Rails adds support for adding a default value to the rich text area

Rails has added support for adding a default value to the rich text area.

To specify the default value for a rich text area, we need to pass the value in the form field, as shown below:

<%= form.rich_text_area :description, value: "Default description" %>

value also accepts HTML, as shown below:

<%= form.rich_text_area :description, value: "<div>First point</div><div>Second point</div>" %>

Technical aspect of this change:

Before

When we pass value to the rich text area, it was not set to the hidden input.

This hidden input is used by <trix-editor>.

In our case,

<%= form.rich_text_area :description, value: "<div>First point</div><div>Second point</div>" %>

used to produce the following:

<input type="hidden" name="post[description]" id="post_description_trix_input_post">
<trix-editor value="<div>First point</div><div>Second point</div>" id="post_description" input="post_description_trix_input_post" class="trix-content" data-direct-upload-url="http://localhost:3000/rails/active_storage/direct_uploads" data-blob-url-template="http://localhost:3000/rails/active_storage/blobs/:signed_id/:filename" contenteditable="" role="textbox" trix-id="1" toolbar="trix-toolbar-1"></trix-editor>

After

With the recent change, the value passed is set to the hidden input, as shown below:

<input type="hidden" name="post[description]" id="post_description_trix_input_post" value="<div>First point</div><div>Second point</div>">
<trix-editor id="post_description" input="post_description_trix_input_post" class="trix-content" data-direct-upload-url="http://localhost:3000/rails/active_storage/direct_uploads" data-blob-url-template="http://localhost:3000/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/:signed_id/:filename" contenteditable="" role="textbox" trix-id="1" toolbar="trix-toolbar-1"><div><!--block-->First point</div><div><!--block-->Second point</div></trix-editor>

Hence, we can see and edit the default value of the rich text area.

Need help on your Ruby on Rails or React project?

Join Our Newsletter