I am currently testing the DT4 Beta to decide if this new version is able to fulfill my needs.
One very relevant function for me is a somewhat intelligent text editor for markdown. This is by far the main reason because I frequently shift to other apps.
I was very happy to read
Edit Markdown documents with the improved WYSIWYG editor , which now supports links and images, improved spacing, and live scrolling.
on the webpage and rushed to download an try the beta on my playground mac.
But unfortunately I was not able to find the new editor until now. I could not find a hint in the manual or anywhere else. The current text editor is just the same as in DT3.X with the same WYSIWG functions and smart linking support is still missing.
So maybe the new editor is not included in the current beta?
If so, could you please tell me when I am able to test this new feature?
Thanks for your quick response. The customer support for this app is amazing.
But unfortunately I hoped your answer would have been: “It’s coming soon.” because the current version is somewhat worse than before. Let me clarify:
Link
Linking to other documents is one of the most relevant functions in writing Markdown for me. So I was hoping for a new smarter and better way to link. Maybe like Bear or Obsidian, which give you a Dropdown menu of all files and while entering letters the filter will finally lead you to the right file to link to.
If I am correct, the only difference from the text editor in v3 is, that (if enabled in the settings) the link in the “code view” looks the same as in the “preview”. And to make it worse: Could not be edited. So if I want to edit the text to this link I have to disable the WYSIWYG feature in the settings or have to delete the whole link and add a new one.
Other apps with WYSIWYG markdown editors are switch to “code view” of links and images if the cursor comes near this element.
For me this is not really an improvement to v3.
Images
The same problem occurs for images. If the image is transcluded in the editor you can not edit the text within the “code view”. There is the option to double click the image and edit name, url and attribute but this ultimately breaks the markdown idea to work directly with text.
PS: The transclusion of md-files seems to lead to error-like text-icon in the “code view” but nothing is shown in the preview.
So for the markdown user the only option is to disable the WYSIWYG feature and stay with the old editor from v3.
A screenshot of this would be useful, thanks. In addition, the new image & link handling can be disabled in the settings and there are other improvements like typewriter-like scrolling, synchronous scrolling in side-by-side mode, automatically updated preview in side-by-side mode, new settings for margins, spacing etc.
If that is the actual Obsidian syntax for transclusion, that’s ridiculous. That is and has been the Markdown standard for linking images. Are you sure that’s correct?
No offense detected.
Everyone has their own tastes. I write Markdown in DEVONthink daily and I love how it looks and works. Not everyone does or needs to feel the same. But we also have some people who think the Markdown editor changes in DT4 are the pinnacle of the accomplishments, and that’s okay too.
Hi. Really liking the update so far, and have made the purchase leap
One thing I can’t see is a formatting bar for markdown in the revised editor (i.e. H1 headings etc) rather than doing it ‘manually’. I’ve checked the manual and Taking Control… Is there such an option?
FWIW Obsidian does also support the image syntax which frankly makes sense. It doesn’t break image embedding and the “!” essentially means embed. Not a huge leap in logic to have it support embedding other stuff as well (not suggesting you guys should support that. just saying it makes sense how the Obsidian team got there).
because the current version is somewhat worse than before. Let me clarify:
Thanks