Block shortcut feature for Editor.js (like in Notion)

Installation

Insall the package

npm install editorjs-block-shortcut

Usage

Minimal configuration:

import { BlockShortcuts } from 'editorjs-block-shortcut'
import Header from '@editorjs/header'

const blockConverters = [
    {
        shortcut: ['#'],
        converter: (shortcutText) => ({
            type: 'header',
            data: {
                text: '',
                level: 1,
            },
            config: null,
        }),
    }
]

const editor = new EditorJS({
    tools: {
        header: Header,
    },
    onReady: () => {
        new BlockShortcuts({ editor })
    },
});

If a user input '#' and press "Space" in the beginning some block it will be converted to the header block.

Multiple shortcuts

You can specify multiple shortcuts:

import { BlockShortcuts } from 'editorjs-block-shortcut'
import Header from '@editorjs/header'

const blockConverters = [
    {
        shortcuts: ['-', '*'],
        converter: (shortcutText) => ({
            type: 'list',
            data: {
                style: 'unordered',
                items: [],
            },
            config: null,
        }),
    }
]

Regex shortcuts

The plugin also allows you to validate shortcuts using regular expressions. This can be useful, for example, in blocks with different variations. Let's look at an example with headers:

import { BlockShortcuts } from 'editorjs-block-shortcut'
import Header from '@editorjs/header'

const blockConverters = [
    {
        shortcut: [/[#]{1,6}}/],
        converter: (shortcutText) => ({
            type: 'header',
            data: {
                text: '',
                level: shortcutText.length,
            },
            config: null,
        })
    }
]

Now, when you enter # or ##, the block will be converted to block H1 or H2, respectively.

Retrieving data from an old block

Sometimes it is necessary not only to convert one block into another, but also to preserve the data from the original block. Below is an example of how to do this:

import { SavedData } from '@editorjs/editorjs/types/data-formats'
import { BlockShortcuts } from 'editorjs-block-shortcut'
import Header from '@editorjs/header'

const blockConverters = [
    {
        shortcut: [/[#]{1,6}}/],
        converter: (
            shortcutText: string,
            oldBlockType: string,
            oldBlockData: SavedData | void,
        ) => ({
            type: 'header',
            data: {
                text: (oldBlockData as SavedData).data.text,
                level: shortcutText.length,
            },
            config: null,
        })
    }
]

Enabling converting only for specific blocks

You can specify that the converter only works for certain blocks using the xxx option:

import { BlockShortcuts } from 'editorjs-block-shortcut'
import Header from '@editorjs/header'

const blockConverters = [
    {
        shortcut: [/[#]{1,6}}/],
        enabledFor: ['paragraph'],
        converter: (shortcutText) => ({
            type: 'header',
            data: {
                text: '',
                level: shortcutText.length,
            },
            config: null,
        })
    }
]

By default, converters apply to all block types.

Comparing blocks

Notion allows us to convert one heading level to another, but with the default configuration of the converter this will not be possible. By default, the library compares the old and new block by type, and if the types are the same, then the conversion will not occur.

To correct this behavior, you can specify your own block comparison function, which, in addition to the type, also compares the header level:

import { SavedData } from '@editorjs/editorjs/types/data-formats'
import { BlockShortcuts } from 'editorjs-block-shortcut'
import Header from '@editorjs/header'

const blockConverters = [
    {
        shortcut: [/[#]{1,6}}/],
        enabledFor: ['paragraph', 'header'],
        blockTypeComparator: (
            newBlockType: string,
            oldBlockType: string,
            oldBlockData: BlockToolData,
            newBlockData: BlockToolData,
        ) => {
            return newBlockType != oldBlockType || oldBlockData.level != newBlockData.level
        },
        converter: (
            shortcutText: string,
            oldBlockType: string,
            oldBlockData: SavedData | void,
        ) => ({
            type: 'header',
            data: {
                text: (oldBlockData as SavedData).data.text,
                level: shortcutText.length,
            },
            config: null,
        })
    }
]

Config Params

Converter config supports the options (* - required option):

Field	Type	Description
shortcuts *	(string | RegExp)[]
converter *	BlockConverter
enabledFor	string[]
blockTypeComparator	BlockTypeComparator