value

When called without any parameters, the value() returns the HTML contents of the editable area.
When called with a single parameter, the value(content) function will set the editor's content to the value of that parameter.

<textarea id="editor">Hello World</textarea>

<script type="text/javascript">
    jQuery(function ($) {
        var editor = $('#editor').shieldEditor()
            .swidget();

        // prints "Hello World"
        console.log(editor.value());

        // set a new content
        editor.value("New Content");

        // prints "New Content"
        console.log(editor.value());
    });
</script>