Description
Note: Just Writing now has beta support WordPress 4.1, please see further down this page for more details.
Distraction Free Writing (DFW) Mode is a great way to focus on writing text, but have you ever found yourself wanting to do a bit more with it? How about spell check, or change the paragraph style without dropping back to the standard post edit mode? Now you can get all the functionality of the standard mode tools in DFW!
But maybe you think there are too many buttons in DFW, no problem you can get rid of pretty much all of them!
Just Writing takes DFW from a great way to write to a great way of writing posts!
New Commands
This plugin adds the following optional commands to the toolbar in DFW:
* Address * Insert More Tag
* Align Full * Insert Custom Character
* Align Left * Outdent
* Align Right * Paragraph
* Background Color * Paste
* Block Quotes * Paste as Text
* Copy * Paste from Word
* Cut * Preformatted
* Font * Preview
* Font Color * Redo
* Font Size * Remove Formatting
* H1 * Spellcheck
* H2 * Strikethrough
* H3 * Subscript
* H4 * Superscript
* H5 * Underline
* H6 * Undo
* Indent
More Features
* Option to remove the fade effect and keep the toolbar visible
* Option to hide or lighten the border on the title/body areas
* Option to hide the word count
* Option to hide the editor mode bar
* Option to center the toolbar on screen
* Adds an optional Preview button to the right of the Save button
* Moves the exit link to the right of the new Preview
button as a real button
* Re-orders the button list to make more sense
* Per-user preferences for enabling Just Writing
* Per-user preferences for which buttons to display
* Option to start in DFW for new posts
* Option to start in DFW when editing posts
* Option to add a DFW link to the pages/posts list to go directly to DFW
* Adds spell check field to the post title so your browser will spell check it for you
* Browser full screen mode now support
WordPress 4.1+ Support
DFW in WP4.1 is a completely different than previous versions and Just Writing takes a completely different approach to it. Instead of adding buttons and features to WordPress’s built in DFW, Just Writing adds a new “Writing” mode to WordPress.
“Writing” mode closely matches the old DFW from previous version of WordPress but has all the features of Just Writing.
There are a few differences however:
* Switching between the edit page and writing mode, unlike the old DFW, requires a full page load.
* There are a few hard coded pieces around, so there may be some weird effects with non-english languages.
* Support for full meta data editing inside of Writing mode.
* Closing and re-arranging postboxes in the meta area are not saved between sessions.
License
This code is released under the GPL v2, see license.txt for details.
Roadmap
- add second row to toolbar, remove individual style buttons
Screenshots
Pre installation DFW. 
Post installation DFW. 
User preferences screen. 
Advanced user preferences options. 
A real DFW! 
Administration screen.
Installation
- Extract the archive file into your plugins directory in the just-writing folder.
- Activate the plugin in the Plugin options.
- Login to WordPress and go to your profile page, update the options at the bottom.
FAQ
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What browsers are supported?
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Try it and find out, the JavaScript is pretty basic so it should work in just about any browser. I’ve successfully run it on:
* IE 11 * Opera 12.16 * FireFox 24/25 * Chrome 31 -
I can’t find the Just Writing options, where are they?
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For standard users (aka non-admin users), they can go to their WordPress settings page and select “Profile”, scroll down to the bottom and your see the Just Writing section.
For admin users it can be found under “Users”->”Your Profile”.
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I’ve disabled the fade effect and now the browser is running slowly, what’s wrong?
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The fade effect is triggered by WordPress when no mouse movement is executed for 2 seconds, the only (without changing some of the WordPress sources files at least) way to disable it is to execute a mousemove event every 1.5 seconds. This shouldn’t be an issue in any modern browser, but if your having performance issues, simply re-enable the fade effect.
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I’ve disabled the fade effect but there is a ‘flicker’ when DFW comes up, what’s wrong?
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If you start DFW without moving the mouse you might hit right between when WordPress starts fading but before Just Writing fires off a mousemove event, this shouldn’t be an issue after the first start of DFW.
