*Please please* add block-indent function to DevonThink

Hi, I’ve posted this request before. I really like DevonThink and I use it every day to track and record things … s/w examples, among myriad other things.

But the thing I find very frustrating, a frequent time cost, is not having a hot key to block indent text, which is something I can with every other reputable text editor and email client. Instead I have to tediously tab every line, which is a huge hassle particularly for long sections.

My fallback is to bring up bbedit and massage the text there, then paste it in, but that is so cumbersome compared to just using a key to do it directly.

In previous discussions it was mentioned that you’re using Apple’s default text panel or field editor. I’ve developed some Mac code before and overridden, enhanced and superseded classes and it seems like it would probably be doable without an inordinate amount of time. It would be a very cool and appreciated to implement.

Just a thought, but until/if your request is implemented, it’s possible to use “open with…” to select TextEdit or your favorite editor to edit any plain or rich text document contained in your database. No need to massage text in BBEdit and paste it back, just select the document and “open with…” BBEdit.

Is your question “how to indent selected paragraphs by a predefined amount using a hotkey?”

In the DT editor you can define a style that has the indentation you want, and assign a keyboard shortcut to the style in System Prefs-Keyboard-Keyboard Shortcuts-Application Shortcuts. This works with rich text but not with plain text, and with rich text, the ruler must be visible.

To Korm - thanks. It is a bit awkward to open with on rich text because if I open it in BBedit, for example, it isn’t WYSIWYG. I see the rich text formatting, and while it can be indented that way it is a hassle and less intuitive.

To Shoolie - interesting idea, assuming I can apply that ‘indenting’ style to selected regions and not globally (and I would presume I can). I will have to experiment with that and see if it does the trick. Thanks.

You could also install our free WordService which provides services for in/outdenting.

Hi. I’ve the same problem. I’m often editing Markdown in the text editor. Whenever I paste source code to my documents I’m missing the feature to indent / unindent a selected block of text. Can someone explain what “install our free WordService” means? I didn’t find anything like that on your web site.

Regards
Andreas

If you go to devontechnologies.com/download.html and scroll down, there are some free utilities.

One of them is WordService, which adds a large number of commands for editing text selections, including shift left and shift right.

@meta & @awegmann - Did the WordService app solve your problems?

When I trigger the service on notes (web-archived and clipped using the clutter-free layout option), it only indents the first line of their text (i.e., it doesn’t actually produce a block indent). I’ve tried converting these notes over to Rich Text and other formats, but nothing seems to work.

Thanks for any help you can lend!

If I select multiple lines of text in a Markdown edit session and choose the Shift Right word service, it shifts each line of the selected text right, yes.

It will shift the text to the right but it will also treat the text as a code block.