to edit content, it has become a staple in development workflows.
It’s easy to make basic editing features like font formatting and text alignment by yourself. However, these simple features just won’t cut it when it comes to modern user needs.
Users expect smooth uploads, easy table editing, and even real-time collaboration, which are significantly tricky to build from scratch. Adding upload functionality sounds simple, until you realize you also need validation, security and content safety checks, and automatic resizing.
This is why HTML editor software exists. Instead of building many features over a long period of time, developers can rely on tested, prebuilt modules that integrate directly into their app. This helps save time, gives users what they need instantly, and points the product growth in the right direction.
Key Takeaways
Many important features that look simple (like tables and uploads) hide deep technical challenges.
The speed of delivering features matters more than perfection in competitive environments.
Good HTML editor software turns months of development and testing into minutes or hours of integration.
Real-time editing, grammar checks, different initialization methods, advanced file handling, and rich content have become baseline expectations shaped by popular tools. Meeting them keeps your product innovative and competitive.
Choose editor features based on real user needs.
Why Fast HTML Editor Software Feature Delivery Matters for Developers
As you might have experienced, speed is survival nowadays. Teams can’t afford to spend months rebuilding, testing, refining, and maintaining HTML editor software from the ground up. Every week they spend on reinventing formatting or tables is a week not spent on core product innovation.
By adopting HTML editor software, teams:
Shorten development cycles: Features that once took months can now take days or even minutes to integrate. For modern HTML editors, developers need only add or remove features, encapsulated in plugins, in their setup.
Stay focused on their value proposition: Developers work on the parts that make their web application unique instead of rebuilding existing technology.
Deliver consistent experiences: Users see polished, professional editors that work reliably across different devices, platforms, or even user bases.
Note: It’s alright to take your time and develop your own HTML editor. However, end users might prefer having all editing features available and working right away instead of having to wait. So, consider your project needs, project timeline, and resources before you decide.
6 Features HTML Editor Software Instantly Gives You
A modern WYSIWYG HTML editor usually comes with most of the necessary features your users need. Some even include advanced or novel features like real-time collaboration, autosaving, and artificial intelligence (AI). Here are six hard-to-implement but nice-to-have features that you can instantly obtain with HTML editor software.
Advanced File and Media Handling
If there’s one feature that almost every user asks for, it’s file uploads. From images in blog posts to videos in course material or PDFs in knowledge bases, people crave media. The problem is that file handling is more than just picking a file and sending it to a server.
Today, file handling encompasses the following chain of responsibilities:
Security: Uploaded files can potentially harm your infrastructure. Malicious scripts can hide inside images, or large files can cause denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. For every upload, ensure the implementation of validation (size and type checks), virus detection checks, and content safety checks (NSFW).
Performance: Large images or videos can slow down your app. If you don’t compress or resize them, you’ll frustrate users on slower networks.
Format compatibility: Not every browser or device can play every video codec or handle every image form. Developers must either convert formats or block unsupported ones.
Processing: File handling doesn’t end after the upload. Sometimes, applications enhance or transform uploaded files to suit platform standards.
This is a lot to build on your own, which is where HTML editor software comes in. The best WYSIWYG editors provide built-in file pickers with configurable upload and post-upload rules. You can set file size limits and even automate transformations and processing like image resizing, video conversion, or image recognition.
The GIF above demonstrates a file upload wherein users can transform the file without needing to leave the editor. In this implementation, you can even scan the uploaded image for viruses or unsafe content or automate other processing tasks.
Further Reading: To align your file upload security with industry best practices, read this blog by OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project). It concisely lists down three security risks for file uploads, along with the prevention methods.
Real-Time Editing
Collaboration is now a baseline expectation, with tools like Google Docs and Canva Teams in widespread adoption. Teams want to work on the same content at the same time while keeping track of changes. But real-time collaboration is technically demanding; for instance, you need to manage:
Low-latency synchronization: Each keystroke must appear almost instantly across all active users. Otherwise, the editor would feel laggy and frustrating to use.
Conflict resolution: What happens if two people edit the same word at the same time? You need a consistent way to merge changes without corrupting the document.
User presence and identity: Users expect to see who else is editing, where their cursor is, and when they join or leave. To take it further, they also expect to see some sort of version history, showing who edited what at a given time.
These challenges usually require WebSocket connections, a protocol for real-time communication, and CRDTs (conflict-free replicated data types) or similar algorithms.
HTML editor software removes much of the burden by offering real-time collaboration plugins. Developers can integrate with existing sync services or, in some cases, use the editor’s built-in backend. Mentions and change tracking are sometimes included and give users the ability to tag teammates or roll back edits.
Note: Mentions are more than just “@someone” commands. They often tie into a user directory, autocomplete, and notifications. Good editor software makes integrating this feature seamless.
Robust Table Editing
Tables are powerful for presenting data, but they can sometimes cause headaches, as this accessibility guide from Stanford University shows. For instance, adding or resizing columns often breaks the layout, especially in mobile views. Additionally, including support for accessibility (e.g., screen readers) adds another layer of complexity.
Developers who try to build editors that support tables usually run into these common problems:
Resizing and alignment: Simple drag-to-resize sounds easy, but aligning cells consistently and keeping all elements intact across devices is tough.
