Add a "writing" type of article

Ideas
#1

I've just bought Bootstrap Studio. I switched away from Dreamweaver CS6, as it was getting very old. However, it provides a WYSIWYG editor for doing writing, plus proper access to the HTML and CSS. I can't find that anywhere else, and I need it, because my sites are text-heavy.

However, I can't just write text in Bootstrap Studio, because everything is its own little box. I have to use </br> tags with shift-enter, or I won't be able to move text around. Also, I can't add headers.

My proposal is for a type of "Writing" article to be added.

  • Is just a single, big box that you can write text in, and use like a word processor.
  • Each line will automatically be converted to a <p> in the code.

Ideally:

  • Pressing enter goes to the next line, instead of exiting the box. Maybe another key could exit the box.
  • Headers can be inserted inside the box.

This is something very important to me, and I'm sure it will be helpful to many other people. Thanks for reading my suggestion.

#2

Another thing that makes the current system difficult is that I can't just cut and paste text. Everything is in its own little paragraph box.

#3

I hope you know the BOOTSTRAP part in bootstrap studio refers to: https://getbootstrap.com/docs/4.5/getting-started/introduction/

BSS is not Wix. To use it properly my suggestion is to follow all videos and tutorials (there's a tab when you open BSS) and then you learn HTML, CSS, at least some JS, and of course all BOOTSTRAP classes, components, utilities. Learn the grid system, flexbox model and then have fun with flexbox froggy

#4

I'm well aware of this.

I do know HTML, CSS, and JS.

It would just be a very nice feature, to be able to type content more easily, when it's longer than one paragraph.

#5

I don't have issues with typing what I need into a text editor and copying it into BSS. Works just fine for me.

You're editing components, this is not Wordpress. Yes, I would love to see text editing be easier, but for me that would be allowing me to edit the HTML directly. Dreamweaver is fine, but after using it for years, this app has made editing and creating sites a whole lot easier, especially when dealing with things like Libraries that you use in Dreamweaver in place of the Linked Components feature in BSS. Much easier to deal with that in here. I have not looked back for a second after leaving Dreamweaver, and I didn't use the visual part of it as it was way too buggy and never ever looked like it was supposed to. Anyways, I prefer it the way it is or at best to be able to edit the HTML directly rather than a glorified Wordpress text box. Just my opinion of course.

#6

Thanks Jo.

I don't think a text editor would preserve the paragraphs, and if I wanted to edit or move things around, that wouldn't be easy.

I used Dreamweaver too, and Bootstrap studio is better in every way, except that I can't just edit text in it. I didn't realise this about BSS, and now I have to go back to Dreamweaver, so I can write. I can't really use BSS, unfortunately. Maybe I can use BSS for a site with minimal text.

How do other people using BSS write articles and other text?

Even if it's not in the spirit of a Bootstrap editor, I think it would be a relatively easy and extraordinarily-useful type of Article block.

#7

I have no issues with writing reasonably long articles in Bootstrap Studio, but I also use other programs like Word, InDesign, Outlook emails, etc... whatever. Normally I'll copy everything into Windows Notepad to ensure all formatting has been stripped away, and then copy/paste into Boostrap Studio using ctrl-shift-v, which does a pretty good job of preserving the paragraphs. Sometimes there may be extra line breaks I'll have to remove, but really not a big deal.

The last website builder I used had a separate editing "word processor-like" window that opened up when you clicked on a paragraph block, and it allowed you to do some things like change the color of individual words, which you'd have to do with a span in BSS, but I really saw no great advantage. It just felt like an extra, intermediate step. I'd rather edit my <p> right on the webpage.

I don't see the need for a "word processor" within BSS. If I want the features of a word processor (like spelling & grammar check, special characters, etc), I'll use Word or InDesign. But I don't see BSS as a "workhorse" for working with text. Maybe if you're building a blog you might be better off with something like Wordpress.

#8

Never write text in BSS. (nor in Illustrator, Indesign etc).

Always cut and paste the text written somewhere else. And then apply the classes to the elements. Headers, drop caps alignments, emphasis, etc. BSS is a builder for static websites, not a CMS. I receive text and images for my customers, build their websites and I'm done. I don't have to move paragraphs around or type anything.

I have the same workflow as Printnijna, I copy all text into Notepad++ to strip formatting and then into BSS.

#9

Ok, I guess I'll just write the text elsewhere. Thanks everyone.

A proper typing feature would be a nice addition, but I can see there are ways around it.

#10

For the record though, it is very easy to edit text in BSS, it's just that we got used to having text editors that allowed us to edit multiple text areas at the same time. That's where our inconvenience stops, but it's still very easy to do. I am on a Mac so I had to search high and low to find a text editor that wouldn't add more formatting and would strip it (even if it said it did, it didn't lol), but once I found one I do the same as most here. I edit it in the text editor and paste it.