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As of WordPress 3.6, the spellchecker is no longer part of the core WordPress install, you need to add a plugin to get the functionality back. I’d suggest TinyMCE SpellChecker as a good option.
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WordPress 3.9 removed the “Paste as Word” button as the functionality is built in to TinyMCE now. Just paste your word content in to the visual editor and the formatting will be maintained.
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Browser full screen mode isn’t working…
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Browser full screen mode is highly dependent on the browser, it may not work for you. For example Safari blocks keyboard input during full screen mode.
If it’s not working for you try another browser.
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Why can’t the browser full screen mode be auto loaded like DFW
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Two words for you: Browser Security.
Modern browsers support full screen mode but they only activate it when a user clicks on a button, there’s no way to fake it through JavaScript. Thats so that a malicous web site doesn’t try and impersonate your OS and get you to enter a password that it steal.
The other issue is that full screen mode is de-activated as soon as you leave the current page, so for example Just Writing could link full screen mode to the DFW “click” in the post list, but as soon as the browser leaves the post list to load the editor page full screen mode will be deactivated.
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I’m using the “Avia Layout Builder” and when I use Just Writing my chnages don’t get published, what’s wrong?
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Unfortunately the “Avia Layout Builder” is incompatible with Just Writing.
Reviews
Contributors & Developers
“Just Writing” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “Just Writing” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
4.0
- Release date: January 18, 2025
- Fixed warnings with language text domain loading.
- Added support for WordPress 5.7+.
3.9.1
- Release date: August 17, 2020
- Fixed warnings with PHP 7.4.
3.9
- Release date: July 4, 2016
- Added text domain for translation support.
- Added support for WordPress 4.5.
- Fixed broken link button, thanks barbosalm!
3.8
- Release date: September 18, 2015
- Added Writing button to the text mode post/page editor.
- Update utility class.
- Updated the settings page, adding tabs and better about format.
- Fixed some WP_DEBUG warnings.
3.7
- Release date: August 11, 2015
- Update to support WordPress 4.3.
3.6.2
- Release date: January 28, 2015
- Update utility class to avoid re-declaration errors.
3.6.1
- Release date: January 22, 2015
- Fixed an incorrect JavaScript function definition that broke IE.
3.6
- Release date: January 22, 2015
- Added meta data editing is now supported in Writing mode.
- Fixed toolbar resizing would sometimes be incorrect due to the browser lagging behind showing various UI objects.
- Updated preview button to check for modifications and notify the user before opening the preview window.
3.5
- Release date: January 6, 2015
- Beta support for WordPress 4.1
- Fixed bug with Firefox that would not dismiss the JavaScript popup correctly.
3.0
- Release date: December 17, 2014
- Major restructuring to better support multiple WordPress versions.
- Unified user options in to a single array instead of many individual settings in the database.
2.18
- Release date: October 29, 2014
- Added browser full screen option.
- Added css to move the spinner/saved/error messages when saving in full screen outside of the toolbar to a positional span under the buttons.
- Updated profile screen to only display options if the user has edit_pages or edit_posts capability.
2.17
- Release date: August 13, 2014
- Added browser based spell check to the post title field, inspired by Post Title Spell Check (https://github.com/FlagshipWP/post-title-spell-check).
2.16
- Release date: July 28, 2014
- Added full justification button.
- Fixed behaviour of center justificaiton button.
2.15.4
- Release date: June 27, 2014
- Fixed javascript popup menus not showing up on posts that were longer then the display size.
2.15.3
- Release date: May 27, 2014
- Fixed insert media button in WP3.9
2.15.2
- Release date: May 25, 2014
- Fixed special characters and paste as text buttons in WP3.9
- Removed paste as word in WP3.9
2.15.1
- Release date: April 21, 2014
- Added link to user profile page in the Just Writing settings page.
- About page cleanup and additional translation strings.
- Fix to remove new ‘cover’ background-size setting in default icon settings in WP3.9.
2.15
- Release date: February 17, 2014
- Minor WordPress and PHP notices clean up when in debug mode, thanks Dave Warfel.