Responsive design: Tables that look neat on desktop can sometimes seem unreadable on smaller screens. Without responsive wrapping, mobile users have difficulty navigating them.
User experience: Non-technical end users often struggle with raw HTML tables. They expect drag handles, dropdown menus for table options, and quick insert for cells and other table elements.
HTML editor software solves these issues by bundling in table functionality. These range from drag handles to responsive templates and even custom table styling and media-in-cell support.
Multiple Initialization Modes
Sometimes, you’ll want full-page editing for a blog post. Other times, you’ll need a document-ready editor for Google Docs-like apps.
Building multiple modes has its complexities, because each requires different CSS and JavaScript handling:
Inline mode allows users to edit content through an inline toolbar by clicking on an element. This is similar to link editing in Google Docs or WordPress or some grammar checkers.
Full-page editing includes the usage of <html>, <head>, and <body> tags as well as the <!DOCTYPE> declaration. This is useful for a complete page editing experience, such as in content management systems (CMS).
Document-ready mode presents optimal editing options for creating online documents, containing “print” or “export to PDF” buttons, among many others. Think of it like any word processor, such as MS Word or Google Docs.
A full-featured mode contains as many features as possible to support as many requirements as it can. However, be careful when using this, since having many features might slow down the editor or overwhelm the user. Because of this, you should consider toolbar organization and using a lightweight WYSIWYG editor.
The iframe mode places the editor’s content in an isolated iframe. This prevents potential conflicts with the main page’s styles and scripts.
Popup or modal mode separates the content view from the editing process. It does so by opening a modal popup containing the editor once the user clicks a button.
Modern HTML editor software has to support most of these initialization modes out of the box to accommodate different use cases.
For instance, in this GIF demo, an HTML editor appears akin to a full document processor. Here, the user inserts an image, highlights a sentence, and clicks the print button. Editors like this one allow you to build robust document editors without needing too much effort.
Spelling and Grammar Checking
Checking for spelling and grammar correctness is important for most editors, especially in professional setups. Writers, learners, and professionals expect at least some sort of help when typing, since catching typos manually is inefficient. However, adding spelling and grammar checking is not that straightforward normally.
Here’s what’s usually involved when implementing your own spelling and grammar checking:
Spell checks highlight misspelled words against a dictionary. While basic, they prevent obvious credibility issues. But what if you need to support multiple languages or technical vocabularies?
Grammar checks go beyond spelling by analyzing sentence structure. They flag subject-verb agreement errors, missing punctuation, or awkward phrasing. Implementing this requires integration with advanced language models or APIs.
Style checking addresses tone, clarity, and readability. For example, a style checker might highlight passive voice, long sentences, or jargon, similar to how WordPress analyzes content readability. This goes a step beyond correctness to improve communication.
The best WYSIWYG HTML editor should have a prebuilt spelling and grammar checker. By doing so, it consolidates all editing features in the editor. In turn, you won’t have to worry about integrating other spelling and grammar checking services separately.
Rich Content (Emojis, Embeds, Code Blocks, Math)
Text rarely tells the full story, as modern users rely heavily on emojis and Markdown to communicate better. Similarly, developers need code blocks to create web content using an environment in which they’re more comfortable.
If your end users want the ability to express themselves more freely, you have to implement a combination of the following, depending on the use case:
Emoji: These symbols add emotion and tone; for instance, a simple thumbs up can replace a sentence of approval. However, emojis need standard rendering across platforms.
Embeds: Let authors drop in YouTube videos, X tweets, or interactive maps. The challenge here is security, as malicious code from untrusted domain embeds could run in your app.
Code Blocks: Use syntax highlighting to make programming languages readable. This also allows developers to switch between a WYSIWYG (live preview) and HTML mode.
Math editing: Allows educators or learners in scientific fields to write mathematical expressions easily on the web. However, it’s difficult to enable LaTeX input (a math markup language) from scratch, especially when it comes to higher math.
Capable HTML editor software possesses all or most of these rich content features. For instance, it can allow users to include math expressions through simple WYSIWYG equation builders. Additionally, it can escape special characters automatically to prevent injection attacks in embedded code.
Conclusion
Delivering advanced editing features quickly isn’t about showing off. It’s about removing friction for users, speeding up your developer workflow, and simplifying maintenance.
Spelling and grammar checks improve clarity. Advanced file handling satiates the primal gravitation towards media content and processing. Rich content features make documents more expressive and versatile.
The key here is balance. Give users enough power to get creative without overwhelming them or bloating your app or making them wait too long. Every feature should justify itself with measurable impact, such as faster workflows, fewer errors, or higher user satisfaction.
The best HTML editor software turns these once-complex features into plug-and-play modules. This lets your team ship faster and focus where it matters, building the unique values of your product.
That said, always assess your users’ requirements first. Never give features they won’t use, and prioritize what they need most. And if you can roll these out quickly or at the same time, you’ll earn trust and enthusiasm faster than any marketing campaign could.
Note: If you want to see some of these features in action, visit this GitHub repository. It demonstrates the file upload, document-ready, and rich content functionalities using a WYSIWYG editor.
This article was originally published on the Froala blog.
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