How To Utilize the JavaScript Date Object To Insert Date And Time In a JavaScript WYSIWYG Editor

The JavaScript Date object is a powerful tool that allows developers to work with dates and times in their web applications. JavaScript WYSIWYG editors can utilize it to allow users to insert specific dates and times in their content. In this blog post, we’ll explore using the Date object to insert date and time into the Froala WYSIWYG editor.

Understanding the Date Object

The Date object in JavaScript represents a single moment in time. It provides a variety of methods for working with dates and times, such as getting the current date and time, formatting dates, and performing date calculations.

The Date object can be created in several ways, including using the new Date() constructor or by passing specific date and time values to the constructor.

Displaying the Current Date

Getting the Current Date

To get the current date, you can use the new Date() constructor without any arguments. This will create a new Date object representing the current date and time.

const currentDate = new Date();

Formatting the Date

Once you have the current date, you can use various methods of the Date object to format the date in the desired way. We want to display the inserted date and time in the following format Month/Day/Year Hours:Minutes:Seconds. The methods we will use in our case are:

• getFullYear(): Returns the year as a four-digit number (e.g., 2023)
• getMonth(): Returns the month as a zero-based number (0 for January, 1 for February, etc.)
• getDate(): Returns the day of the month (1-31)
• getDay(): Returns the day of the week as a zero-based number (0 for Sunday, 1 for Monday, etc.)
• getHours(): Returns the hours (0-23)
• getMinutes(): Returns the minutes (0-59)
• getSeconds(): Returns the seconds (0-59)

If you want another format, you can check the Date JavaScript documentation for other methods.

Displaying the Date

After getting the current date and formatting it, you can display the date on your web page.

You can use JavaScript to update the content of an HTML element, such as a <p> or <div> tag, with the formatted date.

const currentDate = new Date();

const dateString = `Current date and time is ${currentDate.getMonth() + 1}/${currentDate.getDate()}/${currentDate.getFullYear()} ${currentDate.getHours()}:${currentDate.getMinutes()}:${currentDate.getSeconds()}`;

document.getElementById('date-display').textContent = dateString;

In this example, we create a new Date object, format the date using the methods mentioned above, and then update the text content of an HTML element with the ID `date-display`.

Now let’s use it with Froala WYSIWYG editor but first let’s explain what WYSIWYG editor means, why we want to insert the current date in it, and how to do it.

What are WYSIWYG Editors?

WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors are text editors that allow users to format and style content as they type, without having to write raw HTML or markup. These editors provide a user-friendly interface, making it easier for non-technical users to create and edit web content.

Why Do I Need To Insert The Current Date While Using WYSIWYG Editor?

WYSIWYG Editors are used in many use cases where adding current date and time are important to users. For example:

• In Content Management Systems (CMSs): users can insert the current date when creating a new blog post or article. This helps provide context and timestamp the content.
• In Email Clients: users may want to insert the current date when composing a new email message.
• In Online Forms: users may need to insert the current date when filling out forms, such as job applications or registration forms.
• In Note-taking Apps: users may want to timestamp their notes with the current date.

By utilizing the JavaScript Date object, developers can enable users to insert the current date and time directly into the content they are creating or editing, enhancing the functionality and convenience of the WYSIWYG editor.

Why It’s Recommended to Use Froala Editor?

Froala Editor is an advanced WYSIWYG editor with a user-friendly interface. It offers a wide range of features and tools, including advanced formatting options, image and media integration, and export to PDF, allowing users to create high-quality content efficiently.

One of the most important features is its powerful API that allows developers to easily and quickly customize the editor to fit the specific needs and branding of your organization, allowing you to create a unique and tailored content creation experience.

How To Insert Date and Time Into Froala JavaScript WYSIWYG Editor?

First, we need to add a new toolbar button. When this button is clicked, it inserts the current date and time into the editor. Froala made defining new toolbar buttons easy. You just need to follow this “create a custom Froala button“ guide.

The main steps to define a custom button and display it in the editor toolbar are:

• Define the button icon to be displayed on the editor toolbar
• Define the button’s action, which in our case will be to insert the current date and time into the editor.
• Register the custom button with Froala’s API

Define button icon

We will use the calendar icon from the Font Awesome library.

