I'm not sure why I haven't been able to find this, but does anyone know how to get the input of the TinyMCE editor? I am using it in the front end and want to be able to save whatever the user has typed into the TinyMCE to a database but cannot find the best way to capture that value.

The two solutions that I've implemented with some success are:

1. `tinyMCE.activeEditor.getContent();` - This one seems to only get the value of the visual editor so if I'm in the HTML editor and make changes and then save, they aren't picked up.
2. `$('#html_text_area_id').val();` - This one is the opposite, it only seems to get the value of the HTML editor.

I know there is a better way - I just can't seem to find it...

p.s Yes, I'm going to implement security measures to make sure people can't blow up the database.