8 ms·

A cross-platform Markdown editor focused on speed and usability

53 points by feross 5y ago

andrewshadura 5y ago
It might be great if it weren't extremely buggy.
orangea 5y ago
Unfortunately this doesn't seem to be actively being worked on and isn't complete enough for me to use personally (custom themes aren't implemented, for example). These are the WYSIWYG Markdown editors that I am aware of: - Typora (great but somewhat buggy). - Obsidian is working on a WYSIWYG mode. - Nota (nota.md) is promising but very beta. - Zettlr - Bear is working on a WYSIWYG mode.
- NylaTheWolf 5y ago
  There is a plugin for Obsidian that helps with WYSIWYG! Also isn't Bear WYSIWYG?
- brycewray 5y ago
  That was pretty much my evaluation of Mark Text, as well: https://www.brycewray.com/posts/2021/05/trying-mark-text-for-website-content/ https://www.brycewray.com/posts/2021/05/trying-mark-text-for...
- bobbylarrybobby 5y ago
  Does Notion not count?
  - dschuessler 5y ago
    I never considered Notion to be a Markdown editor. Is there an easy way to open, edit and save Markdown files with Notion?
    - joconde 5y ago
      They have a Markdown-like syntax, but AFAIK it's only for notes stored in their cloud service.
- i_am_proteus 5y ago
  https://github.com/iamcco/markdown-preview.nvim https://github.com/iamcco/markdown-preview.nvim works for me.
- chubot 5y ago
  I wish I could consolidate a lot of the apps I use for Markdown: Blog: I used Vim for a long time, now I use the online editor https://stackedit.io https://stackedit.io. I found that composing blog posts involves cutting and pasting big blocks of text a lot more than coding, which is better done with a mouse. Stackedit has a side-by-side view and WYSIWYG. Github wiki: Good for sketching ideas for blog posts, and documentation. Editable by others. (wish list: I kinda want the Roam Research bidirectional link thing, I often have that problem) Github issues: similar to a TODO list for many people. Zulip: Good for chatting with others, and for brainstorming ideas. So it overlaps with the Github wiki for that. Not good for a TODO list. So there are all these apps that use Markdown but they are a bit disconnected. Is that what Notion is supposed to be? A bunch of apps that interoperate and are unified? I haven't tried it since I mainly stick to open source stuff (with the exception of Github, though it is built on git)
- kspacewalk2 5y ago
  Joplin has its quirks but overall is a great, mature WYSIWYG markdown editor with syncing/backups and an Android app.
- kcartlidge 5y ago
  I know it's quite heavy but for performance, consistency, and attractive rendering (surprisingly important) having tried many options, including my personal runner-up Byword which hasn't been mentioned, I settled on the usual suspect of VS Code. Usually with the Github Markdown extension switched on due to liking their theme, but obviously that isn't a requirement. Open a Markdown file and use your platform's Markdown Preview hotkey (eg Cmd+K,V). Simple.
bestouff 5y ago
Nowadays when I hear "crossplatform" I think bloated electron app. That's sad.
- maximus-decimus 5y ago
  It's not Electon's fault that all other solutions are not cross-platform.
  - Nicksil 5y ago
    >all other solutions are not cross-platform. What makes you think this?
    - threatofrain 5y ago
      Has Dart + Flutter taken off yet? Or does some other competitor pop into your mind?
      - metalliqaz 5y ago
        I could write it in Python, or Java, or C#, and it would run everywhere that those environments run.
        soylentgraham 5y ago
        If your "app" is running in java, python, you need to bundle the correct runtime version. (As well as another UI framework, and all dependencies) You're back in bloaty electron land then, no?
        metalliqaz 5y ago
        No, I would argue you're not. The runtime destributables for .NET and Java are not bloated like Electron. Python is worse however it's a already a built-in part of many system's package ecosystem.
linsomniac 5y ago
I saw "Typora 1.0" yesterday in the HN firehose, but it didn't make it to the main page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29349690 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29349690 I've been playing around with it this morning, and ended up spending $14 on the license. Used it to go through some of my README.md files that I had some mistakes on. https://typora.io/ https://typora.io/
mfer 5y ago
In one sense this is cross platform and in another it isn’t. Many of the features are for extensions. Extensions that are not widely adopted where you might put the markdown