TIP: When you edit or put your text in a text editor, add all the spacing of paragraphs as you normally would type. When you copy and paste multiple paragraphs the app will insert the Line Breaks automatically. That's the only difference between using a paragraph component for every line or pasting multiple paragraphs. Paragraph components don't add breaks, they are formatted already with CSS, pasting them puts line breaks in instead of CSS. It's not really a big deal as far as I can see and it saves a lot of time trying to set up multiple paragraphs if they will all have the same CSS settings.

#11

To add to everything that's been shared in this thread, there's a little known shortcut in the app. You can press Alt+Enter to create a new paragraph beneath the one you are currently editing. This makes writing text just a bit easier.

As for pasting text from other programs, maybe we could make some new Paste menu entry which converts new lines into proper paragraphs. Users will likely not find it though. Alternatively there could be some kind of "split" option which turns lines in a paragraph into separate elements.

#12

Thanks Martin.

Just a box that converts things into p's in the code, but is always a single box in the UI, would be fantastic. Or, a feature where multiple p's are joined into a single box.

There are a lot of us wysiwyggers still out there, and this would make the program the ideal replacement for Dreamweaver. I'll be able to use the program for all my sites, if you add something like this, and I'll be happy to promote it to my community.

In the meantime, I I'll just use the program for doing new site layouts.

Thanks again!

#13

I like either of those ideas Martin. I truly do not want to see a WYSIWYG text box in here, as far as I'm concerned, this isn't your Grandfather's Wix/Homestead/etc. this is a real website builder that has a lot of power and I don't want to see it going down the tubes to make it so the super noob can ruin their website and then complain that the app isn't working right for them lol. I like the idea of using a menu to choose options on how to handle pasted text. Not sure how you'd implement it, but I think that would help a lot.

Truly though, I'm not really all that worried about getting anything like this. The app DOES (points at DX) add all the line breaks you add in a text editor (making sure it's a raw text editor not something like Word). Don't say you don't "think" it will work when you haven't even tried it. It works just fine and adds line breaks for each paragraph break same as the old system would. In today's websites we use separate paragraphs for many things, but I do still tend to use the paste option to let it just throw line breaks in when it's just a lot of content text. Simpler and easier than dealing with adding new paragraphs etc.

Having said that, I would prefer it be able to add them all in paragraphs when pasted. Heck I'd be happy if it just defaulted to creating a new text component of whatever type is being used if it detects there is a double line break when pasting. That alone would fix this whole issue. This way it would automatically assume that whatever you are pasting should have multiples of where ever you are pasting it, whether it's paragraphs, list li's, etc. Sort of a smart paster lol. Just an idea of course, but anything you can do to help make pasting text or editing it easier is good with me.

#14

I'm very much in favour with anything that makes it easier to work with text inside the program. Such improvements shouldn't be viewed as turning the program into some kind of easy web builder system.

Having to paste text in from another program works, but is far from ideal.

#15

I think what you may be up against @DX is many of us that have "copied and pasted" into text editors doing our sites manually rather than visually for many years and decades even. I have no issue at all with copying and pasting, and in fact, I usually have to do it anyways because most of my clients are not web knowledgeable. Therefore, they don't understand that when they send me something in Word or Wordpad or Publisher, etc., I have to copy it into a raw text editor to strip the hidden formats from them.

Since I'm already doing that, I just grab it again from the text editor and if @Martin can come through with the additions he speaks of above, when I paste it will create what I need for paragraphs and that would make my day thoroughly indeed! I'm betting you too would find this a very swift and easy way to do things.

Plus on the more productive side, we can craft our text (or copy paste it) in our favorite editors and not have to do paragraph by paragraph pastes to get them into paragraphs, this would be very useful for those of us that craft up a lot of text content.

P.S. I totally deplore Wordpress lol, I'm pretty sure that's where my opinion sits on your suggestion is that I really would hate for this app to be setup like Wordpress :P

#16

@Jo

+1 to everything you wrote. BSS isn't a CMS, or word processor. Most copy that comes from clients has to be "cleaned" before going on a website anyway... spell-checked, stripped of all formatting, links removed, etc. I get content from people in many different email formats, word files, Publisher files, copy sent on Skype or FB messages. It's all a big mess, and has to be stripped down raw before being put on a websites. I really don't want the devs wasting precious development time on an internal text editor when there are so many other, more productive things they can give us.

(And I also deplore Wordpress. I cannot understand why it is so popular when the sites are so bloated, and load so slowly. 9 out of 10 Wordpress sites I visit take 3-5 seconds to open, and I have 200 mbps download capability. The only platform that I find worse is Wix)