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TextNut – a WYSIWYG markdown editor for Mac

by steveneo on 4/29/15, 8:41 AM with 45 comments

• by steveneo on 4/29/15, 3:54 PM

  I am creator of TextNut. Thanks for your comments. Some of my points:

  * Price disclosed - Yes, it is not my false. No way to put price there. I don't want to baiting so I provide trial.

  * File save location - You can export at current version, either in page or Library level. I am working on iOS version, after that TextNut will support icloud and dropbox.

  * WYSIWYG - I believe this why TextNut is unique with others, it does not mix markdown delimiter with content, also provide a way to switch between markdown and rich mode

  * Ulysses - unfortunately, after a few version upgrade, its UI more like Ulysses. Although I prefer you say I "rip-off" from Apple Mail most. Actually, I inherit most ideas from geniuswiki that I made since 2007. (That is why the link, image, footnote using curly bracket { to open popover!) I checked in first line code of TextNut in early of 2011, but I stopped only after very roughly UI code https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CDxHr19UIAEVArE.png:large. Although UI looks more different with current, but basic design idea never be changed since then, 3 panes: doc tree, editor, help(was call `Macro` from geniuswiki), doc title is updated by content, etc. I restarted TextNut dev since the middle of last year, I got a out-sourcing UI designer and give my first version design http://www.textnutwriter.com/img/1.png. After I add Theme in 1.1 version, I set the default theme as current light grey as it can accepted by most writers. In latest 2.1 version, Tree structure doc tree is supported, then final version looks like current. As independent developer, I only invest very small amount money for UI design. I hope users can more focus on core functionalities rather than colour palette at early stage.

• by joshstrange on 4/29/15, 2:19 PM

  So while this is common trend I really wish developers would stop using the "Download on the Mac App Store" graphic when it should be "Buy on the Mac App Store". Also there is NO MENTION of the price or even the fact this is not free (other than linking to trial which implies that). I really hate this practice of baiting and switching.

• by quinndupont on 4/29/15, 3:11 PM

  Files are saved in some undisclosed, unchangeable location (presumably the ~Library folder). This is a deal-breaker for me, since all of my documents live in a synced Dropbox folder (I could symlink the files over, but this should not need to be the case). This is more like a note taking application (like Notational Velocity), than a serious editor. Too bad, it looks nice.

• by drewda on 4/29/15, 2:34 PM

  Or, if you only need to edit one Markdown file at a time, I also recommend these Mac WYSIWYG editors:

  - Mou http://25.io/mou/

  - MacDown http://macdown.uranusjr.com/

  The latter is free and open-source.

• by JulianMorrison on 4/29/15, 12:41 PM

  Why are pretty markdown editors such a thing on Mac specifically? Is that the favored platform for bloggers, or something?

• by hamstergene on 4/29/15, 1:28 PM

  I believe the correct term is WYSIWYM ("what you see is what you mean"): editing happens in rich text mode, with pretty styles and no markup, however, those styles are merely part of editor's UI, not written into the document.

  1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WYSIWYM

• by ricg on 4/29/15, 12:59 PM

  How does it save the files? Looks like they are kept in a database in ~/Library/Application Support.

  This would be awesome for keeping notes in plain text that will stand the test of time.

• by quinndupont on 4/29/15, 2:55 PM

  I'm really happy to see more What-you-see-is-what-you-mean Markdown editors. This previous HN discussion of Markdownify (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9354653) alerted me to Texts.io, which initially looked extremely promising, but was riddled with bugs. I ended up having to go back to iA Writer Pro (which is a solid, normal MD editor). For pure writing activities, stripping away (hiding) as much of the syntax and chrome as possible is very valuable, which is why I moved to MD from Word in the first place. Two-pane write/preview editors are a terrible solution.

• by maguay on 4/29/15, 12:57 PM

  That looks like a pretty close copy—or rip off, rather—of Ulysses (http://ulyssesapp.com/)...

• by chadk on 4/29/15, 6:09 PM

  http://www.foldingtext.com is my go to Markdown editor. Combine with Notational Velocity which reads from a folder on Dropbox, it is great. Especially since I can edit with Draft on my Android phone and tablet.

  TextNut looks like it will combine the two (organization and editing) but I will wait until it has flatfile compatibility.

• by ChikkaChiChi on 4/29/15, 3:38 PM

  The website was vague: Can you "Open in TextNut?"

  If so, this is useful. If not, this is a missed opportunity. I don't want you controlling where I store and open things, but I would very much enjoy a nice Markdown editor for writing things.

• by codebeaker on 4/29/15, 12:54 PM

  I find the "100% Compatible with CommonMark" a bit confusing, without looking I'd assume CommonMark was another product from the same people, and they'd done a re-branding, and wanted to make the association.

  That said, whilst writing this comment it occurs to me that CommonMark might also be an effort I've never heard of to standardise out some of John Gruber’s original undefined spec behaviours, but as a developer Github flavoured markdown is the de-facto standard as it has many well written and well-tested implementations.

• by victorhooi on 4/29/15, 10:03 PM

  Slightly related topic - what typeface (font) do you guys use for writing?

  For programming, I use Adobe's Source Code Pro.

  However, for writing non-code, what do you recommend?

  I'm currently trying Adobe's Source Serif Pro, which isn't bad. There's also Source Sans Pro, but I would have thought a serif font would be better for non-code tasks, and more pleasing on the eyes.

  Other recommendations?

• by look_lookatme on 4/29/15, 4:14 PM

  If I had the time, one of my side projects would be to build something like this for AsciiDoc[1] that also includes a basic static site/pdf generator. It would be a nice way to build user documentation.

  [1] http://www.methods.co.nz/asciidoc/

• by stevewilhelm on 4/29/15, 5:54 PM

  One of the best markdown writers I have ever used is iA's Writer for Mac (and iOS) https://ia.net/writer/mac/

  They have an Android version as well, but I have not used it.

• by Fastidious on 4/29/15, 2:44 PM

  There is a misspelled word on the "View" menu, first item. It is "libary."

• by archagon on 4/29/15, 2:16 PM

  Hmm... from a cursory glance, this looks very similar to Write[1]. Wonder how it compares?

  [1]: http://writeapp.net. Incidentally, I've been using it for a few months and it's pretty nice.

• by ngrilly on 4/29/15, 7:24 PM

  Where is the library stored? Is there any way to select a custom folder for the library? It's possible in iTunes, in Preferences > Advanced > iTunes Media folder location.

• by Fastidious on 4/29/15, 2:06 PM

  This is a beautifully made application, very feature complete. Congratulations! Now my problem is to choose which one to use, with so many good ones!

• by djyde on 4/29/15, 3:38 PM

  When we have markdown, why we need WYSIWYG?

• by jos on 4/29/15, 3:36 PM

  Looks like a rip off of http://www.ulyssesapp.com/mac/.