(Re) Introducing the Block Editor field
The Block Editor in dotCMS is not just a rich text editor—it’s a playground for content creators who crave flexibility with some structure and governance built in. Built on Tiptap, this clever interface treats paragraphs, images, code snippets, lists, and more as self-contained “blocks.” You can easily drag, drop, reorder, or transform them—making content feel less like a static page and more like a living mosaic of ideas.
What does the Block Editor do?
At its core, the Block Editor makes content modular, giving content authors more control over how content is arranged on the page and more versatility to include different types of content where they want it. Here’s a quick glimpse of the block universe:
Paragraphs, headings, lists, quotes, code, tables, horizontal rules—all represented as discrete blocks, each with its own editor controls.
Digital Media blocks, such as drag-and-drop images, YouTube embeds, and video uploads, streamline the inclusion of visual assets in the page.
Embedded contentlets, bringing dynamic content types into the mix—perfect for building rich, reusable components.
AI-powered blocks, use AI directly in the block editor to generate text and imagery. Available if you’ve enabled dotAI.
When to Choose the Block Editor Over WYSIWYG
Here’s where it shines brighter than a plain WYSIWYG field:
Structured content – Use it when you want predictable, reusable layouts that have some flexibility to embed multimedia and other content types.
Headless delivery – It delivers clean JSON that front-end frameworks can parse.
Better governance – Administrators can limit available content types, tightening editorial consistency.
Edit-in-context – Inline editing of blocks and the ability to drag and drop blocks speeds up creating and editing content, getting it to market faster.
Analytics-ready – Character count, word count, and reading time appear beneath the field with optional limits.
Just Landed: Latest Updates That Make It Shine
Updates to TipTap, adding support for Markdown, and fixing several small usability issues makes the block editor a joy to use!
Updated the TipTap library from Beta to Stable
Added Copy To and Paste From Markdown
Replace Custom Table Node with Official Tiptap Extension
Replace Custom dotPlaceholder Plugin with Official Tiptap Placeholder Extension
Replace Custom Bubble Menu with TiptapBubbleMenuDirective from ngx-tiptap
Replace Custom DragHandle with Official Tiptap Drag Handle Extension
Replace Custom Slash Command with Tiptap’s Experimental slash-command
Fixed 17 small quirks, bugs, annoyances, and inconveniences
The Case for the Block Editor: A Final Bow
Let’s be real: WYSIWYG editors were great for decades. But they’re stale. The Block Editor is where agility, reusability, and clarity come together. It’s like switching from typing straight into plaster to sculpting with LEGO bricks—modular, expressive, and impact-ready.
By giving content teams structured power over layout, media, and dynamic content, the Block Editor lets them move quickly, with fewer handoffs and sharper control. It doesn’t just make content— it speeds content to market.
Content teams, assemble! Ramp up your strategy, slice through editorial friction, and build with the Block Editor—where structure meets speed, and content wins.