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We are updating our documentation library to be ready for Sector 10! Find out more in our Sector 10 roadmap or head straight to our collection of Sector 10 - Changes and Updates.
The introduction of CKEditor 5 will bring major changes for Sector 10 and sites updated from Sector 9 to 10! CK5 is a complete re-write and some of the CK4 features are moving into a paid premium version. The Sector 10 Starter Kit CKEditor 5 config will be free and will cover common editorial tasks with some nice additions.
The table below lists the differences per feature.
| Feature | CK4 | CK5 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toolbar | As-is | New | Now based on Google Docs toolbar |
| Undo/redo | Yes | Yes | |
| Paragraph styles | Yes (Styles) | Yes | Heading 2 to 5 matching <h2> to <h5> |
| Styles | Included in Styles above | Yes | Now a separate drop-down with leading and highlighted styles. |
| Text align | No | Yes | Now in a new dropdown restricted to centred and LHS |
| Special characters | Yes | Yes | |
| Link (via Linkit) | Yes | Yes | Now with advanced features to add aria-labels, classes, ids and relationships. |
| Bold, italic, strike through | Yes | Yes | |
| Ordered and unordered lists | Yes | Yes | Unordered lists now with 'start with' and 'reverse order' |
| Increase / decrease indent | Yes | Yes | |
| Quotes | Yes | Yes | |
| Subscript and superscript | Yes | Yes | |
| Tables | Yes (via WYSIWYG templates) | Yes | Now using the default table feature |
| Horizontal line | Yes | Yes | |
| Media | Yes | Yes | |
| Source code | Yes | Yes | Please note: the source view is available in all formats for easy 'debugging' but only the FULL HTML format should have additional tags allowed that are not covered by plugins!!! |
| Remove format | Yes | Yes | |
| Anchor | Yes | No | Workaround is WIP |
| Show blocks | Yes | No | |
| Magic line (red line to insert paragraph after element) | Yes | No | Some elements are wrapped in a drag and drop container, including the feature to insert a paragraph before and after elements, but it is missing for templates and other elements ... |
| Maximise window | Yes | No | |
| WYSIWYG templates (CKEditor Templates) | Yes | No | See below! |
| Embedded content | No | Yes | See below |
Known gaps in specific use cases
| Feature | CK4 | CK5 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| User able the edit embedded media items | Yes | No | Under review |
WYSIWYG templates (CKEditor Templates)
As of September 2023, the CKEditor Templates module has no upgrade path to Drupal 10 but work is being done. Seeing that this is a major migration issue on the upgrade path, we will keep an eye on the issue.
Introducing embedded content
The ability to add and edit rich design patterns using the WYSIWYG editor is a primary Sector content authoring feature. Looking ahead to Sector 10, we decided to provide an alternative solution using the Embedded Content module.
If there is a Drupal 10 CKEditor Templates version available before the end of 2023, both solutions can work in tandem and site owners can decided which to choose.
Other alternatives
The CKEditor 5 Template module is another alternative worth keeping in mind, but the CK5 templates are built more for editorial use cases in apps rather than websites. Try the templates button on the feature-rich editor demo.
Migrating CK4 to CK5
See our blog for some guidance to help you answer the question 'how should you approach upgrading CKEditor 4 to CKEditor 5?'