FroalaEditor.DefineIcon('dateIcon', {NAME: 'calendar', template: 'font_awesome'})

Define the button’s action

Here is the button definition and inside the callback function we will use the JavaScript Date object as we used earlier to format the current date and time and then we will use the html.set() Froala Method to insert the date and the time into the editor.

        FroalaEditor.RegisterCommand('date', {
            title: "Today's date and time",
            icon: 'dateIcon',
            undo: true,
            focus: true,
            showOnMobile: true,
            refreshAfterCallback: true,
            callback: function () {

                const currentDate = new Date();
                const dateString = `${currentDate.getMonth() + 1}/${currentDate.getDate()}/${currentDate.getFullYear()} ${currentDate.getHours()}:${currentDate.getMinutes()}:${currentDate.getSeconds()}`;

                this.html.set("<i>"+dateString+"</i>");
            },

        })

Register the custom button with Froala’s API

In a basic HTML project, initialize the editor and the date custom button we created above to Froala’s toolbarButtons option.

Here’s the full code example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Insert date and time</title>
    <!--Include Froala Stylesheet -->
    <link href='https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/froala-editor@latest/css/froala_editor.pkgd.min.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' />
    <!--Include Font awesome for the button icon -->
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/4.5.0/css/font-awesome.min.css" integrity="sha512-+L4yy6FRcDGbXJ9mPG8MT/3UCDzwR9gPeyFNMCtInsol++5m3bk2bXWKdZjvybmohrAsn3Ua5x8gfLnbE1YkOg==" crossorigin="anonymous" referrerpolicy="no-referrer" />
</head>
<body>

    <!--Editor element -->
    <textarea id="editor"></textarea>

    <!--Include Froala javaScript -->
    <script type='text/javascript' src='https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/froala-editor@latest/js/froala_editor.pkgd.min.js'></script>
    <script>
        FroalaEditor.DefineIcon('dateIcon', {NAME: 'calendar', template: 'font_awesome'})
        FroalaEditor.RegisterCommand('date', {
            title: "Today's date and time",
            icon: 'dateIcon',
            undo: true,
            focus: true,
            showOnMobile: true,
            refreshAfterCallback: true,
            callback: function () {

                const currentDate = new Date();
                const dateString = `${currentDate.getMonth() + 1}/${currentDate.getDate()}/${currentDate.getFullYear()} ${currentDate.getHours()}:${currentDate.getMinutes()}:${currentDate.getSeconds()}`;

                this.html.set("<i>"+dateString+"</i>");
            },

        })

        new FroalaEditor('#editor', {
            // Add the custom buttons in the toolbarButtons list, after the separator.
            toolbarButtons: [['date', 'italic' , 'bold']]
        });
    </script>
</body>
</html>

By following these steps, you can easily integrate the ability to insert the current date and time into your Froala-powered web applications, providing users with a convenient way to timestamp their content.

Advanced Date Formatting

While the basic formatting methods provided by the Date object are useful, you may sometimes need more advanced date formatting options. In that case, it’s recommended to integrate third-party libraries, such as Moment.js with Froala editor to provide additional date formatting capabilities.

These libraries offer a wide range of formatting options, including the ability to display dates in different languages, time zones, and custom formats.

If you recommend writing an article about how to do that integration, leave a comment below.

Try Froala for Your Next Project

In this article, we’ve explored how to leverage the powerful JavaScript Date object to insert the current date and time into a Froala WYSIWYG editor. By creating a custom toolbar button, we were able to give users a convenient way to timestamp their content directly within the editor interface.

The ability to seamlessly integrate date and time functionality into a WYSIWYG editor can be a valuable feature for a wide range of applications, from content management systems to online forms and note-taking apps. With the flexibility and customization options provided by Froala, developers can tailor this functionality to perfectly fit the needs of their users and their application’s branding.

If you’re looking to enhance your web application’s content creation experience, I encourage you to give Froala a try. With its robust API, extensive feature set, and easy integration, Froala makes it simple to build a WYSIWYG editor that is perfectly suited to your users’ needs.

Get started with Froala today and unlock the power of dynamic date and time integration in your web applications!