Startup and behavior

These options control how WProofreader starts, when it checks text, and which elements are included or excluded.

All options described on this page are part of the WEBSPELLCHECKER_CONFIG object. You should define them before loading the WProofreader script.

---

autoSearch

Enables automatic proofreading functionality that activates proofreading when users interact with editable areas on your webpage.

Default: false

Use when: you want WProofreader to automatically start checking text in editable elements without requiring users to manually activate it.

By default, WProofreader with autoSearch enabled will only activate in focused areas. For unfocused areas, it remains inactive until users place a cursor there and start typing.

Example:

autoSearch: true,

When autoSearch is enabled, you can control which elements are included or excluded using enableAutoSearchIn and disableAutoSearchIn options.

autoStartup

Controls whether WProofreader starts in an enabled or disabled state when the page loads.

Default: true

Use when: you want to give users control over when to begin proofreading, rather than starting automatically.

Example:

autoStartup: false,

When set to false, the badge appears grayed out and users must click the Enable icon to activate WProofreader.

enableGrammar

Controls whether grammar checking is enabled along with other check types like spelling and style.

Default: true

Use when: you want to disable grammar checking and provide only spelling or style suggestions..

Example:

enableGrammar: false

When disabled:

• Grammar checking is turned off for all languages.

• The "Grammar suggestions" toggle still appears in the user interface (Settings → General). To avoid confusion, hide the General section using the settingsSections option.

• For AI-powered languages (configured to use only the AI engine), all suggestions — including spelling and style — will be disabled.

• For other languages, algorithmic spelling and style suggestions (if supported) will still function normally.

proofreadAsYouType

Controls whether proofreading occurs in real-time as users type (as-you-type mode) or only when explicitly requested through dialog mode.

Default: true

Use when: you want users to manually launch proofreading through the dialog instead of seeing inline suggestions as they type.

Example:

proofreadAsYouType: false

When disabled, users must use the badge to open the Proofread in dialog window. Inline underlines won’t appear.

ignoreElements

Specifies HTML elements that should be excluded from spell and grammar checking.

Default: ['style', 'script']

Use when: you need to prevent checking within specific markup elements like tables, code blocks, or custom components.

Example:

ignoreElements: ['table', 'pre', 'code', 'style', 'script']

ignoreClasses

Excludes elements with specified CSS classes from proofreading.

Default: not set

Use when: you want to skip checking in elements marked with particular classes.

Example:

ignoreClasses: ['no-proofread', 'code-snippet', 'ignore-checking']

ignoreAttributes

Excludes elements containing specified data attributes from spell and grammar checking.

Default: not set

Use when: you need fine-grained control over which elements to skip using custom data attributes.

Example:

ignoreAttributes: ['data-no-spellcheck', 'data-wsc-ignore-checking']

disableOptionsStorage

Controls which WProofreader user preferences and settings are stored in browser storage between sessions. Accepts an array of specific options to disable storage for, or predefined values for broader control.

Default: [all] (no options are stored)

Use when: you need granular control over which user settings persist between sessions for privacy, consistency, or administrative reasons.

Example:

// Disable storing all options
disableOptionsStorage: ['all'],

// Disable storing specific ignore options only
disableOptionsStorage: ['ignoreAllCapsWords', 'ignoreDomainNames'],

// Disable language and ignore options but allow feature preferences
disableOptionsStorage: ['lang', 'options'],

Available values:

• all – Disable storing of all user options

• options – Disable storing of all ignore options, except language

• lang – Disable storing of the selected language

• ignoreAllCapsWords – Disable storing of "Ignore all-caps words" setting

• ignoreDomainNames – Disable storing of "Ignore domain names" setting

• ignoreWordsWithMixedCases – Disable storing of "Ignore mixed case words" setting

• ignoreWordsWithNumbers – Disable storing of "Ignore words with numbers" setting

• spellingSuggestions – Disable storing of spelling suggestions preference

• grammarSuggestions – Disable storing of grammar suggestions preference

• styleGuideSuggestions – Disable storing of style guide suggestions preference

• autocorrect – Disable storing of autocorrect preference

• autocomplete – Disable storing of autocomplete preference

• [] – Enable storing of all options

When specific options are disabled from storage, those settings will reset to their configured defaults after each page reload, while other user preferences remain persistent.