Markdown Madness: View and Edit Markdown Files With Ease

What is Markdown?

Markdown is a lightweight markup language that allows you to write using plain text and have it converted to HTML. Markdown was created in 2004 by John Gruber and Aaron Swartz. The goal was to create a simple formatting syntax that is readable and writable for humans, and easily converted to HTML.

Markdown files have the .md or .markdown extension. They contain plain text with some simple formatting like headers, lists, links, and images. This makes markdown popular for writing content for the web and creating documentation. The simplicity of markdown allows you to focus on your writing without getting distracted by complex formatting.

Today, markdown has become widely used across the web and beyond. Many sites like Reddit, GitHub, Stack Overflow, and more support markdown for writing posts and comments. It's commonly used for technical documentation, readmes, blog posts, and even books. The simplicity of markdown makes it easy for anyone to get started writing. With the right tools, markdown documents can be easily converted to publish-ready HTML or PDFs. Markdown continues to grow in popularity as a ubiquitous lightweight markup language for the web.

Why Use a Markdown Viewer?

Markdown viewers provide several key benefits that make writing in Markdown more convenient and accessible:

Real-time preview of formatted markdown. One of the biggest advantages of using a dedicated markdown viewer or editor is the ability to see a live preview of how your markdown-formatted text will look when rendered. As you type in the markdown syntax, the preview pane will update in real-time, allowing you to catch formatting mistakes or preview the look of headings, links, images, etc. This saves you from having to repeatedly export the markdown to HTML to check the formatting.

Easy editing and live updates. Markdown viewers make it simple to write and edit Markdown-formatted text. The clean syntax is designed to be readable and easy to write. Most Markdown viewers have helpful shortcuts and tools to speed up writing too. As you edit the markdown source, changes are instantly reflected in the live preview, so you can quickly iterate and refine the formatting.

Portability across devices and platforms. One of the benefits of Markdown is it's a universal, plain text format. Markdown files you create can be opened on any device and platform using a compatible viewer. This makes it easy to write documents on your laptop, tablet, or phone and seamlessly access them anywhere. The markdown source files remain fully portable and future-proof.

Top Markdown Viewers

Markdown files can be viewed in any text editor, but using a dedicated markdown viewer provides extra benefits like live previewing, syntax highlighting, and export options. Here are some of the most popular markdown viewers:

Markdown Viewer (Chrome extension)

This simple Chrome extension allows viewing any markdown file right in the browser. It renders the markdown in real-time and includes syntax highlighting.

Pros: Lightweight, quick previewing, works across sites

Cons: Basic features, no editing capabilities

Marked 2 (Mac)

Marked 2 is a popular Mac app for previewing and exporting markdown documents. It offers live preview, syntax highlighting, custom CSS, and support for math formulas.

Pros: Robust features, cross-platform support, focused writing environment

Cons: Paid app, Mac only

Typora (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Typora provides a seamless WYSIWYG-style editor for writing markdown. It removes the preview step, allowing users to see rendered markdown while editing.

Pros: Seamless live preview, minimal interface, export options

Cons: Not free for all features, limited customization

Markdown Monster (Windows)

Markdown Monster includes a split editor, live preview, HTML export, project management, and other writer-focused features.

Pros: Powerful editing tools, customizable interface and themes

Cons: Windows only, expensive full version

StackEdit (Web)

This in-browser editor offers real-time markdown previewing, syntax highlighting, formatting tools, and cloud sync across devices.

Pros: Free, feature-rich, collaborative editing

Cons: Requires internet, limited custom CSS

Viewing Markdown on GitHub

GitHub has built-in support for rendering Markdown files right within the GitHub interface. When you view a Markdown file on GitHub, it will automatically render the Markdown formatting into HTML.

GitHub provides a couple different ways to preview Markdown files:

The Markdown preview tab - When viewing a Markdown file, there is a tab labeled "Preview" next to the "Edit" tab. Clicking Preview will render the Markdown in real-time so you can see how it will look.
GitHub's built-in Markdown renderer - Even when viewing the raw Markdown syntax, GitHub applies its stylesheet and renders it with formatting. So you don't need to use the Preview tab to see how it will look.

