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Last Updated 27/06/2005

What is the Richtext editor?

SourceForge LogoThe Richtext Editor project is an Open Source project hosted by SourceForge.net.  The editor is an Internet Explorer based WYSIWYG HTML Text Editor which can be hosted in a web page or form.  It requires no additional components as it is written entirely in DHTML and JavaScript.

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What's New?
21/10/2003 Website updated to load flash in a manner compatible with the new versions of IE due next year.  See here for details of the issue.
12/02/2003 Change to (relaxation of) the Richtext Editor license affecting Online Demonstrations. 
19/08/2002 Beta 1 of RTE v 0.3 available for download.  Preview here.  Download here or here.  View Change Log.
30/07/2002 Project documenter joins the team.
29/07/2002 Heading for a 0.3.0 (beta) release.  Plans are afoot to cut the next release of the editor.  A beta version should be available sometime in August.
25/06/2002 A beta version of a Dreamweaver Extension based around the RTE has been released.  Developed by Bill Chalmers.
06/06/2002 A Postnuke version of the editor is currently under development (see below).
05/06/2002 A German translation of the editor is now available in the CVS tree.
31/02/2002 A Norwegian translation  of the editor is now available in the CVS tree.
24/02/2002 Version 0.2.3 released.
20/02/2002 The development team expands.  Three new developers have joined the project this month.  Checkout the Richtext project pages on sourceforge.net for more details.
17/02/2002 Multi-lingual version of the editor is under development.  Source code available here.
07/02/2002 Version 0.2 now available via the CVS tree.
19/01/2002 Snitz Mod (RTE v1.2) released.
08/01/2002 Version 0.2.2 released.


Can I see it in action?

You can.  Click here for a preview of the rt-0.3.0 release or here for a preview of the a snapshot of the development version (taken on the 19th Aug 2002).  Note: To see the multi-lingual support in action you will need to configure your browser language to be Norwegian, German or French.  Language translation does occurs for other languages but the result will be English, so there is not much to see.

You can also view a version of the editor, in action, embedded into Snitz Forums 2000 v3.3 as the forum editor by visiting the Baked Bean Forums.

Copyright & Licensing Issues

Whilst we appreciate individuals efforts in identifying and addressing breaches of copyright and license with the Richtext Editor, if a copyright or licensing issue is suspected, please forward details to Austin France, do not attempt to contact the apparent offender directly.  As we are the copyright holders of the editor, it is our responsibility to pursue any possible breach of copyright or license.

Online Demonstrations - Relaxation of license

For the sole purposes of online demonstration of a product or service utilizing the Richtext Editor, We will allow the about icon to be removed from the toolbar of the Richtext Editor.  All other copyright notices and credits must however remain intact.  This change to the license is being made because we recognize the need to hide implementation details from your competitors.

Important - Virus Emails - 1st July 2003

Unfortunately it seems that a number of richtext users who have my email address in their email address books have at some point become infected with the W32/Sobig.E virus or one of the many variants.  These types of virus generate emails to propagate themselves and disguise the sender based on entries picked from the infected users address book.

This means that you may receive an email that on the surface appears to have been sent by me, but it is in fact more likely to be a virus. 

I am not infected with this virus and we employ an aggressive anti-virus policy to the extent where my machine is constantly monitored for viruses, and every message I send or receive is scanned for viruses at 2 stages during it's delivery (once in and out of my email client and once at in/out of our internet email gateway).

Multi-Lingual Support

The editor has to date been translated into many languages, the current language list includes: English, Arabic, Norwegian, German, French, Russian, Turkish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish.  Up to date language files are available direct from CVS:

  rte_lang.js Language Strings
  images/lang Language specific image files

Where can I download it?

The official releases of the editor can be downloaded from sourceforge.net here. Official and preview releases can be downloaded from the downloads page.

Looking for an editor to embed in Snitz Forums?

The Richtext Editor has now been fully integrated into Snitz Forums courtesy of Nathan Bales at the Snitz Exchange. This ready to go Snitz Mod is based on version 0.2.0 of the editor and compatible with version 3.3.03 of Snitz Forums. Visit the Mod Exchange to download.

Looking for an editor to embed in Postnuke?

Work is underway to integrate The Richtext Editor into the Postnuke PHP based portal system.  A beta version can be downloaded from www.drachentasche.de.

Looking for a Dreamweaver Extension based on RTE?

Bill Chalmers has developed and released a beta version of his Dreamweaver Extension based around the RTE.

What features does the current version include?

  • Basic Editing Commands - Bold, Italic, Underline etc.
  • Styles - Headings, Pre-formatted text etc.
  • Fonts - The font and font size can be specified.
  • Colours - Foreground and background colours.
  • Tables - Tables can be inserted into the text.
  • Images - Images can be inserted into the text.
  • Links - Links (URL's) can be inserted.
  • Copy & Paste - Cut and paste rich text from your other Windows applications.
  • Keyboard Shortcuts - The standard windows editing keys are supported.
  • Embedding - The editor can be embedded into a web form.
  • Custom Fields - This allows the inclusion of additional fields (input boxes) for example, a subject line, making The Richtext Editor even easier to integrate into your existing application.  This feature is ideal for implementing forum message and email editors.
  • View/Edit Source - This option will allows the HTML source to be viewed and edited.
  • Insert Character - Allowing easy insertion of special characters.
  • Custom Styles support - The list of styles available in the editor can be extended programmatically.
  • docHtml - The document HTML can be extracted from the editor at any time.  The docHtml property is read/write.

Version History

0.3 The main purpose of this release will be to add multi-lingual support.  This has already been done for the main editor window and is available via the CVS Tree here.
  • Multi-lingual support, switched on users configured browser language
  • Norwegian Translation
  • German Translation
0.2.3
  • Corrected a problem in 0.2.2 where options set when initialising the editor (populating it with HTML) where not being honoured
  • More options added to enable/disable features
  • View Source option when toggled disables/enables the post button
  • Preliminary interface documentation
  • View Source option now enabled by default (due to popular request).
0.2.2
  • Disabled history and view source options by default in preparation for official release.
  • Added editor.options property to allow optional functionality to be enabled/disabled.
0.2.1
  • Corrected a bug in test_embedded.asp
0.2.0
  • Added Custom Fields
  • Beta versions of undo-history and view source options
0.1
  • Original release of The Richtext Editor

What versions of Internet Explorer are supported?

At this time, only Internet Explorer 5.5 and later are supported.  The Richtext Editor relies upon the content editable capabilities of the IE5.5 and later browsers.  Other browsers may be considered if and when they include similar capabilities.

Where can I get more information?

The Richtext Editor project is an Open Source project hosted on sourceforge.net.  Checkout The Richtext Editor project page for more details.

Useful Links

Oracle Error Search
VPS Hosting for Windows 2003 and Linux


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Richtext Editor - Copyright 2001, Austin David France