wysiwyg

WYSIWYG stands for What You See Is What You Get. It describes a user interface paradigm in which the document or page displayed on the screen during editing appears as it will when printed or published. The goal is to minimize the gap between how content is edited and how it will appear to others.

The term is associated with the development of graphical editors at Xerox PARC in the 1980s. Charles Simonyi coined the phrase while working on the Bravo word processor and later projects for the Star workstation. WYSIWYG editors gained widespread popularity with the rise of the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows, enabling users to directly manipulate text, images, and layout rather than editing in a separate markup or source view.

These editors render fonts, spacing, colors, and page elements in real time. The editing surface is tied to a rendering engine that produces the final layout, so users can insert and format elements with on-screen results that closely resemble the printed page or published output.

WYSIWYG is common in word processing, desktop publishing, and web design tools. Examples include Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, Adobe InDesign, and WYSIWYG web editors such as Dreamweaver and various content management system editors. Some editors also provide a source or code view for markup languages when precise control is needed.

Limitations include potential discrepancies between on-screen render and final output due to printer capabilities, font availability, or color profiles. Complex layouts or large documents can introduce performance issues. Some editors balance WYSIWYG with markup-oriented editing, offering both direct manipulation and underlying code.