Editor Functions Reference

Last updated: February 12, 2026

Public functions for working with the WordPress Classic Editor (TinyMCE and Quicktags).

File: wp-includes/general-template.php (primary)
Additional: wp-includes/formatting.php, wp-includes/theme.php

wp_editor()

Renders a TinyMCE/Quicktags editor instance.

function wp_editor( string $content, string $editor_id, array $settings = array() ): void

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$content`	string	Initial content for the editor
`$editor_id`	string	HTML ID for the textarea. Should not contain square brackets.
`$settings`	array	Editor configuration (see Settings below)

Settings:

Key	Type	Default	Description
`wpautop`	bool	`true`	Whether to use `wpautop()` for paragraphs
`media_buttons`	bool	`true`	Show the Add Media button
`default_editor`	string	`''`	Default tab: `'tinymce'` or `'html'`
`drag_drop_upload`	bool	`false`	Enable drag & drop uploading
`textarea_name`	string	`$editor_id`	Name attribute for the textarea
`textarea_rows`	int	`20`	Number of textarea rows
`tabindex`	string/int	`''`	Tabindex value
`tabfocus_elements`	string	`':prev,:next'`	Elements for Tab key navigation
`editor_css`	string	`''`	Extra CSS (include `<style>` tags)
`editor_class`	string	`''`	Extra CSS classes for textarea
`teeny`	bool	`false`	Use minimal editor (like Press This)
`tinymce`	bool/array	`true`	Load TinyMCE, or array of settings
`quicktags`	bool/array	`true`	Load Quicktags, or array of settings

Since: 3.3.0

Example – Basic Usage:

$content = get_post_meta( $post_id, '_my_content', true );
wp_editor( $content, 'my_custom_editor' );

Example – With Settings:

wp_editor( $content, 'my_editor', array(
    'textarea_name' => 'my_meta_field',
    'textarea_rows' => 10,
    'media_buttons' => false,
    'teeny'         => true,
    'quicktags'     => array(
        'buttons' => 'strong,em,link,ul,ol,li,code',
    ),
) );

Example – TinyMCE Only:

wp_editor( $content, 'visual_only', array(
    'quicktags' => false,
    'tinymce'   => array(
        'toolbar1' => 'bold,italic,link,unlink',
        'toolbar2' => '',
    ),
) );

Example – Quicktags Only:

wp_editor( $content, 'code_only', array(
    'tinymce'   => false,
    'quicktags' => array(
        'buttons' => 'strong,em,link,code',
    ),
) );

Notes:

TinyMCE cannot be safely moved in the DOM after initialization
Don’t use inside meta boxes with TinyMCE; use edit_form_advanced action instead
Editor IDs with square brackets are deprecated (since 3.9.0)

wp_enqueue_editor()

Enqueue editor scripts and styles for late initialization.

function wp_enqueue_editor(): void

Since: 4.8.0

Description:

Use this when you need to initialize the editor after the page has loaded. Call during wp_enqueue_scripts or admin_enqueue_scripts.

After enqueueing, use wp.editor.initialize() in JavaScript to create instances.

Example:

// PHP: Enqueue the editor
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', function() {
    if ( is_page( 'contact' ) ) {
        wp_enqueue_editor();
    }
} );

// JavaScript: Initialize editor after page load
jQuery(document).ready(function($) {
    var settings = wp.editor.getDefaultSettings();
    wp.editor.initialize('my_editor_id', settings);
});

wp_default_editor()

Determine which editor should be displayed by default.

function wp_default_editor(): string

Returns: string – Either 'tinymce', 'html', or 'test'.

Since: 2.5.0

Description:

Checks user preferences (stored in user settings cookie) to determine which editor tab to show. Falls back to TinyMCE if the user can use rich editing.

Example:

$default = wp_default_editor();

if ( 'html' === $default ) {
    // User prefers the Code editor
}

Hooks:

wp_default_editor – Filter the default editor choice

user_can_richedit()

Check if the current user can access the visual editor.

function user_can_richedit(): bool

Returns: bool – Whether the user can access the visual editor.

Since: 2.1.0

Description:

Checks multiple conditions:

User’s "rich_editing" preference (defaults to true for logged-out users)
Browser compatibility (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, IE 11+)
Mobile device support

Example:

if ( user_can_richedit() ) {
    // Show TinyMCE
} else {
    // Fall back to textarea
}

Hooks:

user_can_richedit – Filter whether the user can access the visual editor

format_for_editor()

Format text for display in the editor.

function format_for_editor( string $text, string $default_editor = null ): string

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$text`	string	The text to format
`$default_editor`	string	The default editor (`'html'` or `'tinymce'`)

Returns: string – The formatted text.

Since: 4.3.0

File: wp-includes/formatting.php

Description:

Escapes the text using htmlspecialchars() with the blog’s charset. Used internally by _WP_Editors::editor() when TinyMCE is active.

