KTML Tip - Getting the Latest Version

My company used to employ the SiteObjects Editor inside our CMS, Element. This product had a number of issues, and the development has been stuck at 2.5 for quite some time. A client asked us to look at KTML, and we were so impressed with it we decided to use it as the primary rich text editor for our CMS.

In general - the process of moving to KTML from SOE was a smooth one. The main problems we have had involve the fact that KTML assumes you want to use it from Dreamweaver. The notion of using it strictly as a custom tag works of course, but the docs don't help much on this. (Luckily the support at Interakt is pretty darn good.)

So - my latest problem was a bit wierd. When I first integrated KTML, I ran into an issue where I couldn't even find the files. The download contains an MXP (I believe) file that requires you to install it with the Macromedia Exchange doohicky. However, they also had demo files, and the demo files contained the extracted KTML code.

While at CFUNITED, KTML was updated to version 3.6.0. I followed the same procedure I had before. Since it was a minor update, I didn't really look around to confirm the code was updated. Turns out - the code used in the demos for the product were still on the old version.

I had Dreamweaver installed on my laptop. So I quickly worked up a page with a text area, got Server something or another set up, and then was able to apply KTML to it. A total and complete pain in the rear (grin), but I've already asked Interakt to look into making this easier, and I'm sure they will. (And thank goodness their support folk helped me since I had no idea what to do in Dreamweaver. ;)

So - I'm kind of rambling here - but if you are looking for a rich text editor, I'd consider taking a look at KTML. They do have a stripped down free version, but even the high end version isn't bad (75$). (I'm a big fan of free software - but I don't understand folks who will spend N times more time and trouble using a free package when something that costs just a little bit of money is so easy to use.)

Archived Comments

Comment 1 by Adedeji Olowe posted on 7/19/2005 at 5:02 PM

Ray, you ain't alone on this. I got on the RTE boat with SoEditor, I have since tried HTMLArea, and some other RTEs but I can tell you that KTML is the best. I think the SoObject guys have lost it. Only God know what happened to them. The most lovely part for me about KTML is the document and picture upload (this is where I have a grouse with FCUKEditor)

Free software is good, but the guys that write these widgets needs to feed their families too. And you also do yourself a favor by paying just a bit more for better service.

I have since converted some of my companies content managers to KTML and it's so easy to do.

I use Dreamweaver so it wasn't too difficult to figure out.

Adedeji Olowe
www.dejiolowe.com

Comment 2 by Michael van Leest posted on 7/19/2005 at 5:50 PM

Hi Ray,

Try to browse through the MXP with WinRAR or something, it also works with flash packages :-), so it might work with MXP's

btw I use KTML for my (your) blog and it works quite ok...

Comment 3 by Raymond Camden posted on 7/19/2005 at 5:51 PM

Heh, I wouldn't have thought it was zip-compatible. Oh well. As I said, I still had DWMX on my laptop, but my desktop never had it installed.

Comment 4 by Christopher Wigginton posted on 7/19/2005 at 7:19 PM

Adedeji,

What problems did you have with the FCKEditor upload and download? My only issue was the cfm connector for uploading needed a little rework and an obscure problem with an OnRequestEnd.cfm which a <cfabort> fixed, other than that, it's beautiful, works great in Firefox and IE. I was also able to enhance the connector to support specific user directories based on the cf security model.

Comment 5 by Roger Benningfield posted on 7/19/2005 at 7:21 PM

Ray: I'm always open to new WYSIWYG environments, and Ibut at a glance, I'm not sure why you would choose KTML over FCK. Is there some particular thing that makes it a slam dunk for you?

For me, KTML doesn't even appear to be an option, given the pricing structure. Since they're going per-domain, it would cost me $1,999 to provide users with the same functionality that FCK provides for free. And frankly, FCK is slicker, in my opinion.

Comment 6 by Raymond Camden posted on 7/20/2005 at 6:51 PM

Roger: It was a combination of things. Mainly we met with the client and played with both. The client had already tried KTML so they may have been a bit biased. We liked the image editing options in KTML.

I'm not sure what you mean about the pricing structure. 75 dollars covers one domain. For a client, that's not much to charge them. If you have N clients where 75*N=1999, I don't consider that bad per se - it just means you have a lot of clients. ;) Just offer it to them as option (I mean, I would suggest that, but I know you prefer FCK, but you get my point).

Comment 7 by Jeff Wilkinson posted on 8/28/2005 at 12:22 AM

We're looking into a textarea editor for the TableEditor project. ( http://www.2enetworx.com/de... )

One of the recommendations has been TinyMCE. http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/

Have any of you used it yet? Any thoughts on how it compares to FCK?

Comment 8 by James posted on 11/1/2005 at 1:16 PM

Greate site. Thank you :)

Comment 9 by Maria posted on 11/16/2005 at 3:30 AM

Hi, why nobody responds me?

Comment 10 by Vue posted on 11/28/2005 at 11:32 PM

Hi, and that all of you today all such not talkative?

Comment 11 by Lots posted on 11/29/2005 at 7:16 AM

Hi! I can not load the image on server in any way.

Comment 12 by Polok posted on 12/16/2005 at 5:06 AM

Good site. Me very much has liked.

Comment 13 by Gosha posted on 12/21/2005 at 5:12 AM

It is a site, it I understand, have tried.

Comment 14 by Jeniffer posted on 2/19/2006 at 7:53 AM

I must confuses your site is really cool!!! Great site, great idea, just all round great work, everyone.

Comment 15 by Marko posted on 3/18/2006 at 3:31 PM

Hi. Beautiful content and website design. Sorry for my english. I am from albania.

Comment 16 by Kolin posted on 4/23/2006 at 7:24 AM

Hi! Do not prompt as me to send e-mail? = (

Comment 17 by Zloy posted on 4/27/2006 at 12:41 PM

hi
Why I can not insert the image into my message?

Comment 18 by Bob posted on 5/3/2006 at 4:40 PM

?-mine, where I have got?

Comment 19 by Raymond Camden posted on 5/3/2006 at 4:49 PM

Ok, I don't know why, but this entry gets hit with these silly comments. I'm disabling comments for the first time ever.