Member Avatar for wolfgangcs

How can you use the "contenteditable" attribute to edit your site or lists but not have the general public do the same.

Maybe just in a admin panel view?

and

Is this just easier for the developer to change content on the fly?

I just don't see how it can be used yet.

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For : contentEditable is useful as the front-end editing layer, but by itself it is only a client-side affordance. To make an admin-only, persistent editing experience you need a small, well-tested pattern: restrict the UI to authenticated admins, capture edits, validate and sanitize on the server, store a versioned record, and invalidate caches so the change is visible to everyone.

A practical workflow:

  • Render editable controls only when the server marks the session as admin; use explicit Edit/Save buttons tied to specific blocks (e.g., data attributes) rather than leaving whole pages editable by default.
  • When Save is clicked, send the edited HTML to a protected API endpoint (include CSRF token and authentication). On the server re-check the admin session, re-sanitize the incoming HTML with a server-side library, persist the content and a timestamp/user id, and return success or errors.
  • Keep an edit history (versions) and an undo option so changes can be audited or reverted.

Security and deployment notes:

  • Never trust client input: always sanitize server-side (use a whitelist approach), strip scripts and dangerous attributes, and apply a Content Security Policy.
  • If updates seem not to appear, check server-side/template caching and any CDN or varnish layers — you must clear or invalidate caches after saves.
  • Add rate limiting, logging, and permission checks to the save endpoint to avoid abuse.

If a full editor is desired, consider established inline editors or a CMS integration that already handles formatting, paste sanitation, and storage. For reference on the attribute behavior and sanitization guidance see the MDN entry on contentEditable and the OWASP XSS prevention guidance, and consider client-side helpers like DOMPurify for safer input before sending it to the server:

contentEditable on MDN
OWASP XSS Prevention Cheat Sheet
DOMPurify (client-side sanitizer)

This turns the quick “play-with” affordance others mentioned into a manageable, auditable admin editing workflow.

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Member Avatar for Dandello

After looking through various blogs and tutorials - I don't see much of a use for it right now either except as a trick. There's no provision for saving the changes except for locally (on the user's machine - maybe.) If you're doing updates on a blog the changes still have to go through a form or other mechanism to write the changes to the page on the server.

Maybe it might help a developer to see how changes will look before implementing them.

One place I just thought of - it might be useful if you had a page where the user was encouraged to do customization and then print or save the results - like custom Christmas cards or story books.

Edited by Dandello because: More ideas
Member Avatar for almostbob

this scrap

javascript:document.body.contentEditable='true'; document.designMode='on'; void 0

as the href of a link or saved as a favorite, makes any page play-with-able

Member Avatar for wolfgangcs

this scrap

javascript:document.body.contentEditable='true'; document.designMode='on'; void 0

as the href of a link or saved as a favorite, makes any page play-with-able

Umm...I am at a sticky spot with JavaScript. I am not understanding it! Very frustrating! I am tackling it though at the moment.

How does this line solve the questions or issues of the admin ONLY editing the page?

Member Avatar for Dandello

It doesn't - the content is editable for users and savable by them on their computer. But it's not saved on the server - which is what I assume you're asking.

Member Avatar for wolfgangcs

It doesn't - the content is editable for users and savable by them on their computer. But it's not saved on the server - which is what I assume you're asking.

true, making the content editable only for the admin or when admin logged-in. Any suggestions?

Member Avatar for Dandello

Okay, what I think you're asking is for something that will allow the admin to edit the webpage on the fly, making edits that will be seen by everyone?

In that case you're taking about some version of content management software (CMS)

Member Avatar for wolfgangcs

I guess I don't see a global use of this new feature.

If a admin could login then see his site and edit at the same time, maybe text alone, the "on the fly" would be nice in this aspect. But giving everyone the ability to edit content doesn't have real value.

...wait a Wiki could use this...since all the content is editable....yay found the useful solution!

Member Avatar for Dandello

But this doesn't edit the actual website content, only the content that's on the user's machine. Single user games maybe.

Member Avatar for almostbob

hence the phrase play-with-able
there are some scripts that make certain areas editable to users with the required passwords, and save a change history, will repost a USEFUL link if I can remember the google search from the last time this was asked, many thousands of threads ago, could be somewhere in the daniweb searchbox

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