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Markdown vs WSYWYG
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Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Sep 1, 2013 at 08:40 PM
The two main advantages of MarkDown go hand in hand:
- it is stored in plain text files, so you can use it with any editor
- it is human-readable, i.e. unlike HTML it doesn’t interfere with the text’s readability
Posted by shatteredmindofbob
Sep 1, 2013 at 09:16 PM
I mostly like the link format.
When I’m writing something that’s going online and is going to have a bunch of links I can just go [Text to be hyperlinked](TK) and keep writing without stopping to deal with the link.
Once the article is finished, I can back through and paste the URLs in place of the TK. I find this much faster than any means I’ve found using WYSIWYG editors.
Posted by Hugh
Sep 2, 2013 at 08:40 AM
Related to bob’s comment immediately above, I think one of the argued-for attractions of Markdown to long-form writers of all descriptions is the focus that it allows them to give to their content, rather than to their formatting. (This also explains commercial decisions by developers to include Markdown functionality or interfaces in certain applications designed for long-form writing, such as the recently launched Ulysses III.)
One could debate forever whether Markdown does indeed enable the promised facility and therefore focus - but that is the claim.
Posted by Dr Andus
Sep 2, 2013 at 09:16 AM
I’d argue that markdown (and other markup notations such as ConnectedText’s own) is faster than WYSIWYG. The latter is only seemingly faster. Remember that you need to take your hand off the keyboard to a) highlight the text with the mouse and b) to click on the Bold icon, and c) put your hand back on the keyboard. By that time a fast typist has typed those two (or four) asterixes.
I only use markdown in minimalist iOS writing apps that do not have a Bold button to click on. It has pretty much become the standard. (But if it goes into CT, I use CT’s own markup.)
Posted by Dr Andus
Sep 2, 2013 at 09:45 AM
Here is an iPad example I’ve just come across where you can transform a text using markdown (in an app called Editorial) to an iThoughtsHD mind map:
http://editorial-app.appspot.com/workflow/5396970004807680/Wbz6lzr0518