WordPress – How to automatically insert Non-Breaking Space using Ctrl + Shift + Space

A non-breaking space allows you to add a space between two words that prevents an automatic line break (line wrap) at its position.

They’re commonly used where amounts, such as dollars are separated using a space or when typing a brand name.

When using Microsoft Word it’s as easy as typing Ctrl + Shift + Space – but it’s not at easy in an HTML WYSIWYG editor such as in WordPress.

However, with the following PHP filter you can make TinyMCE automatically create a non-breaking space when using the Ctrl + Shift + Space key combination.

If you’re not sure where to place this code I highly recommend you read How to create a WordPress plugin for your custom functions.

add_filter( 'tiny_mce_before_init', function( $initArray ) {
 $initArray['setup'] = <<<JS
[function(editor) {
 var down = {};
 editor.onKeyDown.add( function( editor, event ) {
 down[event.keyCode] = true;
 });
 editor.onKeyUp.add( function( editor, event ) {
 if ( down[16] && down[17] && down[32] ) {
 editor.execCommand( 'mceInsertContent', false, '&nbsp;' ); // inserts non-breaking space
 }
 down[event.keyCode] = false;
 });

}][0]
JS;
 $initArray['entities'] = '160,nbsp,38,amp,60,lt,62,gt'; 
 $initArray['entity_encoding'] = 'named';
 return $initArray;
});