Some of the important features of the Text Editor addon are listed below. This is followed by an overview of this addon. This summary contains few words about the addon, its function, and its features. Next is FAQ, this section is useful to get information about how this addon works in your browser. If you couldn't find a specific answer, please fill the bug report form on this page or the contact form on the homepage to let us know about your question. Following the FAQ, is the bug report form. It is designed to collect user feedbacks and bugs about this addon. Users can suggest improvements or feature requests through this form too. The next section is for submitting comments about this addon which uses the Facebook comments plugin. The last section is dedicated to reports submitted through the GitHub website. We hope the information provided on this page, could help you get all the basics you need about this addon and enable you to have a better experience with Text Editor.
In short, Text Editor is a full-featured text & code editor with a variety of options and a simple and intuitive interface. Please check the YouTube tutorial below to get an idea of how this addon works in your browser. If you want to contribute to the developement of this addon, please fork it on GitHub, and push your changes to a named branch. Moreover, you can review all the comments made on GitHub commits.
5 Reasons to Use Text Editor
Allows you to edit text/source codes right in your browser.
Written on top of the CodeMirror JavaScript library.
Has several options and themes.
Can open files and folders.
Available for Chrome, Opera and Firefox browsers on all operating systems.
YouTube Tutorial
This video gives you an idea of how the extension works in your browser.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is Text Editor?
Text Editor, is a free and open-source text and code editor built for Chrome OS as well as an extension for all browsers. Text Editor as an app can work as stand-alone software for your operating system. In other words, you can open the app without even opening your browser. Text Editor as an extension, has all the features in the app version, except it does NOT have full access to all files and folders in your machine. Text Editor is built on top of the famous CodeMirror JavaScript library. Once you open the app for the first time, you will see a sidebar at the left and a text editor at the right. The left sidebar includes available file I/O buttons. For example, a button to open file(s), folder or settings. There is also a right sidebar which includes all the settings for the app. Please read the below FAQs to get more info about this app.
2. How can I work with this addon?
In order to work with Text Editor, the app edition, simply add it to your Chrome browser and then open the app by clicking on its icon (within the apps tab). Once the app UI is rendered, you can either create a new file, open an existing file or select a folder and all files in it. This app has almost all the functionalities of a modern text editor (i.e. Atom, Sublime, etc.). It is important to note that, this app supports all the keyboard shortcuts for the Sublime text editor as well. If you want to change the default theme, please open the settings sidebar (right-sidebar) and then choose your desired theme from the list at the top right corner. All the changes are auto-saved to the memory in the app. Since this app is written based on Chrome apps, it has an always-on-top option, which is very useful in keeping the app on top of all the windows in your machine. If you want to use the Text Editor extension edition, please note that all the features are exactly the same as the app version, except, it does NOT have full access to the files and folders in your machine. The extension has only access to the default download folder on your system. Therefore, all the file I/O operations happen in the default download folder. You can change the default download folder in your browser from the settings tab.
3. How can I download the source code for Text Editor?
To download the source code for this extension from Chrome Web Store, it is recommended to use Extension Source Downloader. With this addon, you can download the source code as a ZIP or CRX format to your machine. If you want to download the source code from the Firefox addons store, please open the firefox download link (if available) in the Firefox browser and then right-click on the - Add to Firefox - button and select - Save Link As... - item. Choose the destination folder on your machine and then save the file in XPI format. You can then rename the XPI format to a RAR or ZIP file. Some extensions may have a GitHub repo address, which you can use to download the source code as well. But, it may not be the latest version of the addon. Therefore, downloading the source code from the official web stores is the best option as it always gives you the latest version of the addon.
4. What is the main difference between Text Editor as As mentioned above, the only major difference is the file I/O access. App has access to all files & folders in your machine. But extension only has access to files in the default download folder. Therefore, Working with the app is much easier than the extension but, the app is currently only available for Chrome OS. The second difference between app and extension is the - AlwaysOnTop - option, which is only available in the app. It makes the UI to stay on top of all the windows in your machine.
5. What options are available in Text Editor?
As mentioned above, there are several options available for this app. Please open the right sidebar and see the complete list. Once you change an option, it will be saved to memory automatically. Please note that, in order to open the right sidebar, you need to click on the toggle button at the right middle corner. Please hover your mouse on the right side in order to see the toggle button. It is important to note that, for some options to take effect, you need to restart the app (i.e. always-on-top option).
6. Can I use Text Editor as an app in Opera or Firefox browser?
No, unfortunately, the app version is only available for Chrome OS. Currently, Firefox and Opera browsers do NOT support apps. You can install the extension version but with limited file I/O access.
7. What API/engine is behind this text editor?
This app is built based on an open source JavaScript library called CodeMirror. Please visit this page in order to get more info about CodeMirror API. According to the CodeMirror website, it supports more than 100 code languages, and also supports Vim, Emacs and Sublime bindings.
8. How can I reload the app?
If you open the left sidebar, there are 3 buttons at the bottom left corner. The first button is - Reset - which can be used to reset the addon to factory settings. Next button is - Support - which opens the addons support page in a new tab. The last button is - Reload App. Pressing on this button will reload the app. Note that, before reloading the app, please save all unsaved documents.
9. Can I open images with this addon?
No, this app is only designed to open text documents (i.e. .text, .js, .css, .html and ect.). In future, support for different file formats will be added.
10. Is this app available for mobile browsers?
Yes, this app can be used in both mobile and desktop machines. Since it is built based for Chrome apps, it can run on all machines that run Chrome apps (for example Chrome OS). The extension version, however, can be used in all browsers and platforms including mobiles and tablets as long as a modern browser with addon capabilities is installed.
11. Can I use a different engine other than codemirror in this app?
No, currently this app is only working with CodeMirror API. Beside CodeMirror, there are few more open-source text editor APIs are available. For example, one of the famous ones is called ACE. It has features same as the CodeMirror API, but with different settings. In future updates, support for ACE API will be added to this app/addon as well.
12. How can I disable this addon?
When this addon is closed, it is inactive by default. But if you want to permanently disable the addon, please open the extensions tab in your browser and then click on the disable button.
13. Where can I find the privacy policy for Text Editor?
Please read the privacy policy for this extension here.
Reporting Bugs
Your feedback goes a long way towards making this addon even better. With this feedback and bug report form, you can report bugs or suggest features/enhancements for the functionality or performance of this addon. Please note that this form will be sent to the developer(s) of this addon. You will not get an immediate or personal response at the moment. However, the developer(s) may contact you through the email address provided in this form for further clarifications or to request additional information regarding the reported bug(s).
Reviews | Discussions
Please note: keep these reviews/discussions clean, and avoid the usage of derogatory or inappropriate language or terminology in references to individuals or groups based on race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, age, gender, etc. Do not submit bugs in your reviews, use the above bug-report section instead. Also, never post any personal information in these reviews.
GitHub Issues | Fork me on GitHub