What Advanced Editor Tools changes in your editors
Advanced Editor Tools, formerly TinyMCE Advanced, works on TinyMCE, the visual editor WordPress still uses in the classic editor and in the Classic block. Under Settings > Advanced Editor Tools, you drag and drop up to four rows of buttons: font family and size, text and background color, tables, anchors, special characters, find and replace, list options and print.
In the block editor, it adds a "Classic Paragraph" block: a full TinyMCE editor you insert like any block, which can be converted into separate blocks (paragraphs, images, tables, lists) and back. It also adds two buttons to the rich-text toolbar of text blocks: Mark, which wraps the selection in a mark tag, and Clear formatting.
The plugin is free with no paid version, released under the GPL by Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, and maintained by Andrew Ozz. Its plugin page states that it collects no data, sets no cookies and connects to no third-party service.
Which sites still get value from Advanced Editor Tools
Advanced Editor Tools mainly serves sites where TinyMCE is still the main writing tool:
- Sites that stayed on the classic editor: with Classic Editor or the built-in replacement option, the toolbar gains tables, fonts and find and replace.
- Writers who build tables by hand: a grid to pick the size, Tab key navigation between cells, and row and column properties.
- Gradual moves to blocks: the Classic Paragraph keeps the old tool inside the block editor, then converts to blocks when you are ready.
- Sites whose theme ships an editor-style.css file: its classes can replace the Formats menu.
It is the wrong pick for a site built on a block theme and written entirely in blocks: all you gain there is two buttons, and the block editor already handles colors, text sizes and tables. For what is new in that editor, look at the Gutenberg plugin instead.
Advanced Editor Tools strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Free and ad-free. No paid tier, no account to create, no banners in the dashboard.
- A toolbar built your way. Buttons are placed by drag and drop, separately for the classic editor and for the Classic and Classic Paragraph blocks.
- Tables you can actually manage. Grid insertion, row and cell properties, plus two commands to reset a table's size or strip its formatting.
- Privacy-friendly. No data collection, no cookies and no calls to outside services, according to its official page.
- Exportable settings. A JSON file backs up your configuration and carries it over to another site.
Limitations
- Little added to the block editor. Version 5.9 removed the color panels and the sidebar toolbar: two buttons and the Classic Paragraph are what is left.
- A less direct Classic Paragraph. Since WordPress 7.0, the block shows a preview and opens TinyMCE in a popup for editing, like the Classic block.
- Styles written into the content. Resizing tables with the mouse adds inline styles that, by the plugin's own account, usually make the table non-responsive on phones.
- A block closed to other blocks. A Classic or Classic Paragraph block stays one chunk of HTML: you cannot put patterns or other blocks inside it.
The Advanced Editor Tools settings we recommend
Everything lives on one page, Settings > Advanced Editor Tools: two tabs for the toolbars (Block Editor and Classic Editor), then the Options, Advanced Options and Administration sections shared by both. On a multisite network, the Advanced Options and Administration sections are shown to super admins only.
| Setting | Recommended value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Additional buttons for the Rich-Text toolbar Settings > Advanced Editor Tools > Block Editor (Gutenberg) | Enable (default) | Adds Mark and Clear formatting to text blocks, with no other side effect. |
| Enable the editor menu (recommended) Same tab, toolbars for the Classic Paragraph and Classic blocks | On (default) | These toolbars are narrow: the menu saves you from stacking buttons. |
| Add Classic Paragraph block Settings > Advanced Editor Tools > Advanced Options | On only if your writers use it | On by default; useless on a site written in blocks, where it clutters the inserter. |
| Make the Classic Paragraph or Classic block the default block (hybrid mode) Same section | Off (default) | When checked, every Enter key press creates a TinyMCE block instead of a paragraph. |
| Replace the Block Editor with the Classic Editor Same section | Off, unless the whole site is classic | To keep both editors, the plugin recommends Classic Editor; the option disappears when that plugin is active. |
| Keep paragraph tags in the Classic block and the Classic Editor Same section | Off (default) | The plugin warns it may behave unexpectedly: test it on a staging site first. |
| Enable resizing of tables, rows, and columns by dragging with the mouse Same section, Advanced options for tables | Off if your theme styles tables | Without inline styles, the HTML is cleaner and the table stays responsive. |
| Instances of the Classic editor on the front end of the site Same page, Administration > Enable the editor enhancements for | Off, unless a public form uses the editor | Keeps the extended toolbar inside the dashboard. |
| Export Settings Same page, Administration > Settings import and export | Once your setup is final | The file serves as a backup and can be imported on another site. |
- Open a post in the classic editor or in a Classic block: your chosen buttons should appear; if not, clear the browser cache.
- If no button changes at all, check under Users > Profile that the option disabling the visual editor is not checked.
- Insert a test table and view the page on a phone: it should not overflow the screen.
Advanced Editor Tools security: one known flaw, long fixed
At the time of writing, the Patchstack and WPScan databases list a single vulnerability for this plugin: a CSRF flaw published in 2014 that could trick an administrator into resetting the settings, fixed in the plugin's 4.x branch. CSRF flaws filed under similar names, such as "TinyMCE Advanced qTranslate fix editor problems", affect plugins by other authors.
The bigger risk is compatibility: version 5.10.0 had to fix a Classic Paragraph crash on WordPress 7.0. So turn on automatic plugin updates for Advanced Editor Tools. It adds nothing to your public pages as long as no editor is shown there; the box below shows what WP Masquerade covers for it.
What WP Masquerade hides for Advanced Editor Tools
Free version Handled by the free version of WP Masquerade
Advanced Editor Tools is one of the 50 most used plugins known to the free version. Pro goes further by renaming its files.
Free version
Nothing to remove
With Pro
- folder name
- tag IDs
Still visible
No known trace
Advanced Editor Tools FAQ
Are Advanced Editor Tools and TinyMCE Advanced the same plugin?
Yes. The plugin was renamed in version 5.5.1 to comply with trademark requirements for the TinyMCE name; its settings and features did not change.
Do I also need Classic Editor?
Not necessarily: the "Replace the Block Editor with the Classic Editor" option is enough if the whole site goes classic. If you want to keep both editors or let each user choose, the plugin recommends Classic Editor, with which it is fully compatible.
Why does the Classic Paragraph open in a popup?
Since version 5.10.0, which fixes a crash on WordPress 7.0, the block works like the WordPress Classic block: a preview in the canvas, and TinyMCE in a popup to edit the content.
Will my tables lose their formatting if I turn off resizing?
No, the setting does not touch existing tables. To clean up an older table, two commands at the bottom of the Format menu reset its size or remove its formatting.