Who Stole the Text Justify Button ?!
OMG! WordPress 4.7 stole my text justify button! Please bring it back :)
The facts
- Rating
- 3.7★ from 3
- Active installs
- 7k+
- Price
- Free
- Last updated
- 23 Oct 2019
- Added
- Dec 2016
- Requires WP
- 4.7
- Tested up to
- WP 5.3.23
- Requires PHP
- 5.6
- Downloads
- 54,575
Our analysis
AI-assistedWho Stole the Text Justify Button ?! is a WordPress plugin that restores the text justify button to the TinyMCE editor, which was removed in WordPress 4.7. It aims to meet the needs of users who prefer to have this formatting option available, despite the author's belief that justified text can be problematic for readability on smaller screens.
The plugin comes with a disclaimer about the potential downsides of justified text and suggests using left alignment for small devices via CSS media queries. It is intended for users who require this specific functionality in their WordPress editing experience.
Best for: This plugin suits WordPress users who want to have the text justify option in their editor.
What it does well
- ✓Restores the text justify button to TinyMCE
- ✓Free to use from the WordPress.org directory
- ✓Active installation count of 7,000
Where it falls short
- •Justified text may be unreadable on small screens
- •Author advises caution in using justified text
Verdict
This plugin provides a specific solution for users wanting to justify text, but it comes with important usability caveats.
From the developer
Jb Audras's own description of Who Stole the Text Justify Button ?!, lightly tidied.
WordPress 4.7 removed the text justify button from TinyMCE buttons. This plugin will bring it back \o/
Disclaimer: justifying is not a very good idea on websites, because justified text can be unreadable on small screens. According to typographic rules, you shouldn’t justify text without good hyphenation and under 70 characters per line in average. So be careful and do not use justified text in all case. I strongly recommend you to provide left alignment for small devices, using CSS media queries.
To be honest, I do not really think removing this button was a bad idea, but some clients wanted it again, so I made a little plugin for them 🙂
Underline button was also removed by WordPress 4.7, and we are not going to bring it back here because this button clearly sucks. On the web, underlining normal text is always a bad idea because it should be reserved for links. If you want it back too, check this plugin: Re-Add Underline and Justify.
Credits : Jean-Baptiste Audras, project manager at Whodunit and WordPress developer. @audrasjb on Twitter or Github.