XF 2.1 Major editor complaints

[adamgreenough]

I have many users complaining about the post editor.

• Cursor jumping to beginning when backspacing or deleting wrong text
• iOS not keeping shift on when entering 2 line breaks and turning it on at seemingly random times (very annoying)
• Entering 2 line breaks on list does not close the list as you’d expect or is totally inconsistent
• Backspacing to first character on new line moves you up to the next line
• Sometimes pressing enter on new line will select text randomly

I understand it is 3rd party but it is a core component of xenforo and if it can't be fixed then it should be changed

It is getting very frustrating. Is there any way to implement a more reliable editor via a add on?

I am trying to sing the praises of the traditional style forum but the most important feature is majorly letting me down and annoying my valuable users.

 

[djbaxter]

I use an iPhone and iPad for mobile and this is the first I've heard of most of your complaints. I would start by

• checking to see if it's your style: ask your users to change to the XF default style - do they still have those issues?
• looking at your addons - try disabling all of them initially and see if the issues are resolved by that

Or do you mean the users who are complaining are using Mac desktops?

 

[adamgreenough]

I’ve had all the same problems here on the XenForo forums just typing that post! Could be related to the latest iOS version? Some of them but I have had Android users complaining about some of those points also.

These problems are solved when the ‘cog’ icon is on to disable the WYSIWYG. I wonder if there is any way to have this as the default on mobile and have the option for people to turn on the editor options for people that want to suffer through that to get their text formatted.

 

[djbaxter]

Okay I just tried on an iPhone with the latest iOS update using first Firefox, then Chrome, then Safari on this forum.

All browsers have some the problem with the the unordered list which is totally messed up.

• Cursor jumping to beginning when backspacing or deleting wrong text - can't replicate
• iOS not keeping shift on when entering 2 line breaks and turning it on at seemingly random times (very annoying) - can't replicate
• Entering 2 line breaks on list does not close the list as you’d expect or is totally inconsistent -> confirmed
• Backspacing to first character on new line moves you up to the next line - can't replicate
• Sometimes pressing enter on new line will select text randomly - can't replicate

 

[adamgreenough]

Thanks for checking it out! I’ll do a screen recording replicating all on these forums shortly.

 

[adamgreenough]

The gifs are all on this forum xenforo.com and happen on mine.

Randomly deleting text and not escaping from list when tapping return only. I know it seems like I tapped somewhere in the text box but no. This is reproducable regularly for me.



Deleting a new line character when deleting the first char of new line only.



Shift turning off when starting a new paragraph.



The above 2 issues compound eachother as when you go back to amend the first lowercase character of the new paragraph it removes the line break putting you in a vicious cycle!

One of my users provided this of weird backspacing:

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[adamgreenough]

A <textarea> with some markdown would be more preferable than this on mobile...

I believe this needs to be resolved as an absolute priority. 50% of mine and I imagine most peoples forums are mobile users and the absolute key feature, the message box, is an incredibly frustrating experience.

I am sure I can come up with more examples if you're not quite convinced.

@Chris D @Kier @Mike

 

[djbaxter]

As I said, I can confirm the issue with lists but not the other two. What browser are you using?

 

[adamgreenough]

This is Safari with the stock keyboard in the latest iOS 13.1.2.

 

[sbj]

You have to create for each single bug a dedicated own thread in the bug reports forums.
This is the official way how things are done here. So they can track those bugs.

Also, XF releases every ~6 weeks or so a new release which include bug fixes only. So, if lucky, your reports may be resolved in the next release.
However, if it is solely based on the Froala Editor, XF tends to forward the bug to them and waits for them to update the editor. So in some cases you have to wait for them.

Also to note is XF is currently using the Froala version 2.9.5 version right now (previously 2.9.7 if I remember correctly, they rolled back).
However the newest version of Froala is 3.0.6 right now. So some of the bugs you reported are maybe resolved already, but since XF hasn't rolled the newest Froala into their core for us to use, again, you have to wait for them to do so. See, if you can reproduce the same bug in their newest editor located here.

 

[adamgreenough]

You have to create for each single bug a dedicated own thread in the bug reports forums.
This is the official way how things are done here. So they can track those bugs.

Also, XF releases every ~6 weeks or so a new release which include bug fixes only. So, if lucky, your reports may be resolved in the next release.
However, if it is solely based on the Froala Editor, XF tends to forward the bug to them and waits for them to update the editor. So in some cases you have to wait for them.

Also to note is XF is currently using the Froala version 2.9.5 version right now (previously 2.9.7 if I remember correctly, they rolled back).
However the newest version of Froala is 3.0.6 right now. So some of the bugs you reported are maybe resolved already, but since XF hasn't rolled the newest Froala into their core for us to use, again, you have to wait for them to do so. See, if you can reproduce the same bug in their newest editor located here.

Seems like reporting them individually will just get them fobbed off as Froala’s problem which is not good enough and I assume since they’ve had a major version bump that they’re not going to get fixed without integrating this new version.

