markdown - page 2

Ulysses 3 Might Be The Mac’s Best Text Editor [Preview]

By

ulysses.jpg

I never used the Ulysses word processor. I tried it a bunch of times, but it always seemed like overkill for someone who just wanted to type words. Textedit was really more my speed.

But Ulysses 3 is just about to launch, and I'm writing this post in an almost-done preview version. And man is it slick. The only problem is how to describe it. Forget everything you knew about text editors and come take a quick look. It really is something completely new.

I’m Ditching The iPad For Work And Going Back To The Mac [Opinion]

By

wpid-Photo-24-Sep-2012-1439.jpg

As I never tire of telling people, I do all my work using an iPad. Research, communication, writing and photo editing – all of these are now second nature for me on both the iPad mini and the full-sized iPad 3. I love the portability, I love the stripped-down “workflow” which lets me get stuff done way faster than I can on the Mac, mostly due to lack of OS X’s inherent distractions.

In fact, I am so happy with the iPad as a work machine that I thought that I’d never buy another Mac. I figured that, by the time my iMac died, iOS would have caught up with most of the “truck” tasks I still need to do: keeping a big photo library, running a BitTorrent client.

So why am I writing this post on a brand-new MacBook Air? One thing: My arm is fucking killing me.

nvALT Update Fixes Syncing Issues, Adds Awesomeness

By

1364212664.jpg

Anyone who is serious about taking notes doesn’t use Apple’s Reminders app. Or at least, they don’t use it to store endless snippets of information (Reminder is fantastic for shopping lists, though). Note nerds use nvALT (OS X), the tricked-out version of Notational Velocity customized by Brett “I just built this. Again” Terpstra, in combination with Dropbox or Simplenote (iOS).

And Brett’s latest version, 2.2, is near enough release that you may as well grab it and use it. Hell, Brett himself says that it’s “more stable than 2.1 is right now.”

MacSparky’s New Field Guide: Markdown [Books]

By

1363869087.jpg

There’s some irony in the fact that David Sparks’ (MacSparky) book on Markdown – a format dedicated to being as simple as possible – is published as an iBook which contains audio, video, screenshots and everything else, along with its text.

But if you are either Markdown-curious, or a hardcore Markdown user who just wants to nerd out for an afternoon or two, it’s worth checking out.

Roll Your Own Automatic Markdown Journal With IFTTT, Drafts, Instagram And Dropbox [How To]

By

cult_logo_featured_image_missing_default1920x1080

There are many, many ways to keep a journal using your various iDevices, or paper, or even — if you’re desperate — your Android phone. (Kidding — a sharpie turns the back of any Android handset into the perfect paper-emulation device.) But they tend to be either high on effort — manually writing up everything yourself — or somewhat proprietary, keeping all your info inside an app or service.

But thanks to the ever-amazing internet automating service IFTTT (If This Then That), and some new channels, it’s now possible to roll your own plain-journal, pulling from various sources automatically. And it even includes pictures, which is quite a trick for plain text.

Critic Markup Brings Markdown-Like Change Tracking To Plain Text

By

cult_logo_featured_image_missing_default1920x1080

Oh man. Writing any kind of text on iOS is easy thanks to Markdown and the profusion of plain text editors in the App Store. But revising that text? Making edits and tracking them between author and editor? You need Microsoft Word for that. You need a computer for that.

But what if there were a Markdown-like markup syntax for plain text copyediting? You know where I’m going with this don’t you? That tool is here, and it’s called Critic Markup.

Use Quick Look Plugins To View Markdown And Other Files, Right In The Finder

By

1358200669.jpg

Do you use Markdown to write for the web, or for publishing? And does it drive you crazy that every time you search through the Finder for your documents, you have to open them up in a text editor just to see which one is which?

Sure, you could use meaningful file names to identify them, but who has time for that? What you need is QLMarkdown, a neat Quick Look plugin for the Mac.

The Best iPad Text Editors [Best Of]

By

title.jpg
The best five iPad text editors, according to me.

I write a ton on my iPad these days, which lets me work wherever I like (usually in bed) and concentrate way better than I can working on my giant-screened iMac. Thanks to our complex blogging back end here at Cult of Mac, it’s still easier to add pictures and other bits and pieces with the Mac, but the writing part is so much better on the iPad that I try to do it as often as I can.

I figured I’d show you a few of the apps I used. Below you’ll find my favorite writing apps for the iPad.

Almost Every iOS Text Editor Compared

By

No, it's too small to read here. Don't even try it
No, it's too small to read here. Don't even try it

There are more iOS text editors in the App Store than there are stupid giant-screen iPhone rumors “sourced” by Digitimes. And this makes it impossible to choose. Does Elements support iCloud? Does Readdle Docs play nice with TextExpander? And have you ever even heard of FastEver XL? The answer to all these questions, plus many you didn’t even think to ask, are in Brett Terpstra’s exhaustive, crowd-sourced iOS Text Editor roundup.

Byword Is An Elegant iCloud-Syncing Markdown Editor For iOS

By

Byword stands out from the Markdown crowd with its elegant simplicity
Byword stands out from the Markdown crowd with its elegant simplicity

After a brief moment in the iTunes in the iTunes App Store sun last week, Markdown text editor ByWord has officially arrived on your iPad and iPhone. It’s a companion to the excellent OS X version of ByWord, and is one of a growing number of apps to sync using iCloud.

Valletta Is An Ultra-Simple Markdown Editor for OS X

By

It's pretty, and it's cheap. Could Valleta be your perfect date?
It's pretty, and it's cheap. Could Valleta be your perfect date?

Valletta is yet another Markdown editor for the Mac, but one with a crucial difference. Instead of using a separate window to preview your document, it converts only the current line you’re editing, leaving the rest as clean and beautiful preview. It’s a clever idea, but we’ll have to see how well it works in practice.