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To the best of my knowledge this (Marktext) is the only free/open-source Markdown editor that has WYSIWYG (like Typora: https://typora.io/ https://typora.io/).

by svat 5y ago

To the best of my knowledge this (Marktext) is the only free/open-source Markdown editor that has WYSIWYG (like Typora: https://typora.io/ https://typora.io/). Not a separate preview window, but the actual editor window renders each Markdown "block" (paragraph, list item, whatever) except the one you're editing.

cube2222 5y ago
Obsidian very recently added this too, and it works great.
- mr-karan 5y ago
  Which is nice, except Obsidian isn't FOSS (the parent comment was about free/open source editors).
- orangea 5y ago
  Is it still in beta?
  - rainbowjelly 5y ago
    Not anymore. It was released publicly with v0.13 less than a week ago. https://help.obsidian.md/Live+preview+update https://help.obsidian.md/Live+preview+update
- akvadrako 5y ago
  Obsidian is not open source though.
deltree7 5y ago
what about emacs org-mode?
- lordgrenville 5y ago
  Strictly speaking not a markdown editor. But markdown-mode (with M-x markdown-toggle-markup-hiding) definitely counts.
  - svat 5y ago
    I hadn't seen Emacs's markdown-mode's markdown-hide-markup before, but trying it just now, it goes too far and has the opposite problem: it's harder to see the markup when you do want it. What Typora and MarkText (and, from the replies above, NoteKit) do is to show the markup around the cursor. (See the screenshot from NoteKit: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/blackhole89/notekit/6d6278b/screenshots/notekit-example.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/blackhole89/notekit/6d6278... ) This seems to be missing in some "WYSYWIG-only" editors. I think it may be possible to implement that in Emacs, but no one seems to have done it so far.
    - lordgrenville 5y ago
      Yeah, org-mode has org-fragtog but I'm not aware of something like that for markdown.
Aeolun 5y ago
Huh, that’s actually a strong point. I hadn’t thought about that when I was wondering how this was different from Typora.
msoloviev 5y ago
I've been working on one (https://github.com/blackhole89/notekit https://github.com/blackhole89/notekit) for a while now (which, unlike the aforementioned, also is not built on Chrome/Electron). Unfortunately it seems to be pretty hard to get the word out, or at least I haven't found any better strategy than to pounce, as I am doing now, whenever I see a HN thread about markdown editors (which invariably wind up having some comment thread lamenting the lack of WYSIWYG and/or non-Electron editors).
- paleite 5y ago
  I mean the following as feedback to help you find more users, not as critique; I understand where you’re coming from and this is just how I would personally approach it: What I immediately noticed looking at the README, is that the communication is centered around you and your values, rather than on the end-user: You mention why you created it, not what it enables the user to do. You use Linux-lingo, like “free (speech and beer)” which many users are unfamiliar with and don’t know why they should care. Your installation instructions make it hard for users to pick which one they should choose. There are no Mac binaries, but Macs are wide-spread among developers. Windows binaries mention “x64”, which is very technical and might scare users away. The Ubuntu screenshots make it look like “Linux only”. You could replace it with a Windows or Mac screenshot, to get people to understand it works on their platform. You could still keep this technical (and potentially alienating) language in your documentation, but simplifying the README to make it easier for the 90% of your potential audience could make it more popular. You mentioned in this thread that some people don’t want Electron. That’s true, and it’s a great USP for those that require it, but personally I would avoid assuming that it’s the USP that convinces the masses.
  - timeon 5y ago
    > The Ubuntu screenshots make it look like “Linux only”. You could replace it with a Windows or Mac screenshot, to get people to understand it works on their platform. Replace? I'm not Linux user but this sounds strange to me. He did native GTK app and he should not be considering Linux users?
  - msoloviev 5y ago
divbzero 5y ago
This reminded me immediately of Typora too. I like the WYSIWYG user interface and the large number of keyboard shortcuts they share.
ilian 5y ago
Another free and open source note taking app with WYSIWYG is TagSpaces (https://www.tagspaces.org https://www.tagspaces.org).
wodenokoto 5y ago
Jupyter notebooks does it the way I prefer the most.l: It renders italics, bolds headings and whatnot as you edit but keeps showing the tags.

