feat: allow block/table copy and drag

[usman-khalid]

Description

Introduces a tableDragHandle plugin which:

• adds ability to drag and drop blocks/tables (useful for restructuring content easily in the editor)
• adds ability to select an entire table and copy

Related Issue

#761

Motivation and Context

It can be difficult currently for authors to move blocks around on a page or copy blocks easily, as you have to drag your cursor across all cells of a table and then copy/paste.

How Has This Been Tested?

• Tested on localhost and https://drag-table--da-live--usman-khalid.aem.page/

Screenshots (if appropriate):

Types of changes

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to change)

Checklist:

• I have signed the Adobe Open Source CLA.
• My code follows the code style of this project.
• My change requires a change to the documentation.
• I have updated the documentation accordingly.
• I have read the CONTRIBUTING document.
• I have added tests to cover my changes.
• All new and existing tests passed.

[aem-code-sync]

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[chrischrischris]

Nice!

Lets wait for #741 to be merged before this one as that refactors how plugins are loaded.

[auniverseaway]

I've been thinking quite a bit about this feature. I think we can simplify to get something everyone will be happy with.

Overarching thoughts on the current implementation

1. Most blocks have content in them: images, text, headings, lists, etc. as such, this demo video is a bit misleading on how this would work with real content (totally fine).
2. Many (most?) authors are on laptops. At this viewport size, authors will likely have to click, hold, drag up, and have the window also scroll while still holding a mouse button. We've all been here before. This will be tedious and an accessibility nightmare in the real world.

Proposed solution to move forward

1. Leave the handle.
2. Click to expose a menu containing select, copy, or cut functions.
3. Authors do whatever they want.

To me, this is going to be a simpler and more accessible way for authors to move blocks around without going overboard with our own word processor conventions... and yes, Google Docs has this feature and it also has accessibility issues.

Screencast.From.2026-02-08.10-39-44.webm

[auniverseaway]

See notes.

[usman-khalid]

I've been thinking quite a bit about this feature. I think we can simplify to get something everyone will be happy with.

Overarching thoughts on the current implementation

1. Most blocks have content in them: images, text, headings, lists, etc. as such, this demo video is a bit misleading on how this would work with real content (totally fine).
2. Many (most?) authors are on laptops. At this viewport size, authors will likely have to click, hold, drag up, and have the window also scroll while still holding a mouse button. We've all been here before. This will be tedious and an accessibility nightmare in the real world.

Proposed solution to move forward

1. Leave the handle.
2. Click to expose a menu containing select, copy, or cut functions.
3. Authors do whatever they want.

To me, this is going to be a simpler and more accessible way for authors to move blocks around without going overboard with our own word processor conventions... and yes, Google Docs has this feature and it also has accessibility issues.

Screencast.From.2026-02-08.10-39-44.webm

@auniverseaway - good point about the demo tables - most use cases would likely have content making them taller which would make dragging difficult (although I do think there's value in letting authors do this - in a lot of cases you simply want to move a block after a section break that's immediately after or something similar). But happy to remove the ability to drag if there's an accessibility concern here.

Re: exposing a menu on click - I don't think we even need this? Cut and copy have fairly standard shortcuts that most people already know. This plugin already allows you to click the handle to select the entire table. The author can then just choose to cut/copy via keyboard.

Attaching demo. Let me know your thoughts and I'll just remove the drag & drop.

[auniverseaway]

Great work. My vote:

1. Let's do only select for now [1].
2. Lean on keyboard shortcuts.

[1] Having this research in our pocket is going to be helpful later on. "Have you thought about?" is something we hear a lot from customers.

[usman-khalid]

Great work. My vote:

1. Let's do only select for now [1].
2. Lean on keyboard shortcuts.

[1] Having this research in our pocket is going to be helpful later on. "Have you thought about?" is something we hear a lot from customers.

@auniverseaway — updated to remove drag&drop functionality. Just allows table select now when the icon is clicked.