Installation

Requirements

  • Craft CMS 5.3.0 or later
  • PHP 8.2 or later
  • The dom, json and mbstring extensions

There are no system binaries to install and no service to sign up for. The default backend is a pure-PHP rule engine, so RedPen works on shared hosting and on Craft Cloud with nothing configured.

Install via Composer

From your project root:

composer require justinholtweb/craft-redpen

Install the plugin

php craft plugin/install redpen

Or go to Settings → Plugins in the control panel and click Install next to RedPen.

Choose an edition

RedPen installs as Lite, which is free and never expires. To try Pro, use the trial in the Plugin Store, or switch editions from the command line:

php craft plugin/switch-edition redpen pro

Note: a plugin’s edition lives in project config, not in a database column. If you switch editions from a script rather than the CLI, follow it with a project config write so the change is not left buffered.

First run

Open any entry. RedPen adds a RedPen panel to the sidebar and, because checkOnLoad defaults to on, checks the entry as the screen opens. Nothing is blocked and nothing is rewritten — at this point the panel is purely advisory.

Out of the box RedPen runs its default profile, which enables the accessibility, structure, typography, grammar, inclusivity and terminology rules and leaves the four opinionated ones (passive voice, sentence length, weasel words, grade level) off or set to notice. That is deliberate: a wall of warnings on day one teaches people to ignore the plugin.

Next steps

  1. Put your own banned terms and brand spellings into the default profile — see Style profiles. This is where most of the value is.
  2. Decide whether findings should affect saving — see Save-time validation.
  3. Run a site-wide audit to see where you stand — see Audits & reporting.