by svat 5y ago

cube2222 5y ago

Obsidian very recently added this too, and it works great.

mr-karan 5y ago
Which is nice, except Obsidian isn't FOSS (the parent comment was about free/open source editors).
orangea 5y ago
Is it still in beta?
- rainbowjelly 5y ago
  Not anymore. It was released publicly with v0.13 less than a week ago. https://help.obsidian.md/Live+preview+update https://help.obsidian.md/Live+preview+update
akvadrako 5y ago
Obsidian is not open source though.

deltree7 5y ago

what about emacs org-mode?

lordgrenville 5y ago
Strictly speaking not a markdown editor. But markdown-mode (with M-x markdown-toggle-markup-hiding) definitely counts.
- svat 5y ago
  I hadn't seen Emacs's markdown-mode's markdown-hide-markup before, but trying it just now, it goes too far and has the opposite problem: it's harder to see the markup when you do want it. What Typora and MarkText (and, from the replies above, NoteKit) do is to show the markup around the cursor. (See the screenshot from NoteKit: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/blackhole89/notekit/6d6278b/screenshots/notekit-example.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/blackhole89/notekit/6d6278... ) This seems to be missing in some "WYSYWIG-only" editors. I think it may be possible to implement that in Emacs, but no one seems to have done it so far.
  - lordgrenville 5y ago
    Yeah, org-mode has org-fragtog but I'm not aware of something like that for markdown.

Aeolun 5y ago

Huh, that’s actually a strong point. I hadn’t thought about that when I was wondering how this was different from Typora.

msoloviev 5y ago

I've been working on one (https://github.com/blackhole89/notekit https://github.com/blackhole89/notekit) for a while now (which, unlike the aforementioned, also is not built on Chrome/Electron). Unfortunately it seems to be pretty hard to get the word out, or at least I haven't found any better strategy than to pounce, as I am doing now, whenever I see a HN thread about markdown editors (which invariably wind up having some comment thread lamenting the lack of WYSIWYG and/or non-Electron editors).

paleite 5y ago
I mean the following as feedback to help you find more users, not as critique; I understand where you’re coming from and this is just how I would personally approach it: What I immediately noticed looking at the README, is that the communication is centered around you and your values, rather than on the end-user: You mention why you created it, not what it enables the user to do. You use Linux-lingo, like “free (speech and beer)” which many users are unfamiliar with and don’t know why they should care. Your installation instructions make it hard for users to pick which one they should choose. There are no Mac binaries, but Macs are wide-spread among developers. Windows binaries mention “x64”, which is very technical and might scare users away. The Ubuntu screenshots make it look like “Linux only”. You could replace it with a Windows or Mac screenshot, to get people to understand it works on their platform. You could still keep this technical (and potentially alienating) language in your documentation, but simplifying the README to make it easier for the 90% of your potential audience could make it more popular. You mentioned in this thread that some people don’t want Electron. That’s true, and it’s a great USP for those that require it, but personally I would avoid assuming that it’s the USP that convinces the masses.
- timeon 5y ago
  > The Ubuntu screenshots make it look like “Linux only”. You could replace it with a Windows or Mac screenshot, to get people to understand it works on their platform. Replace? I'm not Linux user but this sounds strange to me. He did native GTK app and he should not be considering Linux users?
- msoloviev 5y ago

divbzero 5y ago

This reminded me immediately of Typora too. I like the WYSIWYG user interface and the large number of keyboard shortcuts they share.

ilian 5y ago

Another free and open source note taking app with WYSIWYG is TagSpaces (https://www.tagspaces.org https://www.tagspaces.org).

wodenokoto 5y ago

Jupyter notebooks does it the way I prefer the most.l: It renders italics, bolds headings and whatnot as you edit but keeps showing the tags.