wagtail-html-editor 0.3.0

Enhanced HTML editor block for Wagtail CMS with CodeMirror 6, syntax highlighting, Emmet support, and fullscreen mode

wagtail-html-editor

Philosophy

Wagtail's RawHTMLBlock is a simple textarea. While this simplicity is intentional, it can be limiting when editors need to write complex HTML layouts directly in the admin interface.

wagtail-html-editor bridges this gap by providing a VS Code-like editing experience within Wagtail's admin. Syntax highlighting, auto-indentation, Emmet support, and fullscreen mode make HTML coding in the admin not just possible, but comfortable.

This library is designed as a standalone package that can be used independently, while also serving as an optional enhancement for wagtail-reusable-blocks.

Key Features

• Syntax Highlighting - HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with proper colorization
• Auto-indentation - Smart indentation like VS Code
• Dark/Light Mode - Follows Wagtail admin theme or manual toggle
• HTML Autocomplete - Tag completion, attribute suggestions
• Emmet Support - Expand abbreviations (e.g., div.container>ul>li*3)
• Fullscreen Mode - Expand editor to use the full panel for comfortable coding
• Auto-closing Tags - Automatic closing tag insertion
• Lightweight - Built on CodeMirror 6 with minimal bundle size

Use Cases

• HTML Layouts - Write complex HTML directly in Wagtail admin
• Custom Widgets - Embed third-party widgets with proper syntax highlighting
• Email Templates - Create HTML email templates with visual feedback
• SVG Content - Edit inline SVG with syntax support
• Script Injection - Add custom scripts with proper code editing

Installation

pip install wagtail-html-editor

Add to your INSTALLED_APPS:

# settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ...
    'wagtail_html_editor',
    # ...
]

That's it! You can now use EnhancedHTMLBlock in your StreamFields.

Quick Start

1. Use in Your Page Model

from wagtail.models import Page
from wagtail.fields import StreamField
from wagtail.admin.panels import FieldPanel
from wagtail_html_editor.blocks import EnhancedHTMLBlock

class ContentPage(Page):
    body = StreamField([
        ('html', EnhancedHTMLBlock()),
        # ... other blocks
    ], blank=True, use_json_field=True)

    content_panels = Page.content_panels + [
        FieldPanel('body'),
    ]

2. Edit HTML in Admin

1. Go to your page in Wagtail admin
2. Add an "HTML" block to the body
3. Start coding with syntax highlighting!
4. Click the fullscreen button for a larger editing area
5. Use Emmet abbreviations for rapid HTML creation

3. Render in Template

{% load wagtailcore_tags %}

{% for block in page.body %}
    {% include_block block %}
{% endfor %}

Editor Features

Syntax Highlighting

The editor provides proper syntax highlighting for:

• HTML tags and attributes
• Inline CSS (<style> blocks)
• Inline JavaScript (<script> blocks)
• Template syntax (Django/Jinja2)

Emmet Support

Expand abbreviations with Tab:

Abbreviation	Expansion
div.container	<div class="container"></div>
ul>li*3	<ul><li></li><li></li><li></li></ul>
a[href=#]	<a href="#"></a>
!	HTML5 boilerplate

Fullscreen Mode

Click the expand button below the editor to enter fullscreen mode:

• Uses the full left panel (excluding preview area)
• "Done" button at the bottom to exit
• ESC key also exits fullscreen

Theme Support

The editor automatically follows Wagtail's theme:

• Auto (default): Follows Wagtail admin dark/light mode
• Light: Always use light theme
• Dark: Always use dark theme

Configuration

All settings are optional. Configure via WAGTAIL_HTML_EDITOR in your Django settings:

# settings.py
WAGTAIL_HTML_EDITOR = {
    "emmet": True,           # Enable Emmet abbreviation expansion
    "indent_size": 2,        # Number of spaces per indent (2 or 4)
    "indent_with_tabs": False,  # Use tabs instead of spaces
    "theme": "auto",         # "auto", "light", or "dark"
}

Available Settings

Setting	Default	Description
emmet	True	Enable Emmet abbreviation expansion
indent_size	2	Number of spaces per indent (2 or 4)
indent_with_tabs	False	Use tabs instead of spaces
theme	"auto"	Color theme: "auto", "light", or "dark"

Integration with wagtail-reusable-blocks

If you're using wagtail-reusable-blocks, install with the editor extra:

pip install wagtail-reusable-blocks[editor]

This automatically replaces RawHTMLBlock with EnhancedHTMLBlock in your reusable blocks.

Troubleshooting

Editor Not Loading

Issue: The editor shows a plain textarea instead of CodeMirror.

Solutions:

1. Check browser console for JavaScript errors
2. Ensure static files are collected: python manage.py collectstatic
3. Clear browser cache (Cmd+Shift+R or Ctrl+Shift+R)

Emmet Not Working

Issue: Tab doesn't expand Emmet abbreviations.

Solutions:

1. Ensure emmet is True in settings (default)
2. Check that the cursor is at the end of the abbreviation
3. Some abbreviations may conflict with autocomplete - press Tab twice

Theme Not Matching Wagtail

Issue: Editor theme doesn't follow Wagtail's dark/light mode.

Solutions:

1. Ensure theme is set to "auto" in settings (default)
2. Reload the page after changing Wagtail's theme
3. Check browser console for theme detection errors

Requirements

Python	Django	Wagtail
3.10+	4.2, 5.1, 5.2	6.4, 7.0, 7.2

See our CI configuration for the complete compatibility matrix.

Documentation

• Contributing Guide

Project Links

• GitHub Repository
• Issue Tracker
• Related: wagtail-reusable-blocks

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for details.

License

BSD 3-Clause License. See LICENSE for details.

Inspiration

• CodeMirror 6 - The code editor powering this package
• Emmet - The essential toolkit for web-developers
• wagtail-reusable-blocks - Reusable content blocks with slot-based templating
• VS Code - The editing experience we aim to bring to Wagtail