# Code Formating - Review

**URL:** <https://forum.pinegrow.com/t/code-formating-review/8932>\
**Category:** Feature Request\
**Created:** [May 29, 2024, 5:34am UTC](https://forum.pinegrow.com/t/code-formating-review/8932 "2024-05-29T05:34:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![JimMcGinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/65b543/32.png) [@JimMcGinn](https://forum.pinegrow.com/u/JimMcGinn)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2024, 5:34am UTC](https://forum.pinegrow.com/t/code-formating-review/8932/1 "2024-05-29T05:34:59Z")

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Pinegrow works very well, but the auto code formatting in the Code Editor keeps combining bunches of my code into one long line, i.e. it seems to work strangely. I had to turn the auto formatting off, to keep my code formatted reasonably.

I suggest you look at the MS Visual Studio. It’s auto code formatting works very well. It has options for formatting the highlighted code, or all the code.

Sorry this is lacking more specifics, but I don’t have time to mess around more with Pinegrow’s auto formatter. (However, any suggestions on adjusting the behaviour of Pinegrow’s auto code formatter are welcome, especially if I’m missing something.)

Thank you,  
Have a great day!

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**Author:** ![Bryn](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.pinegrow.com/bryn/32/5487_2.png) [@Bryn](https://forum.pinegrow.com/u/Bryn)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 9:49pm UTC](https://forum.pinegrow.com/t/code-formating-review/8932/2 "2024-06-04T21:49:33Z")

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Pinegrow’s code formatting is a disaster imo. Would really like that to be sorted out. Having it work as expected would be much nicer than leaving it off.

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**Author:** ![JimMcGinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/65b543/32.png) [@JimMcGinn](https://forum.pinegrow.com/u/JimMcGinn)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 2:54am UTC](https://forum.pinegrow.com/t/code-formating-review/8932/3 "2024-06-05T02:54:49Z")

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I agree completely. It would be nice if it worked.

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**Author:** ![fungames](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/858c86/32.png) [@fungames](https://forum.pinegrow.com/u/fungames)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2025, 10:36pm UTC](https://forum.pinegrow.com/t/code-formating-review/8932/4 "2025-04-19T22:36:10Z")

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> [@Bryn](#):
>
> Pinegrow’s code formatting is a disaster imo. Would really like that to be sorted out. Having it work as expected would be much nicer than leaving it off.

Can we install prettier or something else on save?

Also, is there a setting to auto close the tag when you type \>, or \<, or \</ or even?

Also, autosuggest is not instant, if I press a character like l for list-style-image, I have to wait 5 seconds before a list of css3 properties show up. Not sure if its poorly engineered so it takes too long to look up the lists of potential properties or what?

It is faster for me to type out the whole world than waiting for it, because I type 154wpm minimum when coding.

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**Author:** ![Emmanuel](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.pinegrow.com/emmanuel/32/6294_2.png) [@Emmanuel](https://forum.pinegrow.com/u/Emmanuel)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2025, 2:09pm UTC](https://forum.pinegrow.com/t/code-formating-review/8932/5 "2025-04-20T14:09:05Z")

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The code editor available in Pinegrow is a very basic version. While it makes source code editing easy, it doesn’t have all the features of modern code editors. For developers who need more, one option is to turn off the auto-formatting feature for HTML code in the settings (and do the same for CSS if you prefer).

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/pinegrow/original/2X/6/69b2898a5d9f65f91d1799f72c5abdc61e344d02.jpeg)

And use an external editor like [VSCODE](https://code.visualstudio.com/) (where you can activate the [Pinegrow extension](https://pinegrow.com/docs/master-pinegrow/using-external-code-editors/visual-studio-code/)), which will then allow you to install other extensions that match your preferences.

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**Author:** ![fungames](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/858c86/32.png) [@fungames](https://forum.pinegrow.com/u/fungames)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2025, 2:23pm UTC](https://forum.pinegrow.com/t/code-formating-review/8932/6 "2025-04-20T14:23:26Z")

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Actually, I am having the opposite problem, the formatting default out the box does not work at all.

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**Author:** ![Emmanuel](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.pinegrow.com/emmanuel/32/6294_2.png) [@Emmanuel](https://forum.pinegrow.com/u/Emmanuel)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2025, 2:29pm UTC](https://forum.pinegrow.com/t/code-formating-review/8932/7 "2025-04-20T14:29:05Z")

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Are you saying that you’re using the internal editor to enter the HTML code for your document? So you’re not using the visual features/libraries of Pinegrow? And when you save your code, even though the option is enabled in the settings, the HTML code isn’t “formatted”?

Can you give us an example of the RAW HTML code, please?

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**Author:** ![apoliticalboy](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.pinegrow.com/apoliticalboy/32/6627_2.png) [@apoliticalboy](https://forum.pinegrow.com/u/apoliticalboy)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://forum.pinegrow.com/t/code-formating-review/8932/8 "2025-04-20T15:50:19Z")

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Ran into no more than 10 posts in 24 hours from being a new account. I got the formatting working last night without doing anything, just left the program open, came back and it was working. Well, for the most part, its workable.

To answer your question, not always, sometimes I use split view, but I will not be using visual code if that is what you were going to suggest I do. I rather use vim or notepad at that point. Visual code is the most disgusting editor I have ever bare witness to.

Anyways, my big problem now is autosuggest takes too long to populate, not sure if its controlled by a db(architecture problem) or if there is a delay hardcoded in the 7 day trial?:  
`https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SwxK-fuUXI`

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**Author:** ![Emmanuel](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.pinegrow.com/emmanuel/32/6294_2.png) [@Emmanuel](https://forum.pinegrow.com/u/Emmanuel)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2025, 4:07pm UTC](https://forum.pinegrow.com/t/code-formating-review/8932/9 "2025-04-20T16:07:13Z")

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I think I’m addressing your question in the following topic:

> [@Prepurchase Questions - format code, autocomplete and more?](https://forum.pinegrow.com/t/prepurchase-questions-format-code-autocomplete-and-more/10639/4):
>
> The implementation of Pinegrow’s internal editor is based on Monaco ([GitHub - microsoft/monaco-editor: A browser based code editor](https://github.com/microsoft/monaco-editor)) but in a very stripped-down, simplified version. It’s a fact that some advanced features, even if they are “available,” might not work as smoothly as they would in a dedicated external editor. We are aware of this, which is why we recommend using an EXTERNAL editor for demanding users who absolutely need these features. If you don’t like VSCODE, since Pinegrow edi…

Note: No, there are absolutely NO limitations of this kind in the trial version.