stephc_int13 5y ago
I just tried it. Slow, unresponsive, probably Electron based or something similar. When the app is so unresponsive, no matter how nice it looks or how polished the UX is, it is ruined from the first 10 seconds of using it.
slantyyz 5y ago
What I'd love to see is an extension for VSCode that can do wysiwym/wysiwyg Markdown editing while keeping the same keyboard shortcuts of VSC. There is a "Typora" knockoff extension for vsc that does some of what I want, but it has its own keyboard shortcuts, so multiline editing, etc. don't work.
- adamrezich 5y ago
  you can split your window and open a Markdown Preview for your current file on the other side of the split, what else do you want beyond that?
  - slantyyz 5y ago
    > wysiwym/wysiwyg Markdown editing I use a folder of markdown files as my Note taking system. For that I don't want a split screen setup.
Findecanor 5y ago
Isn't the point of Markdown that it is supposed to be regular text, formalising conventions that have been used for traditional ASCII text files for decades?
- cmckn 5y ago
  Sure, but the point is also to render said ASCII into something a bit more slick and dynamic. These editors let you work with the underlying markup, while showing you the final product. In fact, this is the way I wished all word processors worked—the worst thing about MS Word in my opinion is the invisible hand of the phantom formatting characters.
  - Syonyk 5y ago
    > ...the worst thing about MS Word in my opinion is the invisible hand of the phantom formatting characters. WordPerfect says "Reveal Codes!" from the grave... Formatting is being nonsensical? Jump into Reveal Codes, delete all the weird formatting stuff by tag, and solve your problem.
- slantyyz 5y ago
  > Markdown is a text-to-HTML conversion tool for web writers. The point of Markdown is to write plaintext in Markdown and convert to Markup (as in Hypertext Markup Language) Source: https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/ https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/
nielsbot 5y ago
Edit: A commenter below says this is no longer free Since we're here: I highly recommend Typora for macOS. Truly minimal and well-done macOS-native Markdown editor. Previews final output inline as you edit without separate markdown/preview panes. Beta is free. (Not my project) https://typora.io https://typora.io [edit: actually finish the comment]
- MikusR 5y ago
  It's no longer free. It's also an electron app.
  - nielsbot 5y ago
    It looks webview-based, but otherwise it's a native app.
    - tagrun 5y ago
      No, Typora is an Electron application, occupying more than 200MBs on disk (and similar amount of RAM upon start with no documents opened). See this announcement for example: https://support.typora.io/What%27s-New-0.9.66/ https://support.typora.io/What%27s-New-0.9.66/
      - eevilspock 5y ago
        Maybe you're both right. That announcement implies it is only Electron on Windows/Linux.
mastermaq 5y ago
Visual Studio Code is a fantastic cross-platform Markdown editor, especially with a few extensions: markdownlint, Spell Right, Word Count, Markdown All in One, and docs-markdown.
smartmic 5y ago
Leaving aside the well-known and commented "features" of Electron, out of interest, I looked into the most prominent Markdown file in the repository, README.md. Huh? Where is the markdown? Scroll, baby, scroll… This is disturbing for a Markdown editor and does not leave a good impression, again, feels like more emphasis is put on appearance than substance. Which brings us back to my entry sentence, Electron and its reputation...
- app4soft 5y ago
  > "features" of Electron Thank You for TL;DR: So, nothing new, but just another one Electron-based editor XD
cjk 5y ago
“Focused on speed” and written in Electron. Sigh.
wingmanjd 5y ago
For those who are in the PortableApps ecosystem, I maintain a build of Marktext here: https://github.com/jgonyea/Mark-Text-Portable https://github.com/jgonyea/Mark-Text-Portable
NylaTheWolf 5y ago
Personally Obsidian has my heart. Not only does it support HTML and CSS snippets but the community behind it is insane. They're lovely people and the shit they do with Obsidian is absolutely incredible. The plugins are absolutely amazing as well. They basically make Obsidian what it is. I don't mean to derail the thread, it's just that when I see "Markdown" I think "hhhhh obsidian my beloved"

53 points by feross 5y ago

It might be great if it weren't extremely buggy.

