4 ms·

Show HN: Improved Markdown Links

6 points by jgalvez 8y ago

chalst 8y ago
If you rewrite a paragraph so that the order that links appear is broken, then you need to figure out how to do that reordering on the links. I don't find this more maintainable.
- jgalvez 8y ago
  Good point. For me that's an edge case, though. Cutting and pasting to reorder seems easier than editing refs too.
  - hmmm5 8y ago
    > For me that's an edge case, though You rarely edit a paragraph with links? I think a better way is to specify the number a link refers to but reorder it if it's out of order. So maybe you have 1,2,3 then after an edit it's 1,2,5,4,3 then after publishing it becomes 1,2,3,4,5 while still prserving the order of links (so only changing numbers)
leejoramo 8y ago
> Lazy Link version of comment I have done this type of thing for years. It is similar to the 'Lazy Link' work by Brett Terpstra[*] and Tyler Butler[1]. I have tweaked my own python version of this script over the years. My script recognizes Numbered and Lazy links, maintains the order of Number Links while adding in the Lazy links. Importantly, I DO NOT LEAVE MY TEXT IN LAZY FORMAT, but run my script to convert everything to numbered and SAVE it. In fact, I have VS Code set to automatically run every time I save a markdown document. This addresses [chalst's point][*] about the maintainability of link order. While I do not use footnotes in Markdown, Lazy links can [extended to footnotes][2] I suggest to jgalvez reference the term "Lazy Links" in your documents for search-ability of this feature. [*]: http://brettterpstra.com/2013/10/19/lazy-markdown-reference-links/ [1]: https://www.tylerbutler.com/2014/05/markdown-lazy-links-in-python/ [*]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17547765 [2]: http://brettterpstra.com/2013/10/30/lazy-markdown-footnotes/
- leejoramo 8y ago
  > Saved Numbered Link version of comment I have done this type of thing for years. It is similar to the 'Lazy Link' work by Brett Terpstra[1] and Tyler Butler[2]. I have tweaked my own python version of this script over the years. My script recognizes Numbered and Lazy links, maintains the order of Number Links while adding in the Lazy links. Importantly, I DO NOT LEAVE MY TEXT IN LAZY FORMAT, but run my script to convert everything to numbered and SAVE it. In fact, I have VS Code set to automatically run every time I save a markdown document. This addresses [chalst's point][3] about the maintainability of link order. While I do not use footnotes in Markdown, Lazy links can [extended to footnotes][4] I suggest to jgalvez reference the term "Lazy Links" in your documents for search-ability of this feature. [1]: http://brettterpstra.com/2013/10/19/lazy-markdown-reference-links/ [2]: https://www.tylerbutler.com/2014/05/markdown-lazy-links-in-python/ [3]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17547765 [4]: http://brettterpstra.com/2013/10/30/lazy-markdown-footnotes/
- jgalvez 8y ago
  Nice! Will do.

6 points by jgalvez 8y ago

If you rewrite a paragraph so that the order that links appear is broken, then you need to figure out how to do that reordering on the links. I don't find this more maintainable.

jgalvez 8y ago
Good point. For me that's an edge case, though. Cutting and pasting to reorder seems easier than editing refs too.
- hmmm5 8y ago
  > For me that's an edge case, though You rarely edit a paragraph with links? I think a better way is to specify the number a link refers to but reorder it if it's out of order. So maybe you have 1,2,3 then after an edit it's 1,2,5,4,3 then after publishing it becomes 1,2,3,4,5 while still prserving the order of links (so only changing numbers)

leejoramo 8y ago

> Lazy Link version of comment I have done this type of thing for years. It is similar to the 'Lazy Link' work by Brett Terpstra[*] and Tyler Butler[1]. I have tweaked my own python version of this script over the years. My script recognizes Numbered and Lazy links, maintains the order of Number Links while adding in the Lazy links. Importantly, I DO NOT LEAVE MY TEXT IN LAZY FORMAT, but run my script to convert everything to numbered and SAVE it. In fact, I have VS Code set to automatically run every time I save a markdown document. This addresses [chalst's point][*] about the maintainability of link order. While I do not use footnotes in Markdown, Lazy links can [extended to footnotes][2] I suggest to jgalvez reference the term "Lazy Links" in your documents for search-ability of this feature. [*]: http://brettterpstra.com/2013/10/19/lazy-markdown-reference-links/ [1]: https://www.tylerbutler.com/2014/05/markdown-lazy-links-in-python/ [*]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17547765 [2]: http://brettterpstra.com/2013/10/30/lazy-markdown-footnotes/

leejoramo 8y ago
> Saved Numbered Link version of comment I have done this type of thing for years. It is similar to the 'Lazy Link' work by Brett Terpstra[1] and Tyler Butler[2]. I have tweaked my own python version of this script over the years. My script recognizes Numbered and Lazy links, maintains the order of Number Links while adding in the Lazy links. Importantly, I DO NOT LEAVE MY TEXT IN LAZY FORMAT, but run my script to convert everything to numbered and SAVE it. In fact, I have VS Code set to automatically run every time I save a markdown document. This addresses [chalst's point][3] about the maintainability of link order. While I do not use footnotes in Markdown, Lazy links can [extended to footnotes][4] I suggest to jgalvez reference the term "Lazy Links" in your documents for search-ability of this feature. [1]: http://brettterpstra.com/2013/10/19/lazy-markdown-reference-links/ [2]: https://www.tylerbutler.com/2014/05/markdown-lazy-links-in-python/ [3]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17547765 [4]: http://brettterpstra.com/2013/10/30/lazy-markdown-footnotes/
jgalvez 8y ago
Nice! Will do.