Integrate TinyMCE Text Editor in Django Website

Django, a popular Python web framework, provides developers with powerful tools for building dynamic and content-rich websites. To create and manage text content easily, integrating a rich text editor is a great choice. In this blog post, we’ll explore how to integrate the TinyMCE text editor into a Django application. With TinyMCE, you can empower your users to create, edit, and format content effortlessly.

Prerequisites

Before we dive into the integration process, ensure you have the following prerequisites:

Django Installed: Make sure you have Django installed in your Python environment. You can install it using pip:

pip install Django

Django Project: Set up a Django project and app or use an existing one.
Basic Understanding of Django: Familiarity with Django’s project structure, views, templates, and models.

Integration Steps

Follow these steps to integrate TinyMCE into your Django application:

Step 1: Install TinyMCE

You can integrate TinyMCE into your Django project by using a package called django-tinymce. Install it using pip:

pip install django-tinymce

Step 2: Configure Your Django Project

In your Django project’s settings (settings.py), add 'tinymce' to the INSTALLED_APPS list:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ...
    'tinymce',
    # ...
]

Step 3: Configure TinyMCE Settings

In your project’s settings.py, configure TinyMCE settings. You can customize TinyMCE behavior according to your requirements. Here’s a basic example:

TINYMCE_DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
    'height': 360,
    'width': 900,
    'cleanup_on_startup': True,
    'custom_undo_redo_levels': 20,
    'selector': 'textarea',
    'plugins': 'paste',
    'paste_as_text': True,
    'toolbar': 'undo redo | formatselect | bold italic backcolor | alignleft aligncenter alignright alignjustify | bullist numlist outdent indent | removeformat',
}

These settings control TinyMCE’s appearance and functionality. You can further customize them as needed.

Step 4: Add TinyMCE to Your Forms

To use TinyMCE in your forms, you’ll need to update the form class. Import TinyMCE from tinymce.widgets, and then use it as a widget for your text fields.

# forms.py
from django import forms
from tinymce.widgets import TinyMCE
from .models import YourModel

class YourModelForm(forms.ModelForm):
    content = forms.CharField(widget=TinyMCE(attrs={'cols': 80, 'rows': 20}))

    class Meta:
        model = YourModel
        fields = ['title', 'content']

In this example, we’ve integrated TinyMCE with the content field of a model form.

Step 5: Update Your Templates

In your HTML templates, render the form field using {{ form.field_name }} where field_name is the name of the field you want to render with TinyMCE. Make sure that you include {{ form.media }}

<!-- template.html -->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <title>Your Django App</title>
    {{ form.media }}
</head>
<body>
    <form method="post">
        {% csrf_token %}
        {{ form.title.label_tag }} {{ form.title }}
        {{ form.content.label_tag }} {{ form.content }}
        <button type="submit">Submit</button>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

Step 6: Include TinyMCE JavaScript

In your template’s <head> section, include the TinyMCE JavaScript by adding {{ form.media }}. This includes the required JavaScript and CSS files for TinyMCE to function correctly.

Step 7: Run the Development Server

Start your Django development server:

python manage.py runserver

Access the form that uses TinyMCE in your browser. You’ll see the TinyMCE text editor integrated, allowing users to create and format text content seamlessly.

Conclusion

Integrating TinyMCE into your Django application adds a powerful and user-friendly text editor to your website. It empowers users to create rich content without the need for technical expertise. Whether you’re building a blog, a content management system, or any other text-heavy application, TinyMCE is a valuable addition that enhances the user experience and saves development time.

Find this project on Github.