Unfortunately this doesn't seem to be actively being worked on and isn't complete enough for me to use personally (custom themes aren't implemented, for example). These are the WYSIWYG Markdown editors that I am aware of: - Typora (great but somewhat buggy). - Obsidian is working on a WYSIWYG mode. - Nota (nota.md) is promising but very beta. - Zettlr - Bear is working on a WYSIWYG mode.

NylaTheWolf 5y ago
There is a plugin for Obsidian that helps with WYSIWYG! Also isn't Bear WYSIWYG?
brycewray 5y ago
That was pretty much my evaluation of Mark Text, as well: https://www.brycewray.com/posts/2021/05/trying-mark-text-for-website-content/ https://www.brycewray.com/posts/2021/05/trying-mark-text-for...
bobbylarrybobby 5y ago
Does Notion not count?
- dschuessler 5y ago
  I never considered Notion to be a Markdown editor. Is there an easy way to open, edit and save Markdown files with Notion?
  - joconde 5y ago
    They have a Markdown-like syntax, but AFAIK it's only for notes stored in their cloud service.
i_am_proteus 5y ago
https://github.com/iamcco/markdown-preview.nvim https://github.com/iamcco/markdown-preview.nvim works for me.
chubot 5y ago
I wish I could consolidate a lot of the apps I use for Markdown: Blog: I used Vim for a long time, now I use the online editor https://stackedit.io https://stackedit.io. I found that composing blog posts involves cutting and pasting big blocks of text a lot more than coding, which is better done with a mouse. Stackedit has a side-by-side view and WYSIWYG. Github wiki: Good for sketching ideas for blog posts, and documentation. Editable by others. (wish list: I kinda want the Roam Research bidirectional link thing, I often have that problem) Github issues: similar to a TODO list for many people. Zulip: Good for chatting with others, and for brainstorming ideas. So it overlaps with the Github wiki for that. Not good for a TODO list. So there are all these apps that use Markdown but they are a bit disconnected. Is that what Notion is supposed to be? A bunch of apps that interoperate and are unified? I haven't tried it since I mainly stick to open source stuff (with the exception of Github, though it is built on git)
kspacewalk2 5y ago
Joplin has its quirks but overall is a great, mature WYSIWYG markdown editor with syncing/backups and an Android app.
kcartlidge 5y ago
I know it's quite heavy but for performance, consistency, and attractive rendering (surprisingly important) having tried many options, including my personal runner-up Byword which hasn't been mentioned, I settled on the usual suspect of VS Code. Usually with the Github Markdown extension switched on due to liking their theme, but obviously that isn't a requirement. Open a Markdown file and use your platform's Markdown Preview hotkey (eg Cmd+K,V). Simple.

bestouff 5y ago

Nowadays when I hear "crossplatform" I think bloated electron app. That's sad.

maximus-decimus 5y ago
It's not Electon's fault that all other solutions are not cross-platform.
- Nicksil 5y ago
  >all other solutions are not cross-platform. What makes you think this?
  - threatofrain 5y ago
    Has Dart + Flutter taken off yet? Or does some other competitor pop into your mind?
    - metalliqaz 5y ago
      I could write it in Python, or Java, or C#, and it would run everywhere that those environments run.
      - soylentgraham 5y ago
        If your "app" is running in java, python, you need to bundle the correct runtime version. (As well as another UI framework, and all dependencies) You're back in bloaty electron land then, no?
        metalliqaz 5y ago
        No, I would argue you're not. The runtime destributables for .NET and Java are not bloated like Electron. Python is worse however it's a already a built-in part of many system's package ecosystem.

linsomniac 5y ago

I saw "Typora 1.0" yesterday in the HN firehose, but it didn't make it to the main page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29349690 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29349690 I've been playing around with it this morning, and ended up spending $14 on the license. Used it to go through some of my README.md files that I had some mistakes on. https://typora.io/ https://typora.io/

mfer 5y ago

In one sense this is cross platform and in another it isn’t. Many of the features are for extensions. Extensions that are not widely adopted where you might put the markdown

stephc_int13 5y ago

I just tried it. Slow, unresponsive, probably Electron based or something similar. When the app is so unresponsive, no matter how nice it looks or how polished the UX is, it is ruined from the first 10 seconds of using it.