Example:

$content = format_for_editor( $raw_content, 'tinymce' );

Hooks:

format_for_editor – Filter the formatted text

get_editor_stylesheets()

Get the stylesheets applied to the editor.

function get_editor_stylesheets(): array

Returns: array – Array of stylesheet URLs.

Since: 4.3.0

File: wp-includes/theme.php

Description:

Returns URLs for editor stylesheets registered by the theme via add_editor_style(). Checks both parent and child themes.

Example:

$stylesheets = get_editor_stylesheets();

foreach ( $stylesheets as $url ) {
    echo '<link rel="stylesheet" href="' . esc_url( $url ) . '">';
}

Hooks:

editor_stylesheets – Filter the array of stylesheet URLs

wp_enqueue_code_editor()

Enqueue assets for the code editor (CodeMirror).

function wp_enqueue_code_editor( array $args ): array|false

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$args`	array	Configuration arguments

Args:

Key	Type	Description
`type`	string	MIME type of file being edited
`file`	string	Filename (extension used for type detection)
`theme`	WP_Theme	Theme being edited
`plugin`	string	Plugin being edited
`codemirror`	array	CodeMirror setting overrides
`csslint`	array	CSSLint rule overrides
`jshint`	array	JSHint rule overrides
`htmlhint`	array	HTMLHint rule overrides

Returns: array|false – Settings for the code editor, or false if not enqueued.

Since: 4.9.0

File: wp-includes/general-template.php

Description:

Enqueues CodeMirror for syntax highlighting in code editors. Returns false if the user has disabled syntax highlighting.

Example:

$settings = wp_enqueue_code_editor( array(
    'type' => 'text/css',
) );

if ( $settings ) {
    wp_add_inline_script(
        'code-editor',
        sprintf(
            'jQuery(function($){wp.codeEditor.initialize("my_css_textarea", %s);});',
            wp_json_encode( $settings )
        )
    );
}

wp_get_code_editor_settings()

Get code editor settings without enqueueing.

function wp_get_code_editor_settings( array $args ): array|false

Parameters:

Same as wp_enqueue_code_editor().

Returns: array|false – Code editor settings, or false if disabled.

Since: 4.9.0

Hooks:

wp_code_editor_settings – Filter the code editor settings

Related JavaScript API

After enqueueing with wp_enqueue_editor(), these JavaScript functions are available:

wp.editor.initialize()

wp.editor.initialize( id, settings );

Initialize a TinyMCE/Quicktags editor instance.

wp.editor.remove()

wp.editor.remove( id );

Remove an editor instance.

wp.editor.getContent()

var content = wp.editor.getContent( id );

Get editor content.

wp.editor.getDefaultSettings()

var settings = wp.editor.getDefaultSettings();

Get default editor settings object.

Usage Patterns

Settings Page Editor

function my_settings_page() {
    $content = get_option( 'my_content', '' );
    ?>
    <form method="post" action="options.php">
        <?php settings_fields( 'my_settings' ); ?>
        
        <?php wp_editor( $content, 'my_content_editor', array(
            'textarea_name' => 'my_content',
            'textarea_rows' => 15,
        ) ); ?>
        
        <?php submit_button(); ?>
    </form>
    <?php
}

Frontend Editor

function frontend_editor_shortcode() {
    if ( ! is_user_logged_in() ) {
        return 'Please log in to edit.';
    }
    
    wp_enqueue_editor();
    
    ob_start();
    wp_editor( '', 'frontend_content', array(
        'textarea_name' => 'user_content',
        'media_buttons' => false,
        'teeny'         => true,
        'textarea_rows' => 8,
    ) );
    return ob_get_clean();
}
add_shortcode( 'editor', 'frontend_editor_shortcode' );

Meta Box with Quicktags Only

function my_meta_box_callback( $post ) {
    $content = get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_my_meta', true );
    
    // Use Quicktags only to avoid TinyMCE DOM issues in meta boxes
    wp_editor( $content, 'my_meta_editor', array(
        'textarea_name' => 'my_meta',
        'tinymce'       => false,
        'media_buttons' => false,
        'textarea_rows' => 5,
        'quicktags'     => array(
            'buttons' => 'strong,em,link,code',
        ),
    ) );
}

Editor Functions Reference

wp_editor()

wp_enqueue_editor()

wp_default_editor()

user_can_richedit()

format_for_editor()

get_editor_stylesheets()

wp_enqueue_code_editor()

wp_get_code_editor_settings()

Related JavaScript API

wp.editor.initialize()

wp.editor.remove()

wp.editor.getContent()

wp.editor.getDefaultSettings()

Usage Patterns

Settings Page Editor

Frontend Editor

Meta Box with Quicktags Only

More in Editor

_WP_Editors Class Reference

WordPress Classic Editor API Overview

Editor Hooks Reference