You have to write your custom binding handler in order for your observable property to be linked with an instance of CKEditor.
First, you could start from the custom binding found here. One of the posts contains a custom binding, though I'm not sure it works. You have to check. I copied it down here, credits do not go to me of course:
ko.bindingHandlers.ckEditor = {
init: function (element, valueAccessor, allBindingsAccessor, viewModel) {
var txtBoxID = $(element).attr("id");
var options = allBindingsAccessor().richTextOptions || {};
options.toolbar_Full = [
['Source', '-', 'Format', 'Font', 'FontSize', 'TextColor', 'BGColor', '-', 'Bold', 'Italic', 'Underline', 'SpellChecker'],
['NumberedList', 'BulletedList', '-', 'Outdent', 'Indent', '-', 'Blockquote', 'CreateDiv', '-', 'JustifyLeft', 'JustifyCenter', 'JustifyRight', 'JustifyBlock', '-', 'BidiLtr', 'BidiRtl'],
['Link', 'Unlink', 'Image', 'Table']
];
// handle disposal (if KO removes by the template binding)
ko.utils.domNodeDisposal.addDisposeCallback(element, function () {
if (CKEDITOR.instances[txtBoxID]){
CKEDITOR.remove(CKEDITOR.instances[txtBoxID]);
}
});
$(element).ckeditor(options);
// wire up the blur event to ensure our observable is properly updated
CKEDITOR.instances[txtBoxID].focusManager.blur = function () {
var observable = valueAccessor();
observable($(element).val());
};
},
update: function (element, valueAccessor, allBindingsAccessor, viewModel) {
var val = ko.utils.unwrapObservable(valueAccessor());
$(element).val(val);
}
}
A typical use then would be in the HTML:
<textarea id="txt_viewModelVariableName"
data-bind="ckEditor: viewModelVariableName"></textarea>
Secondly, you could check out the custom binding handler for TinyMCE initially written by Ryan Niemeyer and updated by other talented people. Maybe TinyMCE could work out for you instead of CKEditor ?