slantyyz 5y ago

What I'd love to see is an extension for VSCode that can do wysiwym/wysiwyg Markdown editing while keeping the same keyboard shortcuts of VSC. There is a "Typora" knockoff extension for vsc that does some of what I want, but it has its own keyboard shortcuts, so multiline editing, etc. don't work.

adamrezich 5y ago
you can split your window and open a Markdown Preview for your current file on the other side of the split, what else do you want beyond that?
- slantyyz 5y ago
  > wysiwym/wysiwyg Markdown editing I use a folder of markdown files as my Note taking system. For that I don't want a split screen setup.

Findecanor 5y ago

Isn't the point of Markdown that it is supposed to be regular text, formalising conventions that have been used for traditional ASCII text files for decades?

cmckn 5y ago
Sure, but the point is also to render said ASCII into something a bit more slick and dynamic. These editors let you work with the underlying markup, while showing you the final product. In fact, this is the way I wished all word processors worked—the worst thing about MS Word in my opinion is the invisible hand of the phantom formatting characters.
- Syonyk 5y ago
  > ...the worst thing about MS Word in my opinion is the invisible hand of the phantom formatting characters. WordPerfect says "Reveal Codes!" from the grave... Formatting is being nonsensical? Jump into Reveal Codes, delete all the weird formatting stuff by tag, and solve your problem.
slantyyz 5y ago
> Markdown is a text-to-HTML conversion tool for web writers. The point of Markdown is to write plaintext in Markdown and convert to Markup (as in Hypertext Markup Language) Source: https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/ https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/

nielsbot 5y ago

Edit: A commenter below says this is no longer free Since we're here: I highly recommend Typora for macOS. Truly minimal and well-done macOS-native Markdown editor. Previews final output inline as you edit without separate markdown/preview panes. Beta is free. (Not my project) https://typora.io https://typora.io [edit: actually finish the comment]

MikusR 5y ago
It's no longer free. It's also an electron app.
- nielsbot 5y ago
  It looks webview-based, but otherwise it's a native app.
  - tagrun 5y ago
    No, Typora is an Electron application, occupying more than 200MBs on disk (and similar amount of RAM upon start with no documents opened). See this announcement for example: https://support.typora.io/What%27s-New-0.9.66/ https://support.typora.io/What%27s-New-0.9.66/
    - eevilspock 5y ago
      Maybe you're both right. That announcement implies it is only Electron on Windows/Linux.

mastermaq 5y ago

Visual Studio Code is a fantastic cross-platform Markdown editor, especially with a few extensions: markdownlint, Spell Right, Word Count, Markdown All in One, and docs-markdown.

smartmic 5y ago

Leaving aside the well-known and commented "features" of Electron, out of interest, I looked into the most prominent Markdown file in the repository, README.md. Huh? Where is the markdown? Scroll, baby, scroll… This is disturbing for a Markdown editor and does not leave a good impression, again, feels like more emphasis is put on appearance than substance. Which brings us back to my entry sentence, Electron and its reputation...

app4soft 5y ago
> "features" of Electron Thank You for TL;DR: So, nothing new, but just another one Electron-based editor XD

cjk 5y ago

“Focused on speed” and written in Electron. Sigh.

wingmanjd 5y ago

For those who are in the PortableApps ecosystem, I maintain a build of Marktext here: https://github.com/jgonyea/Mark-Text-Portable https://github.com/jgonyea/Mark-Text-Portable

NylaTheWolf 5y ago

Personally Obsidian has my heart. Not only does it support HTML and CSS snippets but the community behind it is insane. They're lovely people and the shit they do with Obsidian is absolutely incredible. The plugins are absolutely amazing as well. They basically make Obsidian what it is. I don't mean to derail the thread, it's just that when I see "Markdown" I think "hhhhh obsidian my beloved"