WYSIWYG – Definition

What You See Is What You Get - An editing interface that allows content to be edited in a form that closely resembles its final appearance.

WYSIWYG editors enable non-technical users to create formatted content without knowing HTML or CSS. They provide visual controls for text formatting, image insertion, and layout design. WYSIWYG editing has a long-standing tension worth understanding: giving editors unrestricted formatting freedom tends to produce inconsistent, off-brand content over time as different editors make different stylistic choices, while overly restrictive editors frustrate legitimate formatting needs. The more mature approach constrains WYSIWYG editing to a defined set of brand-approved styles — headings, body text, and callouts that automatically match brand guidelines — rather than exposing raw formatting controls. It's also worth distinguishing WYSIWYG from a live editor: WYSIWYG traditionally refers to formatting text within a content field, while a live editor typically means editing an entire page layout with real-time preview of the actual rendered result.