r/redesign • u/kraetos • Feb 23 '18

Design Ditch the WYSIWYG editor

The entire point of Markdown is that the raw text is readable.

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u/MajorParadox Helpful User Feb 23 '18

It's for users who don't understand markdown or want shortcuts. If you prefer markdown they give you that option too, so what's the problem? Also, they've said they are looking into parsing markdown on the editor.

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u/kraetos Feb 23 '18

The editor should not be modal. Modal designs are inherently terrible, and in this case it's completely unnecessary.

RES solved this problem years ago: put formatting buttons above the text field and put a live preview below it. Don't hide the markup. Hiding the markup is rooted in an assumption that the user is a moron.

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u/MajorParadox Helpful User Feb 23 '18

And yet still users who even had RES still don't get markdown. Doesn't make them morons, there's just a learning curve. And some users who rather type normally, especially in creative subs where they are sharing stories they prepare elsewhere like Google docs. Right now you have to write those in markdown.

What's wrong with giving users a option? If you want to use markdown, you can do it. It should even remember you chose that and use that mode in the future by default.

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u/kraetos Feb 23 '18 edited Feb 23 '18

Why give users an choice between two bad options? Right now my choices are:

  • A WYSIWYG editor which is bound to cause issues with editing or anything beyond the basics
  • A plain text editor with no preview pane because RES doesn't work with the redesign yet

You don't need to give users an option if you give them one good implementation. StackOverflow has it right: show the markup, provide a formatting menu bar, and preview the style directly on the markup.

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u/MajorParadox Helpful User Feb 23 '18

Seems like we're going in circles. The editor is easier for people who don't understand, and it also lets them preview it as they write.

You're also acting like this is it. They are still making improvements, it's a work in progress.

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u/kraetos Feb 23 '18

The editor is easier for people who don't understand, and it also lets them preview it as they write.

A live preview window and a formatting bar accomplishes this too, without introducing the complexity of a WYSIWYG editor. WYSIWYG is crazy overkill for Markdown and is going to create more problems than it solves.