WPThumbs
Themes Plugins By purpose By industry Best-of lists Fix it guides
Free Plugin by Black Studio v2.7.4

Black Studio TinyMCE Widget

The visual editor widget for WordPress.

Black Studio TinyMCE Widget

The facts

Rating
4.8★ from 191
Active installs
200k+
Price
Free
Last updated
20 Aug 2026
Added
Nov 2011
Requires WP
5.0
Tested up to
WP 7.1
Requires PHP
5.2
Downloads
11,238,556

Our analysis

AI-assisted

Black Studio TinyMCE Widget is a WordPress plugin that enhances the default text widget by providing a visual editor for rich text and media. It allows you to create and edit widgets using the TinyMCE editor, making it easier to format text and insert media without needing HTML knowledge.

This plugin is suitable for users who want more control over their sidebar content, especially those who prefer a WYSIWYG editing experience. It also offers features that enhance the editing process, such as switching between visual and HTML modes and support for various media types.

Best for: This plugin suits advanced WordPress users who need enhanced widget editing capabilities.

What it does well

  • ✓Adds a visual editor for rich text and media in sidebars
  • ✓Supports switching between Visual and HTML modes
  • ✓Allows insertion of images, videos, and links from the Media Library
  • ✓Compatible with the Block-based Widgets Editor and Customizer
  • ✓Available in 20+ languages

Where it falls short

  • •The native WordPress text widget may suffice for basic users
  • •Some advanced features may not be necessary for all users

Verdict

Black Studio TinyMCE Widget provides a valuable tool for users looking to improve their sidebar content management. It is particularly beneficial for those who prefer a visual editing approach.

From the developer

Black Studio's own description of Black Studio TinyMCE Widget, lightly tidied.

This plugin adds a new Visual Editor widget type that allows you to insert rich text and media objects in your sidebars with no hassle. With Black Studio TinyMCE Widget you will be able to edit your widgets in a WYSIWYG manner using the native WordPress TinyMCE editor, just like you do in posts and pages. And if you are a developer you may still switch back and forth from Visual to HTML mode.

For years the default WordPress text widget has been very basic and it required HTML knowledge to add formatting and images/media to the text. This plugin was born in 2011 to overcome these limitations. After a long time, in June 2017, version 4.8 of WordPress finally introduced a new text widget that included the ability to manage text widgets with the visual editor. The new widget available in WordPress core could now be used as a basic replacement of Black Studio TinyMCE Widget, but the plugin still offers some additional features, so it remains a must-have for advanced users.

Basic Features

  • Add rich text widgets to your sidebars and edit them using the TinyMCE visual editor
  • Switch between Visual mode and HTML mode (including Quicktags toolbar)
  • Insert images, videos, and other media from WordPress Media Library
  • Insert links to existing WordPress pages/posts or external resources
  • Support for shortcodes, smilies and embed in widget text (including preview)
  • Support for the Block-based Widgets Editor introduced with WordPress 5.8
  • Support for Customizer with live preview and quick edit
  • Support for widgets accessibility mode
  • Compatible with multi-site (WordPress networks)
  • Compatible with the most common multi-language plugins
  • Compatible with Page Builder plugin by SiteOrigin
  • Translations available in 20+ languages

Advanced Features

These features are what makes this plugin better than the WordPress (4.8+) native widget:

  • Full featured TinyMCE Visual Editor (the same you have for pages and posts)
  • Wide text area for an enhanced editing experience
  • Compatible with 3rd party TinyMCE customization plugins (TinyMCE Advanced, WP Edit, …)
  • Support for distraction-free (fullscreen) editing mode
  • Option to “Automatically add paragraphs” to widget text

About the plugin

The story of the plugin was featured in a talk at WordCamp Europe 2018 in Belgrade.
See the video Once upon a time, there was a plugin… on WordPress.tv.

Links

Get involved

Read the full description on the official page →

Tagged as

feature Drag & Drop Builder Live Customiser Preview
topic Tinymce Wysiwyg Support Add Edit Insert Advanced