This integrated Markdown preview is incredibly helpful for developers using GitHub, as it means you can seamlessly write and preview Markdown files without needing to use an external editor or preview tool. The instant rendering makes it easy to catch formatting mistakes and preview changes.

GitHub's Markdown support helps streamline workflows for developers writing documentation, wikis, README files, and other Markdown content directly within their repositories. Being able to write and preview Markdown natively within GitHub saves developers time and hassle.

Online Markdown Editors

Online markdown editors provide a quick and easy way to write and preview markdown documents right in your web browser. They are a great option for those who want to use markdown without installing any additional software. Some of the most popular online markdown editors include:

Dillinger - Dillinger is a very simple, no-frills online markdown editor. It provides a left pane for writing in markdown and a right pane that previews the formatted document. Dillinger lets you export the finished document as HTML or PDF. It also offers a "Distraction Free Mode" that expands the markdown editor to the full width of the browser window.

StackEdit - StackEdit provides a bit more functionality than Dillinger. In addition to the standard markdown preview pane, it also includes an outline view of your document's structure. StackEdit supports GitHub flavored markdown and allows you to link documents to your Google Drive or Dropbox account. Collaborative editing is also possible by sharing a link.

Markdownify - Markdownify bills itself as the "perfect markdown editor." It's very full-featured and provides both a preview pane and an outline view of your document. It offers multiple export options including HTML, PDF, JPEG, and PNG. Markdownify also lets you save documents locally or sync them with Google Drive or Dropbox. The collaborative editing feature even shows real-time cursor positions of collaborators.

Overall, online markdown editors provide a quick and convenient way to write in markdown without having to download any software. Their built-in live preview takes the guesswork out of formatting your documents. And many offer handy collaboration features to make group editing easier. They are great choices for casual or occasional markdown use.

Desktop Markdown Editors

Markdown has become a popular lightweight markup language for writing across the web, and many desktop apps have been developed specifically for authoring Markdown. These desktop editors provide robust formatting options, live previews of rendered Markdown, and tools to export to HTML and other formats.

Some of the top Markdown editors for desktop include:

Typora - Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, Typora provides a seamless WYSIWYG interface for writing Markdown. It offers a minimalist design with live preview and export options.
Ghostwriter - An open-source Markdown editor for Windows with a distraction-free interface. It includes live preview, export to HTML/PDF, autosave, and Markdown syntax guides.
Markdown Monster - A full-featured Markdown editor for Windows with live preview, syntax highlighting, shortcuts, and the ability to publish to various blog platforms.
MacDown - A native Markdown editor for macOS that renders formatted text in real-time. It has customizable themes and exports to HTML and PDF.
Ulysses - A popular writing app for macOS and iOS that supports Markdown formatting. It has a clean interface, word count goals, and publishing tools.

There are also some platform-specific Markdown editors like Visual Studio Code for Windows, Linux, and macOS which has a built-in Markdown preview. On macOS, the native TextBundle app provides basic Markdown formatting options. And Linux users can employ ReText for distraction-free Markdown writing and live preview.

Overall, desktop Markdown editors provide more robust features compared to basic text editors. The ability to visualize formatted Markdown in real-time and export to various formats makes these desktop apps ideal for writing and publishing Markdown content.

Mobile Markdown Apps

Markdown has become a popular format for writing on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Several excellent apps allow you to write in markdown and sync your documents across devices.

One of the most popular iOS apps is iA Writer. It provides a clean, minimalist writing interface that gets out of your way so you can focus on your words. iA Writer supports markdown formatting as you type and can export to various file types. It also syncs your documents to iCloud or Dropbox so you can work across iPhone, iPad, and desktop.

For Android, Markor is a top choice that offers similar capabilities. It has a simple markdown editor with syncing to Google Drive or Dropbox. Markor makes writing and organizing markdown documents easy on your Android phone or tablet.

