Ace Editor

Note: This documentation uses the legacy approach with extensions. We have launched Ace Editor as a Marketplace App. For more information on Ace Editor, please refer to the Ace Editor App Installation Guide.

Ace Editor is an embeddable code editor that includes features of native code editors, such as Sublime and Vim.

This step-by-step guide explains how to create an Ace Editor custom field extension for your content types in Contentstack.

1. Add the “Ace Editor” custom field extension to your stack

   To add this custom field to your stack, log in to your Contentstack account and perform the following steps:

   1. Go to your stack and click on the “Settings” icon on the left navigation panel.
   2. Click on Extensions.
   3. Click on the + New Extensions button, and select Use prebuilt option.
   4. In the following window, from the drop-down menu, select Custom Field. 
      
      
   5. Hover over Ace Editor, and click on + Add Extension. 
   6. In the Create New Extension page, you will see the following options:
      
      • Title (required): You will see a predefined title, “Ace Editor.” Use the same title to add the custom field in your content type.
      • Field data type (required): By default, the data type for the input data is set as “Text.”
      • Multiple (optional): Select this if your custom field accepts multiple values, and the data type is not JSON.
      • Hosting method (required): The hosting method is set to Hosted By Contentstack since it is a custom field hosted on Contentstack.
      • Extension Source Code (required): Here you will find the source code for the custom field. You can make changes to this code as per your requirements.
      • Config Parameters (optional): Provide values for the config parameters if you have used any in the source code.
   7. Finally, Save this custom field

2. Use your custom field

   To use Ace Editor custom field in your content type, perform the following steps:

   1. Click on the “Content Models” icon on the left navigation panel and click on + New Content Type button.
   2. Create a content type by adding relevant details as displayed below:
   3. On the Content Type Builder page, add the Custom field to your content type by clicking on the “Insert a field” link denoted by a + sign and then on Custom.
   4. Select Ace Editor from the Select Extension dropdown menu, and configure other properties of your custom field.

      Note: You can provide specific instance-level configuration settings for your Custom Field extension by referring to the Config parameters section.

   5. After adding other fields to your content type, click on either Save or Save and Close button. This will create a content type.

   6. To use the Ace editor, create an entry for this content type, and you will see the this field on your entry page as shown below:

Additional Resource: You can also refer to our guide on adding the JSON editor to your stack, which allows users to input JSON data as normal "text,” “code,” “tree” format, “form,” and “view.”