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wtf is cleditor?

sergeykhval/cleditor — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-20 · repo last pushed 2016-03-09

JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5DormantSetup · easy

TL;DR

Cleditor is a lightweight jQuery plugin that turns a plain text area into a simple rich text editor with a word processor-style toolbar. It is designed for non-technical users who need to format text without learning Markdown or HTML.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Rich text editor
      Word processor toolbar
      Generates HTML automatically
    Tech stack
      JavaScript
      jQuery
    Use cases
      Blog platform editor
      Email composer
      Small CMS interface
    Audience
      Web app developers
      Non-technical end users
    Status
      Currently unmaintained
      Seeking new maintainer

Code map

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filefunction / class

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Add a formatting toolbar to a blog post editor so writers can bold and italicize text.

REASON 2

Build an email composer in a web app where users format messages without writing HTML.

REASON 3

Create a lightweight CMS where clients edit page content using familiar word processor controls.

REASON 4

Upgrade a plain comments text box so users can add lists and styling to their posts.

What's in the stack?

JavaScriptjQuery

How it stacks up

sergeykhval/cleditor3rd-eden/ircb.ioa15n/a15n
LanguageJavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript
Last pushed2016-03-092016-11-162019-04-07
MaintenanceDormantDormantDormant
Setup difficultyeasyeasyeasy
Complexity2/52/52/5
Audiencedeveloperdevelopergeneral

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Requires jQuery to be included on the page before the Cleditor script, but otherwise it is a simple drop-in plugin with no server or infra requirements.

No license information is provided in the explanation, so the license terms are unknown.

Wtf does this do

Cleditor is a lightweight HTML editor built with jQuery. It gives you a word processor-like toolbar, bold, italic, lists, and so on, that lets non-technical users format text in a web app without needing to learn Markdown or write HTML by hand. Think of it as the kind of editing experience you'd see in a blog platform, email composer, or CMS where end users just want to click a button and make text look right. At its core, the tool takes a plain text area on a web page and upgrades it into a rich text editor. A user highlights text, clicks a formatting button, and the editor generates the underlying HTML automatically. The philosophy behind it is intentionally minimal: keep it fast and focused on the essentials rather than packing in every possible feature. This makes it a good fit when you want something that loads quickly and stays out of the way. The people who would reach for this are developers building web apps or sites where end users need to format content but aren't comfortable with Markdown or raw HTML. For example, if you're building a small CMS for a client who expects a familiar word processor-style interface, this fills that gap without the overhead of a massive editor package. The README is essentially a conversation history rather than a feature list, and an important thing to know is that this project is currently unmaintained. The original maintainer notes that few people were contributing and he eventually stopped using it himself. He's openly looking for someone to take over development. The discussion also highlights a real tradeoff in the rich text editor space: heavyweight options exist but can be slow and complex, while this project's appeal has always been its lean, straightforward approach.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
I want to add Cleditor to my web app. Show me how to include jQuery, reference the Cleditor script and CSS, and call cleditor on a textarea to get a rich text editor working.
Prompt 2
Help me configure the Cleditor toolbar to only show bold, italic, underline, and bullet list buttons, hiding all other controls.
Prompt 3
I am using Cleditor in my CMS and need to get the formatted HTML content when the user clicks save. Write the JavaScript to extract the HTML from the Cleditor instance.
Prompt 4
Cleditor is unmaintained. Help me evaluate whether to use it anyway or suggest a modern lightweight alternative that works similarly with jQuery and has a simple formatting toolbar.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is cleditor?

Cleditor is a lightweight jQuery plugin that turns a plain text area into a simple rich text editor with a word processor-style toolbar. It is designed for non-technical users who need to format text without learning Markdown or HTML.

What language is cleditor written in?

Mainly JavaScript. The stack also includes JavaScript, jQuery.

Is cleditor actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2016-03-09).

What license does cleditor use?

No license information is provided in the explanation, so the license terms are unknown.

How hard is cleditor to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is cleditor for?

Mainly developer.

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