4 ms·

I'd love to implement this instead of a WYSIWYG into our platform, but the problem is our users (non-technical) are not going to take the time to learn markdown

by cwilson 14y ago

I'd love to implement this instead of a WYSIWYG into our platform, but the problem is our users (non-technical) are not going to take the time to learn markdown. Even if we had a guide on the right I have a hunch they would still be super confused. Idea: Add buttons to the top (optional) that LOOK like a WYSIWYG (something they are familiar with), that simply apply markdown around text. I think you'd see such much wider adoption with that addition, which is something I'd love to happen, because WYSIWYG's do indeed suck.

techwraith 14y ago
This is something that is planned last I talked with Oscar. I'm sure he'd appreciate the feedback.
subpixel 14y ago
Your suggestion might be a good default for handling image insertion. I know markdown, but in instances where I'm specifying an image (e.g. a blog, a CMS page) I'd rather have a button that lets me select from available images than have to type it out using markedown (which would require that I know the filename and explicit path). Not to mention image alignment.
- mise 14y ago
  I would have the same challenge - TinyMCE gives me a way to link to other pages (the list of other pages is generated by a script). I wonder how you could add such help on top of a Markdown editor.
lazerwalker 14y ago
Agreed 100%. GitHub's wiki UI (example: http://cl.ly/2T2718220P1Y3h0M330r http://cl.ly/2T2718220P1Y3h0M330r) would be a great place to take inspiration from, since that's almost exactly what you're talking about.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- gojomo 14y ago
  Github's button-bar is nice, but let me throw up another offbeat idea: a hybrid toolbar/cheatsheet. It'd have: • a toolbar-like row of pulldowns: one for 'range/inline' markup (like bolding), one for 'block/paragraph' markup (like headers, blockquote, code-indent), and one for complicated inserts (like link+linktext, image+alt) • each pulldown would be filled with side-by-side entries showing both markup and effect, like the best cheatsheet/reference pages are laid out • selecting a bit of markup would do 'the right thing' with the existing insertion point or selection-range Thus a user might momentarily click then dismiss the dropdown just to refresh their memory of the syntax, or actually pick from the dropdown for assisted inserts. (If they're regularly picking items, it could reorder by 'frecency' for convenience. If they're usually just looking, it might instead order by some form of 'infrecency' [1] – don't bother showing familiar constructs that have been recently typed.) [1] At the moment while there are thousands of Google hits for ["frecency"] there are none for ["infrecency"]. It's an infrecently needed concept.
johnmdonahue 14y ago
Yep, this is planned once we get cross platform support (still need IE8 and mobile) https://github.com/OscarGodson/EpicEditor/issues/41 https://github.com/OscarGodson/EpicEditor/issues/41
voyou 14y ago
Why would you want to force users to use a markup language that, as you say, they have no desire to learn, rather than a simple WYSIWYG editor? How would that make things better for users?

by cwilson 14y ago

techwraith 14y ago

This is something that is planned last I talked with Oscar. I'm sure he'd appreciate the feedback.

subpixel 14y ago

Your suggestion might be a good default for handling image insertion. I know markdown, but in instances where I'm specifying an image (e.g. a blog, a CMS page) I'd rather have a button that lets me select from available images than have to type it out using markedown (which would require that I know the filename and explicit path). Not to mention image alignment.

mise 14y ago
I would have the same challenge - TinyMCE gives me a way to link to other pages (the list of other pages is generated by a script). I wonder how you could add such help on top of a Markdown editor.

lazerwalker 14y ago

Agreed 100%. GitHub's wiki UI (example: http://cl.ly/2T2718220P1Y3h0M330r http://cl.ly/2T2718220P1Y3h0M330r) would be a great place to take inspiration from, since that's almost exactly what you're talking about.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
gojomo 14y ago
Github's button-bar is nice, but let me throw up another offbeat idea: a hybrid toolbar/cheatsheet. It'd have: • a toolbar-like row of pulldowns: one for 'range/inline' markup (like bolding), one for 'block/paragraph' markup (like headers, blockquote, code-indent), and one for complicated inserts (like link+linktext, image+alt) • each pulldown would be filled with side-by-side entries showing both markup and effect, like the best cheatsheet/reference pages are laid out • selecting a bit of markup would do 'the right thing' with the existing insertion point or selection-range Thus a user might momentarily click then dismiss the dropdown just to refresh their memory of the syntax, or actually pick from the dropdown for assisted inserts. (If they're regularly picking items, it could reorder by 'frecency' for convenience. If they're usually just looking, it might instead order by some form of 'infrecency' [1] – don't bother showing familiar constructs that have been recently typed.) [1] At the moment while there are thousands of Google hits for ["frecency"] there are none for ["infrecency"]. It's an infrecently needed concept.

johnmdonahue 14y ago

Yep, this is planned once we get cross platform support (still need IE8 and mobile) https://github.com/OscarGodson/EpicEditor/issues/41 https://github.com/OscarGodson/EpicEditor/issues/41

voyou 14y ago

Why would you want to force users to use a markup language that, as you say, they have no desire to learn, rather than a simple WYSIWYG editor? How would that make things better for users?