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Update to CKEditor 5 v26.x

When updating your CKEditor 5 installation, ensure all the packages are the same version to avoid errors.

For custom builds, you may try removing the package-lock.json or yarn.lock files (if applicable) and reinstalling all packages before rebuilding the editor. For best results, make sure you use the most recent package versions.

# Update to CKEditor 5 v26.0.0

Released on March 3, 2021.

For the entire list of changes introduced in version 26.0.0, see the release notes for CKEditor 5 v26.0.0.

Below are the most important changes that require your attention when upgrading to CKEditor 5 v26.0.0.

# Soft requirements

While allowing to extend builds with extra plugins without rebuilding the bundle (a concept also called “DLLs”), we had to decouple certain sets of plugins. This has led to the introduction of the “soft requirements.”

Before, each plugin had its direct requirements that would be automatically loaded by the editor before the plugin was loaded. These plugins were specified in the static get() {} callback of a plugin class in the form of plugin constructors (dependencies).

Starting from v26.0.0 not all plugins can be directly imported by other plugins. However, a plugin can define that it requires another plugin (called, for example, 'Foo') by returning a string from static get() {}. This tells the editor that you must provide such a plugin either before building (via Editor.builtinPlugins) or when creating a new instance of the editor (for example, via config.plugins).

Therefore, when upgrading to version 26.0.0, you may stumble upon the plugincollection-soft-required error. This tells you that some dependencies are now missing and you need to provide them.

# List of known soft requirements

  • Add CloudServices to the editor plugins when using the CloudServicesUploadAdapter or EasyImage features.
  • Add Image and ImageUpload to the editor plugins when using the EasyImage feature.
  • Add CKFinderUploadAdapter, Image, and Link features to the editor plugins when using the CKFinder feature.
  • Add Paragraph to the editor plugins when using the Title feature.
  • Add Paragraph to the editor plugins when using the List feature.
  • Add Image to the editor plugins when using the LinkImage feature.
  • Add CloudServices to the editor plugins when using the ExportPdf or ExportWord features.

# Upgrade method

Before, when you were passing plugins directly to Editor.create() via config.plugins, this would be your setup:

import ClassicEditor from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-editor-classic/src/classiceditor';
import EssentialsPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-essentials/src/essentials';
import UploadAdapterPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-adapter-ckfinder/src/uploadadapter';
import AutoformatPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-autoformat/src/autoformat';
import BoldPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-basic-styles/src/bold';
import ItalicPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-basic-styles/src/italic';
import BlockQuotePlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-block-quote/src/blockquote';
import EasyImagePlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-easy-image/src/easyimage';
import HeadingPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-heading/src/heading';
import ImagePlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-image/src/image';
import ImageCaptionPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-image/src/imagecaption';
import ImageStylePlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-image/src/imagestyle';
import ImageToolbarPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-image/src/imagetoolbar';
import LinkPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-link/src/link';
import ListPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-list/src/list';
import ParagraphPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-paragraph/src/paragraph';

ClassicEditor
    .create( document.querySelector( '#editor'), {
        plugins: [
            EssentialsPlugin,
            AutoformatPlugin,
            BoldPlugin,
            ItalicPlugin,
            BlockQuotePlugin,
            HeadingPlugin,
            ImagePlugin,
            ImageCaptionPlugin,
            ImageStylePlugin,
            ImageToolbarPlugin,
            EasyImagePlugin,
            ImageUploadPlugin,
            LinkPlugin,
            ListPlugin,
            ParagraphPlugin
        ],
        toolbar: [
            'heading',
            'bold',
            'italic',
            'link',
            'bulletedList',
            'numberedList',
            'uploadImage',
            'blockQuote',
            'undo',
            'redo'
        ],
        image: {
            toolbar: [
                'imageStyle:full',
                'imageStyle:side',
                '|',
                'imageTextAlternative'
            ]
        }
    } )
    .then( editor => {
        console.log( editor );
    } )
    .catch( error => {
        console.error( error );
    } );

Based on the list above (or the error thrown when you upgraded your packages), you can check that you need to add:

  • ImageUpload because you use EasyImage,
  • CloudServices because you use EasyImage.

