What’s new in CKEditor Drupal modules: Merge Fields, Export with Inline Styles, and more

The latest updates to CKEditor 5 for Drupal bring new features to both the Premium Features and Plugin Pack modules, including Export with Inline Styles, Merge Fields, Enhanced Source Editing dark theme support, and Media Embed.

• CKEditor 5 Premium Features module 1.6.0 was released on September 3, 2025           .

• CKEditor 5 Plugin Pack module 1.4.1 was released on September 3, 2025.

Together, these releases mark a step forward for advanced editing workflows in Drupal, with email editing joining the previously introduced Email Configuration Helper and Layout Tables features to offer a complete solution.

#Premium Features Module

# NEW Merge Fields

Introduced to CKEditor in v43.0.0, Merge Fields allow editors to insert dynamic placeholders directly into their content. It is now available for Drupal in the Premium Features module.

Merge Fields integrate with the widely used Drupal Token API, providing a user-friendly interface for content editors. They act as a visual replacement for tokens, making it easier to build personalized templates for newsletters, transactional emails, or other communications. Placeholders remain intact during editing and are automatically replaced with specific data at document generation, drawn from datasets you configure.

You can read all about the Merge Fields in Drupal in the configuration guide.

# NEW Export with Inline Styles 

​​The Export with Inline Styles plugin is now available in Drupal through the Premium Features module. It converts editor content into HTML with styles applied directly as inline style attributes without relying on external stylesheets or CSS, which is crucial for reliable rendering across diverse email clients.

With this addition, Drupal users can now access the full set of email editing capabilities in CKEditor 5. In the previous release, we introduced the Email Configuration Helper (Premium Features module) and the Layout Tables plugin (Plugin Pack). Together with Export with Inline Styles, these three features cover the entire workflow for building, validating, and exporting email-ready content directly within the editor.

You can read all about the Export with Inline Styles in the configuration guide.

# IMPROVED Enhanced Source Code Editing – Dark Theme

The Enhanced Source Editing plugin in the Premium Features module now supports a dark theme, making it easier to work with raw HTML in low-light environments.

This update enhances the source editing experience by improving readability and reducing eye strain, especially for developers and technical users who spend long hours editing source code in Drupal.

#Other Improvements

Premium Features module 1.6.0 also includes several smaller updates and fixes:

• General: Replaced deprecated functions and bumped the required core version to 10.3.

• General: Added PHP 8.4 compatibility.

• General: Improved the CKEditor version check function to prevent errors in certain module configurations.

• General: Corrected documentation links in the notice about optional module dependencies.

• AI Assistant: Updated the description of the OpenAI model setting.

• Collaboration: Fixed an issue where pressing Enter when renaming a revision caused the entity form to submit.

#Plugin Pack Module

# NEW Media Embed 

Plugin Pack 1.4.1 adds integration with the Media Embed plugin, making it easier to insert rich media content directly into the editor. This expands Drupal’s embedding capabilities and improves the authoring experience.

You can learn more about the new Media Embed in Drupal plugin in the feature guide.

#Other Improvements

1.4.1 Plugin Pack release also includes a set of refinements and fixes:

• General: Unified submodule descriptions for consistency.

• Font: Automatic creation of the highlight.css file if missing (e.g., after deployment).

• Fullscreen: Fixed an issue where fullscreen mode blocked dialogs.

• General: Improved the CKEditor version check function to prevent errors in certain module configurations.

#Try CKEditor 5 Premium Features Module

You can test all premium plugins including Collaboration, AI Assistant, Export/Import, and the new Email Configuration Helper with a 14-day free trial.

Start your trial or contact us for licensing options and technical support.

#Find us at DrupalCon Vienna 2025

Ondrej Chrastina, Developer Advocate at CKEditor, and Piotrek Koszuliński, Director of Engineering at CKEditor 5 will be joining DrupalCon 2025 Vienna.

#Quick Links and Resources

• CKEditor 5 Premium Features Module

• CKEditor 5 Premium Features Module Release Notes

• CKEditor 5 Plugin Pack Module

• CKEditor 5 Plugin Pack Module Release Notes

• CKEditor 5 Demos

• CKEditor in Drupal

• CKEditor blog posts about Drupal

#Feedback and Support

If you have specific questions or want to report an issue, please contact us.

#Learn more about CKEditor in Drupal

• Drupal CMS Recipes and new features in the CKEditor module

• Drupal and CKEditor: a history of advanced content editing