Markdown:Editing

Editing markdown content

While working directly on github, no special tools are needed. Most of the pages where markdown formatting is recognized have a toolbar that provides access to the more common features. Usually that does not provide buttons to access all markdown capabilities. Other formatting can be accessed by typing directly in the text windows. When working on a fairly large block to be posted, that can sometimes become limiting. Other tools can be used to help create markdown content, then copy and paste it into the web page text box. Be sure to preview after pasting. Not all feature of markdown or google flavoured markdown (gfm) are available in all places. Content that looks perfect in another tool might break spectacularly after being pasted into the text box.

Since all markdown content and formatting is plain text, any text editor can be used to provide markdown formatting. Some though have features that make it easier. The atom text editor is one that includes a preview window, showing approximately what the current markup will look like when processed for a web page. Go to the Packages menu ¦ Markdown Preview ¦ Toggle Preview to turn that on and off, or use Ctrl+Shift+M from the keyboard.

Atom can be installed on most operating systems. Under the hood, it is based on javascript. It does not provided a way to print documents. If that functionality is needed, use one of the (external) viewer options, and print from there.

A few other common text editors that can be used:

• nano
• Notepad
• Notepad++
• Sublime Text
• TextEdit
• TextMate
• UltraEdit
• vi

There are many more. Some may either come with, or have a way to add, a preview for markdown content.

For users of the Firefox web browser, there is the Markdown Editor addon. That can be installed through the Firefox addon manager (search for markdown), or by browsing to the addon web page. The split screen to show changes as you type is nice, but it does not do as good a job of showing what the content would look on github. Despite being a web browser plugin, it works just fine whether connected to the Internet or not. Convenient for doing the first cut at some markdown formatting. It will quickly show if the structure is as intended, though the styling is a bit off. Like grip, it is not as forgiving on minor deviations for markdown tables as the github web site is. Save the content to a text file, and use one of the (external) viewer options for something closer to what will be shown on github.