After the upgrade, the setup should look like this:

import ClassicEditor from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-editor-classic/src/classiceditor';
import EssentialsPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-essentials/src/essentials';
import UploadAdapterPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-adapter-ckfinder/src/uploadadapter';
import AutoformatPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-autoformat/src/autoformat';
import BoldPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-basic-styles/src/bold';
import ItalicPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-basic-styles/src/italic';
import BlockQuotePlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-block-quote/src/blockquote';
import EasyImagePlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-easy-image/src/easyimage';
import HeadingPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-heading/src/heading';
import ImagePlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-image/src/image';
import ImageCaptionPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-image/src/imagecaption';
import ImageStylePlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-image/src/imagestyle';
import ImageToolbarPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-image/src/imagetoolbar';
import LinkPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-link/src/link';
import ListPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-list/src/list';
import ParagraphPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-paragraph/src/paragraph';

// ADDED
import ImageUploadPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-image/src/imageupload';
import CloudServicesPlugin from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-cloud-services/src/cloudservices';

ClassicEditor
    .create( document.querySelector( '#editor'), {
        plugins: [
            EssentialsPlugin,
            AutoformatPlugin,
            BoldPlugin,
            ItalicPlugin,
            BlockQuotePlugin,
            HeadingPlugin,
            ImagePlugin,
            ImageCaptionPlugin,
            ImageStylePlugin,
            ImageToolbarPlugin,
            EasyImagePlugin,
            ImageUploadPlugin,
            LinkPlugin,
            ListPlugin,
            ParagraphPlugin,

            // ADDED
            ImageUploadPlugin,
            CloudServicesPlugin
        ],
        toolbar: [
            'heading',
            'bold',
            'italic',
            'link',
            'bulletedList',
            'numberedList',
            'uploadImage',
            'blockQuote',
            'undo',
            'redo'
        ],
        image: {
            toolbar: [
                'imageStyle:full',
                'imageStyle:side',
                '|',
                'imageTextAlternative'
            ]
        }
    } )
    .then( editor => {
        console.log( editor );
    } )
    .catch( error => {
        console.error( error );
    } );

# Keystrokes for macOS

Starting from v26.0.0, the KeystrokeHandler is not automatically binding to both Ctrl and Cmd keys on macOS as before. Instead, it is translating the Ctrl key to the Cmd key and handling just this keystroke.

For example, a registered keystroke Ctrl+A will now be translated to Cmd+A on macOS. To block the translation of a keystroke, use the forced modifier: Ctrl!+A (note the exclamation mark).

# Unified button and command naming convention

The naming conventions for both buttons and commands have been reviewed and unified to maintain maximum consistency and provide sane rules that match real-life cases.

All buttons follow the verb + noun (for example, insertTable, selectAll) or the noun (for example, bold, mediaEmbed) convention.

It was trickier for commands because there are more name combinations possible than there are for buttons. For commands, the proper name should usually start with the action followed by the feature name (like checkTodoList, insertTable).

Toolbar button name changes (before → after):

  • imageUploaduploadImage
  • imageResizeresizeImage
  • imageInsertinsertImage
  • imageResize:*resizeImage:*

Command name changes (before → after):

  • imageInsertinsertImage
  • imageUploaduploadImage
  • imageResizeresizeImage
  • forwardDeletedeleteForward
  • todoListCheckcheckTodoList

The TodoListCheckCommand module was moved to CheckTodoListCommand.

The ImageInsertCommand module was moved to InsertImageCommand.

The ImageResizeCommand module was moved to ResizeImageCommand.

The ImageUploadCommand module was moved to UploadImageCommand.

The old names are still available as aliases.