- Major overhaul of code to support upcoming WordPress 3.9 release with TinyMCE 4.0. WP3.9 support should be considered beta at this time.
- Fixed a bug where centring the toolbar would fail if there was very little space left between the toolbar and the save/preview/exit buttons.
- Fixed incorrect description of Paste as Word button.
2.14.2
- Release date: December 22, 2013
- Fixed quick settings area being displayed when Just Writing has been disabled.
- Tested with WordPress 3.8.
2.14.1
- Release date: December 1, 2013
- Bug fix for when JavaScript popups were selected but the associated button was not selected to be added to the toolbar.
- Added some descriptive text to the quick settings options.
2.14
- Release date: November 30, 2013
- Added JavaScript Font/Size/Style selectors
- Added “out of bounds” click detection to the JavaScript popups
- Fixed issue with the JavaScript color selector and IE losing the selection when clicking a color.
- Updated the profile page to support “quick” settings.
2.13.2
- Release date: November 19, 2013
- Added permissions check to the uninstall code.
2.13.1
- Release date: November 17, 2013
- Fixed several bugs with the new JavaScript color pickers staying on screen when they shouldn’t.
2.13
- Release date: November 17, 2013
- Added JavaScript color pickers for font color and background color.
- Added option to disable JavaScript color pickers (they may not work in some browsers).
- Collapsed the user options and button options by default to make the user preferences screen cleaner.
2.12.2
- Release date: November 12, 2013
- Fixed issue with Chrome not centering the toolbar correctly
- Prettied up the font/color listboxes. Only works on some browsers.
2.12.1
- Release date: November 11, 2013
- Fixed a bug in the DFW link code which ALWAYS included the linked regardless of the user preference setting.
2.12
- Release date: November 11, 2013
- Fixed a bug between the center toolbar and autoload code.
- Added option to add a DFW link to the post and pages list.
2.11
- Release date: November 11, 2013
- Added option to center the toolbar on screen.
2.10
- Release date: November 4, 2013
- Added Font, Font Size, Font Color and Background Color selector options
2.9
- Release date: November 4, 2013
- Fixed issue with auto load of DFW being triggered every time a post was updated or published
- Fixed issue with new installs, users would get a blank screen if they did not save their profile settings before editing a post
2.8
- Release date: October 31, 2013
- Add support for visual separators between button groups
- Modularized the code as the primary PHP file was getting large
- Added support for translation of the ‘Exit’ button
2.7
- Release date: October 30, 2013
- Added Cut/Copy/Paste buttons
- Cleaned up the preferences screen
- Added ‘Select Defaults’ to the preferences screen
2.6
- Release date: October 29, 2013
- Fixed missing css file that caused the P, H1-H6, etc. buttons to not display an image
- Added Superscript and Subscript buttons
2.5
- Release date: October 28, 2013
- Added support for Right-to-Left languages
2.4
- Release date: October 27, 2013
- Added option to use a listbox instead of individual buttons
- Fixed bug in border option selector which would not allow you to save the hide option
2.3
- Release date: October 26, 2013
- Added rate and review reminder in the user profile page
- Added reminder to make sure the Visual Editor is enabled in the user profile page
- Added option to start in DFW for new posts
- Added option to start in DFW when editing posts
- Added ‘lighter’ border option for title/body area
- Cleaned up the De/Select All code in the user profile page, should work with all
browsers now
2.2
- Release date: October 26, 2013
- Minor readme.txt updates.
- Added option to disable editor mode bar.
- Added brief description to the plugin in the user option panel.
- Added code to hide the options list in the user panel when disabled.
2.1
- Release date: October 25, 2013
- Minor bug fix, if a user for the first time went to their user preferences before editing a post the defaults would not be set.
2.0
- Release date: October 25, 2013
- Added options to remove the fade effect, hide the border, word count and preview button.
1.0
- Release date: October 23, 2013
- Released on www.remarpro.com
0.3
- Release date: Never released
- Re-ordered buttons.
- Allow disabling of default buttons.
0.2
- Release date: Never released
- Added user preferences.
0.1
- Release date: Never released
- Initial release.