Other noteworthy mobile apps include MarkDrop on iOS, which combines a markdown editor with a document manager. It has deep support for markdown syntax highlighting and formatting. 1Writer is another iOS option with robust markdown capabilities and iCloud sync built-in.

These mobile apps demonstrate the flexibility of markdown for writing on the go. Their minimal interfaces let you focus on your content while still giving you the power to format text with markdown markup. And syncing support enables easy access to your markdown documents across all your devices. For writers who prefer markdown, these apps make it simple to write anytime, anywhere.

Markdown Extensions

Markdown was originally created by John Gruber as a simple and easy-to-read markup language for plain text documents. However, over the years many implementations and extensions have been created to add additional functionality. Here are some of the most common Markdown extensions:

Tables

The original Markdown syntax does not support tables natively. However, extensions have added table syntax to Markdown such as:

Which would render as:

Header 1Header 2Row 1 Col 1Row 2 Col 2Row 2 Col 1Row 2 Col 2

Footnotes

Footnote syntax allows you to reference notes within the text:

Here is some text with a footnote[^1].

[^1]: This is the footnote.

Abbreviations

Abbreviation syntax lets you define an abbreviation and what it stands for:

The HTML specification is developed by the W3C.

*[HTML]: Hyper Text Markup Language
*[W3C]: World Wide Web Consortium

CommonMark

CommonMark is an effort to standardize Markdown across implementations. It defines a formal Markdown specification so that Markdown is interpreted the same way across different parsers and editors.

Editor Support

Many Markdown editors like Typora, Visual Studio Code, and Markdown Monster support some or all of these extensions. Check your editor's documentation to see which extensions it supports.

Limitations of Markdown

Markdown's simplicity comes with some limitations compared to other rich text formats. Here are some of the common drawbacks:

Lack of WYSIWYG Editing

Markdown does not support WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editing. You cannot see the rendered output as you type. This requires learning Markdown syntax and visualizing how it will look. For some, this presents a steep learning curve. Those used to word processors may find it unintuitive.

Limited Formatting Capabilities

While Markdown covers basic text formatting like headings, lists, links, and images, it lacks more advanced styling options. For example, there is no way to adjust letter spacing, text justification, page size, or add drop caps. Markdown's simplicity means you sacrifice control over styling and layout.

No Native Support for Equations, Citations, etc.

Markdown does not natively support mathematical equations, footnotes, citations, tables of contents, and other academic or technical writing features. While extensions can add some of this functionality, it requires extra setup and may not work across all platforms. Markdown is not well-suited for long-form academic papers, reports, or books.

So in summary, Markdown trades off ease of writing for limitations in rich formatting, WYSIWYG editing, and technical writing features. For casual writing it excels, but for advanced publishing needs, a word processor or desktop publishing tool may be better suited.

The Future of Markdown

Markdown has seen increasing popularity and adoption over the past decade, and that growth is likely to continue. Here are some potential developments for Markdown in the future:

Increasing Adoption

More and more apps and services are adding support for Markdown. Websites like Reddit and GitHub were early adopters, but now many blogging platforms and content management systems support Markdown too. Its simplicity makes Markdown a natural fit for writing in many contexts. Expect to see continued growth in Markdown support across the web.

New Extensions

While the base Markdown syntax is simple and standardized, Markdown also supports extensions to add additional formatting features. For example, Markdown Extra adds support for elements like tables and footnotes. We may see new extensions emerge that extend Markdown in innovative ways. Features like embedded media and diagrams would be useful additions.

Better Previews and Integrations

Markdown preview features are already common in many Markdown editors. But as Markdown becomes more ubiquitous, expect preview capabilities to become even more seamless. For example, writing Markdown in one app and seeing a live preview update in another app. Or previewing Markdown content beautifully rendered inside its final destination. Smoother integrations and instant previews will enhance the Markdown writing experience.

Markdown's flexibility and developer-friendly nature means it is likely here to stay. While the core syntax remains simple, we can expect ongoing enhancements and increased adoption for Markdown in the future. It enables efficient and focused writing, making Markdown a go-to choice for writing on the web.