For years I have been using DevonThink and I love it. Most of the documents I create are Markdown documents. Unfortunately, the editor inside DevonThink is far from ideal. Most of the time I have been using an external application named Typora which does a descent job.
Although I consider this by far the best Markdown editor out there it is not really integrated with DevonThink. As an example I keep my stylesheets inside DevonThink, but is not possible to refer to the stylesheet using an item link.
This made me develop a new Markdown editor with a more tightly integration with DevonThink. It is a MacOS application so this application does not work on IOS.
The editor has the following features:
WYSYWIG. There is a left and right pane where the left pane contains the Markdown editor and the right pane shows the preview rendering.
Preview tracking. The preview will automatically maintain its scroll position to match the location where the cursor is in the editor. As a result the preview always shows where and what you are editing.
Support for loading stylesheets from DevonThink. For example the following construct will load a stylesheet:
Support for wikilinks. So your document may contains something like:
[[chapter 1]]
[[chapter 2]]
and this will render in the preview the full expansion of the wikilinks
Multi-window. Multiple documents can be open at the same time.
Opening wikilinks in a new editor window by clicking on the wikilink in the editor.
Configurable colors for the preview and the editor.
Support for HighLight JS to render code in the preview nicely.
Allows for inline HTML and stylesheets
Help book
Starting the editor can be done using a right click on a Markdown document and choose “open with” and select the application.
I personally have not made the application the default editor for Markdown. If you would do this you can also launch the editor using “shift-command-O”.
Alternatively if you happen to own Keyboard Maestro, it is trivial to create a shortcut for this.
I am looking for some people that are willing to help testing this software and report back on the following:
Whether it is useful or not. Does it add value and would you consider this application for permanent use.
What you like about the application
What you do not like about the application
Missing features
Missing documentation
Bugs you encounter
The application uses AppleScript to extract file locations for requested documents out of DevonThink. You may have to give permission for this.
Depending on the feedback this application may be published in the AppStore at some time but this is not guaranteed.
If you interested in this application and you are willing to do (beta) testing, please send me a pm.
I don’t know what to expect but I’m hoping for 5-10 people that are willing to test the software.
I will post a follow up when there are enough volunteers.
Not at the moment. There is a total of 3 people that showed interest which doesn’t require this yet. For now I can manage with PM’s but will consider scaling up when needed. My initial thought would be a mailing list as a next step.
Well, I for one wonder if it’s appropriate to use the DEVONthink forum to support you development. I do wish you the best, but perhaps use some of the other development tools out there. Just a thought. Could widen your market if you pick wisely.
Well, for me it is appropriate. This is not my day job and I am not doing this to make a living out of it. Unless Devonthink decides differently it works for me.
I could help test if you still need people. I frequently use an external markdown editor alongside DEVONthink Pro. I’ve been using Typora for the past six months or so, but I could easily swap in your app on a test basis. I sent you a pm.
As far as I understand, this app is proprietary and not open source. In which programming language is it written? Does it require admin rights for installation? I tend to be cautious when installing third-party apps from unknown developers. Could you share more screenshots? I’m not entirely sure where this project is headed.
I appreciate the variety of Markdown editors available, but I haven’t found the perfect one for my needs yet. So I wish you the best of luck and look forward to the further development of your app.
If you plan to monetize it, it might be better to host it on your own website and forum. If you’re not looking to make money from it, why not share the code on GitHub and make it open source? Both approaches have their pros and cons—it’s up to you.
Why not use an existent solution. I use Obsidian. It is free for personal use and I can reference the Obsidian Markdown Files / Folders in DEVONthink. I can edit the Markdown file in DEVONthink or in Obsidian. Works very well.
