Integrating FOSCKEditorBundle to Create a WYSIWYG Editor

.. note::

Starting from 2.2.1 version, EasyAdmin provides a built-in and ready to use
text editor based on the [Trix editor](https://trix-editor.org/). It doesn't require installing or
configuring anything and it covers the needs of most applications.
:ref:`Learn more about the built-in text editor <form-type-text-editor>`
and if it doesn't fit your needs, keep reading this article.

EasyAdmin uses a <textarea> form field to render long text properties:

.. image:: ../images/wysiwyg/default-textarea.png :alt: Default textarea for text elements

However, sometimes you need to provide to your users a rich editor, commonly named WYSIWYG editor. Although EasyAdmin doesn’t provide any built-in rich text editor, you can integrate one very easily.

Installing the Rich Text Editor

The recommended WYSIWYG editor is called CKEditor and you can integrate it thanks to the FOSCKEditorBundle:

  1. Install the bundle:
$ composer require friendsofsymfony/ckeditor-bundle
  1. Install CKEditor:
$ php bin/console ckeditor:install
  1. Install the JavaScript/CSS files used by the bundle:
$ php bin/console assets:install --symlink

Finally, add the ckeditor_widget.html.twig form theme to the list of form themes used by EasyAdmin so the <textarea> elements used by the editor are properly designed:

# config/packages/easy_admin.yaml
easy_admin:
    design:
        form_theme:
            - '@EasyAdmin/form/bootstrap_4.html.twig'
            - '@FOSCKEditor/Form/ckeditor_widget.html.twig'

Using the Rich Text Editor

FOSCKEditorBundle provides a new form type called fos_ckeditor. Set the type option of any property to this value to display its contents using a rich text editor:

# config/packages/easy_admin.yaml
easy_admin:
    entities:
        Product:
            # ...
            form:
                fields:
                    # ...
                    - { property: 'description', type: 'fos_ckeditor' }

.. tip::

Even if your application uses Symfony 3 there is no need to use the FQCN of
the `CKEditorType` (``type: 'FOS\CKEditorBundle\Form\Type\CKEditorType'``)
because EasyAdmin supports the short types for some popular third-party bundles.

Now, the description property will be rendered as a rich text editor and not as a simple <textarea>:

.. image:: ../images/wysiwyg/default-wysiwyg.png :alt: Default WYSIWYG editor

Customizing the Rich Text Editor

EasyAdmin tweaks some CKEditor settings to improve the user experience. In case you need further customization, configure the editor globally in your Symfony application under the fos_ck_editor option. For example:

# config/packages/fos_ck_editor.yaml
fos_ck_editor:
    input_sync: true
    default_config: base_config
    configs:
        base_config:
            toolbar:
                - { name: "styles", items: ['Bold', 'Italic', 'BulletedList', 'Link'] }

# config/packages/easy_admin.yaml
easy_admin:
    entities:
        Product:
            # ...
            form:
                fields:
                    # ...
                    - { property: 'description', type: 'fos_ckeditor' }

In this example, the toolbar is simplified to display just a few common options:

.. image:: ../images/wysiwyg/simple-wysiwyg.png :alt: Simple WYSIWYG editor

Alternatively, you can also define the editor options in the type_options setting of the property:

# config/packages/easy_admin.yaml
easy_admin:
    entities:
        Product:
            # ...
            form:
                fields:
                    # ...
                    - { property: 'description', type: 'fos_ckeditor', type_options: { 'config': { 'toolbar': [ { name: 'styles', items: ['Bold', 'Italic', 'BulletedList', 'Link'] } ] } } }

This inline configuration is very hard to maintain, so it’s recommended to use the global configuration instead. You can even combine both to define the toolbars globally and then select the toolbar to use in each property:

# config/packages/fos_ck_editor.yaml
fos_ck_editor:
    input_sync: true
    default_config: simple_config
    configs:
        simple_config:
            toolbar:
                # ...
        advanced_config:
            toolbar:
                # ...

# config/packages/easy_admin.yaml
easy_admin:
    entities:
        Product:
            # ...
            form:
                fields:
                    # ...
                    - { property: 'excerpt', type: 'fos_ckeditor',
                        type_options: { config_name: 'simple_config' } }
                    - { property: 'description', type: 'fos_ckeditor',
                        type_options: { config_name: 'advanced_config' } }

Check out the original CKEditor documentation to get its full list of configuration options.

Integrating CKFinder

CKFinder is a file manager plugin developed for CKEditor. First, follow its documentation to download and install the “CKFinder PHP Connector” somewhere in your Symfony application. Then, read the CKEditor integration docs and create a JavaScript file to store the needed code (e.g. web/js/setup-ckfinder.js).

Finally, use the design.assets.js config option to include that file in every page loaded by EasyAdmin:

# config/packages/ivory_ck_editor.yaml
easy_admin:
    design:
        assets:
            js:
                - '/bundles/cksourceckfinder/ckfinder/ckfinder.js'
                - '/js/setup-ckfinder.js'
                # ...