Many a web application involves editing blocks of text, and many of those involving editing blocks of text that appear on web pages (such as posting BrainLog comments, or even BrainLog entries). To allow for formatting (bold, italics, numbered lists), sometimes web applications let you enter HTML (<b>this is bold!</b>) into your text. For many users, HTML for use in web applications is cumbersome, even in formal publishing situations like journalists posting their articles into a newspaper's database. Some web publishing apps include JavaScript functionality that automatically inserts HTML tags so users don't have to remember what tag does what, though it still isn't What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG); the tags look like tags in your edit box, and become formatting after it is posted.

Many Through The Web (TTW) WYSIWYG text editors have been developed in response to this need in web applications. Unfortunately, due to limitations in common browser functionality, these solutions almost all require Internet Explorer, Java, or Flash. A web app developer must require one of these of the users of their application, and that's not a fun thing to do. Some web apps will attempt to detect the browser type, then dish up an IE fancy HTML editor for IE users and a plain text box for the rest.

Mozilla Composite does not solve this problem. It doesn't even bother. Instead, it goes around the other way, and lets Mozilla users elect to use the Composer WYSIWYG HTML editor for any textarea on the web. It's a neat idea, and I'll probably use it for editing blog entries instead of attempting to build in one of the TTW solutions. TTW solutions are still useful, in theory, but only because browsers lack a common HTML WYSIWYG text editing widget-- which is pretty much what Mozilla Composite is (for Mozilla), with the added bonus that it can optionally be used everywhere.