TinyMCE is a wysiwyg editor (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) - a set of tools that allow users to manipulate html without actually having to write any code. Anyone who has written an email or has used Microsoft Word is familiar with a wysiwyg editor - it's the thing that lets you make words bold, italic, underlined, etc. When publishing online, it's especially useful to create links and make headers. It usually looks something like this:
Unlike most modules, TinyMCE has a few extra steps in its installation. Here they are, as simple as I can describe them:
1. Download, Uncompress, and Upload the Modules
Download the necessary modules from drupal.org:
Uncompress the files and place them in the /modules folder on your server.
2. Download, Ucompress and Upload the latest TinyMCE release
Download TinyMCE 2.1 from http://tinymce.moxiecode.com. Uncompress the file and make sure the folder is named 'tinymce'. Place the entire 'tinymce' engine folder inside your modules/tinymce directory. Now the TinyMCE engine should be found in modules/tinymce/tinymce
4. Enable the Module
Enable both the TinyMCE and the IMCE modules by navigating to administer --> site building --> modules, checking the boxes, and saving the configuration.
5. Enable the User Access to the Module
Enable user access by browsing to admin --> users management --> access control. Give permission to the users who you want to allow to use the editor by selecting the check boxes next to "access tinyMCE". Leave the boxes next to "administer tinyMCE" unchecked as it's suggested that only the administer have those privilages.
6. Configure Module
TinyMCE requires that you create a profile and assign it a role. By default drupal has two roles: authenticated users who are logged in and anonymous users who are not logged in. If the only people who will be using the wysiwyg are those who are logged in, it's a good idea to just create one profile, name it whatever you like, and set the role to "authenticated users". That way, whoever is logged in will be able to access the wysiwyg editor.
You can do this by browsing to administer --> site configuration --> TinyMCE. Here, select Create New Profile. Here's an example using a configuration I used recently:
Basic Setup
a. Profile Name: editor
b. Default state: disabled
(here's a tip. I prefer to set the default state to "disabled" because pages load quicker without the editor and I don't always need it. When set to default, the editor will not appear. Users can, however, select the "enable rich-text" link at any time to edit their text with the wysiwyg editor).
c. Allow users to choose default: "false"
d. Show disable/enable rich text editor: "true"
e. Language: "en"
f. Safari Browser Warning: "true"
Visibility
Leave the default settings which are the following:
node/*
user/*
comment/*
Buttons and Plugins
Choose the plugins you want to be included in your editor. Think about what kind of editing you or your users will want to do.
Editor Appearance
a. Toolbar Location: top
b. Toolbar Alignment: center
c. Path Location: bottom
d. Enable Resizing Button: ture
e. Block Formats: (defauts) p,address, pre,h2,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6
Cleanup & Output and CSS
I left these settings as the defaults. Except for one - Remove Line Breaks: "false"