The switchable Markdown editor

CompanyWizard edits Markdown content with one of three editors: Classic (Syncfusion) shows the Markdown source with visible syntax, Visual (Vditor) and Visual (Milkdown) work as WYSIWYG editors directly on the formatted text. Milkdown is the newer of the two and adds wikilink chips, a slash menu, a source mode and a Mermaid preview. Which editor is active is set by Administration globally for all users — in the System settings tab under Markdown editor (default: Classic (Syncfusion)).

Where the setting applies

The setting applies at the content locations:

• Knowledge base — the embedded editor and the full-screen editor (the full-screen editor follows the same setting). → Knowledge base
• Import review — the editing tab when reviewing an import. → Import a document

All other editors (e.g. skills, profile, export dialog, admin identity) always stay classic. There is no per-user override. A change takes effect without a restart; an editing session that is already open keeps its editor until the next time it is opened.

The three editors compared

	Classic (Syncfusion)	Visual (Vditor)	Visual (Milkdown)
Editing	Markdown source, syntax visible	WYSIWYG — formatted text directly	WYSIWYG — formatted text directly, plus a source mode
Markdown fidelity	preserved unchanged	normalized on save (uniform formatting; only when actually changed)	partly rewritten into an equivalent notation when changed (see “Limits of Milkdown” below); merely viewing never writes back
Hard line breaks (two spaces at the end of a line)	preserved	preserved	preserved
Tables	via Markdown syntax	floating table toolbar (WYSIWYG mode only)	table group in the toolbar while the cursor is in a table
Wikilinks [[…]] / kb: links	plain text	plain text in all modes (CompanyWizard handles the rendering)	wikilinks as chips, changed via a popover; kb: links as ordinary links
Mermaid diagrams	source	source	preview below the code
Slash menu (/)	no	no	yes
CW insert functions (Image Studio, vault image, document link)	yes (knowledge base)	yes (knowledge base)	yes (knowledge base)

About hard line breaks: All three editors keep them on save — Vditor too, since it no longer loses them during normalization. There is no warning banner any more, and no workaround (backslash or empty line instead of two spaces) is needed.

Editing modes in the visual editor (Vditor)

At the far right of the Vditor toolbar (after undo/redo) sits the editing-mode dropdown. It offers three modes:

• WYSIWYG (default) — formatted text directly, without visible Markdown syntax.
• Instant Rendering (IR) — Markdown syntax stays visible and is rendered live.
• Split View (SV) — source on the left, preview on the right.

The choice applies per opened editor and is not saved — every open starts in WYSIWYG mode again. The floating table toolbar is available only in WYSIWYG mode.

The visual editor Milkdown

Visual (Milkdown) is a WYSIWYG editor like Vditor, but it adds a few features that help most when working with the knowledge base. It loads on first use (about half a megabyte) and works in web and desktop mode, offline on the desktop.

• Wikilinks as chips. [[Target]], [[Target|Display text]] and ![[Embed]] show up as small chips with the display text. The notation is saved verbatim, exactly as it stands in the document. To create a wikilink just type [[…]] — as soon as the second bracket is closed it turns into a chip.
• Change links and chips via the popover. Clicking a link or a chip opens a small popover with the target (it is never opened automatically) and the actions Change and Remove. For chips and knowledge-base links Change opens the document-link picker — the pick replaces the link. For ordinary web links an input field for the address appears (Enter applies, Esc cancels). Remove keeps the text and only deletes the link; a chip keeps its display text. The toolbar’s link button asks for the address first and writes nothing until you press Enter.
• Slash menu. Typing / at the start of a line or after a space opens an insert list: headings, lists, task list, quote, code block, Mermaid diagram, table, divider and (in the knowledge base) Image Studio, vault image and document link. Keep typing to filter; ↑/↓ select, Enter inserts, Esc closes the menu (the slash then stays as text). Inside a table cell only the insert functions are offered, inside list items only task list, code block and diagram.
• Table tools. With the cursor in a table, the toolbar shows a group for inserting and deleting rows and columns, aligning the column (left/center/right) and deleting the table. No row can be inserted above the header row.
• Source mode. The Source button at the right of the toolbar replaces the surface with the plain Markdown. An unchanged text appears there exactly as it is stored. You can save straight from the source; switching back re-reads changed text. Formatting and table buttons are disabled in source mode, undo/redo are the text field’s own, and the insert functions place their result at the cursor.
• Mermaid preview. A code block with the language mermaid shows a preview of the diagram below the code, refreshed shortly after the last change. The code stays editable; clicking into the preview puts the cursor at the end of the code. If the code is invalid the last valid preview stays and a hint appears.
• Viewing changes nothing. A document you only open and read is never rewritten — only when you change something does saving take the content from the editor.

Limits of Milkdown

• Empty paragraphs are not kept. Pressing Enter twice briefly creates an empty line in the editor, but it is collapsed on save and the view looks the same afterwards — as with the other editors. Use paragraphs, headings or dividers for spacing. A <br /> line already in a document stays unchanged.
• Equivalent rewrites on save. If you changed a document, the editor rewrites some spots into an equivalent form without changing the content: tables are padded, ~~~ code blocks become ```, underlined heading text becomes a # heading, bare web and e-mail addresses are put in angle brackets, characters such as ~ and & may get a backslash, and so may square brackets in text ([TODO] becomes \[TODO]; in the import review this also applies to [unsicher: …], the display stays the same), trailing spaces disappear, a quote gets a > on every line, and reference links become ordinary links. A document you only view is not affected.
• Chips are not directly editable. You change a wikilink’s text via the popover (Change), not by typing inside the chip. A wikilink deliberately escaped with backslashes (\[\[x\]\]) becomes a real chip in the editor.
• Diagram hint. The hint for invalid Mermaid code mentions the “last valid version” even if nothing has ever been rendered.
• Tables. Alignment applies to the column the cursor is in; there is no “no alignment”. A table or divider inserted via the slash menu in the middle of a paragraph can leave an invisible placeholder ( ) in the Markdown.
• Links at the end of a line. If you keep typing right at the end of a link, the popover closes; a web address at the end of the text can merge with the text.
• If the editor does not load (e.g. because of a network problem), a hint to reload the page appears after a second attempt. Your saved text stays untouched.

Limits & notes

• Desktop mode: The setting also applies in desktop mode (stored locally); the admin UI is the same.
• Global, effective immediately: The switch applies to all users and takes effect the next time an editor is opened — without a restart.

Related

• Admin tab: System settings — where the setting lives
• Knowledge base · Import a document