This new thread was not just a bug report but a question about whether it’s possible to use a different editor but seemingly not.

 

[adamgreenough]

You have to create for each single bug a dedicated own thread in the bug reports forums.
This is the official way how things are done here. So they can track those bugs.

Also, XF releases every ~6 weeks or so a new release which include bug fixes only. So, if lucky, your reports may be resolved in the next release.
However, if it is solely based on the Froala Editor, XF tends to forward the bug to them and waits for them to update the editor. So in some cases you have to wait for them.

Also to note is XF is currently using the Froala version 2.9.5 version right now (previously 2.9.7 if I remember correctly, they rolled back).
However the newest version of Froala is 3.0.6 right now. So some of the bugs you reported are maybe resolved already, but since XF hasn't rolled the newest Froala into their core for us to use, again, you have to wait for them to do so. See, if you can reproduce the same bug in their newest editor located here.

I have managed to replicate all the above problems in their new major version demo too so perhaps incompatibilities with new iOS?

 

[sbj]

Seems like reporting them individually will just get them fobbed off as Froala’s problem which is not good enough and I assume since they’ve had a major version bump that they’re not going to get fixed without integrating this new version.

Well, this is up to XF (Chris) to decide how they want to proceed.
But, just to be on the safe side, report each bug individually and wait for the feedback. Some may have a different resolution than other.

This new thread was not just a bug report but a question about whether it’s possible to use a different editor but seemingly not.

Ah, right. Of course this thread can be about the editor problems in general. But if you want each bug to be resolved, the only way to do so is to report them and wait for a resolution.
Possible to use a different editor? I mean if you can hack the software and make it work, sure, you can do whatever you want.
But XF owns a commercial license for Froala for a long time now, they won't ditch them to another editor.

I have managed to replicate all the above problems in their new version too so perhaps incompatibilities with new iOS?

I mean if you are using a beta software or if the release is fairly new (don't own an iOS device, I wouldn't know), then you have to be patient and wait for them to fix the issues.
In any case, you have to report them to be on the safe side. You could also contact Froala about it.

 

[kella]

Any updates on this @adamgreenough?

I have a few users complaining about this. iOS, and I'm fairly sure Safari. Hitting enter is randomly selecting text, and then a subsequent enter (to make a full line break with spacing) of course completely deletes that text.

 

[adamgreenough]

Any updates on this @adamgreenough?

I have a few users complaining about this. iOS, and I'm fairly sure Safari. Hitting enter is randomly selecting text, and then a subsequent enter (to make a full line break with spacing) of course completely deletes that text.

Glad it’s not just me I was worried I was going mad or doing something wrong!

XF 2.1 - Turn BBCode editor off by default on mobile devices

I'm trying to work out how to load the editor in BbCode OFF mode on mobile devices. I'm hoping I can just create a few lines of JavaScript to hook in to this and flick it off each time. It provides a MUCH better experience on mobiles while this is turned off and is easily turned on if people...

xenforo.com

If you check my post I ended up defaulting to the plain text setting on the editor on mobiles which doesn’t seem to have those issues.

Not an ideal solution but works for me for now.

Let me know if you’d like a hand with implementation.

 

[kella]

Glad it’s not just me I was worried I was going mad or doing something wrong!

XF 2.1 - Turn BBCode editor off by default on mobile devices

I'm trying to work out how to load the editor in BbCode OFF mode on mobile devices. I'm hoping I can just create a few lines of JavaScript to hook in to this and flick it off each time. It provides a MUCH better experience on mobiles while this is turned off and is easily turned on if people...

xenforo.com

If you check my post I ended up defaulting to the plain text setting on the editor on mobiles which doesn’t seem to have those issues.

Not an ideal solution but works for me for now.

Let me know if you’d like a hand with implementation.

This looks great. Where do I place that JS?

 

[Jim Fox]

Oh wow!!! So it’s not just me that has this same experience on the iPhone? It’s one of those irritating little nagging things the way it always starts a new line in lower case, etc. it’s kind of amazing to me that a year later and it’s still doing this. I just upgraded my forum to XF2.1 you would think those bugs would have been fixed by now.

 

[adamgreenough]

Yes, it is incredibly frustrating. I am still using the workaround to force BB code editor OFF by default on mobiles.

I am disappointed there has been no official recognition on this from the XenForo staff. The errors are reproducible and affect absolute core functionality for the bulk of my users.

 

[adamgreenough]

@Chris D did report a bug to Froala in March of this year (https://xenforo.com/community/threa...e-multiple-lines-of-text.176367/#post-1411357) but never got a response.

Clearly Froala are not interested in supporting their incredibly expensive editor ($3999 a year!) as even their latest major version on the homepage has the same issues. In fact, of the almost 400 issues they have open on their GitHub, only 6 have been closed so far this year and we're 5 months in.

I would love to see us change to an alternative.

 

[El Porcharo]

I just upgraded my forum to XF2.1 you would think those bugs would have been fixed by now.

Please report back if it was fixed or not, I'm on latest version but don't have any iPhone to test!