Ngl making a lightweight replacement for MS #Word would be awesome. It feels so clunky and slow to use…
#OPD format is probably the way to go for this, but I believe it’s pretty complicated, so not something I’ll be working on any time soon. First, I need to get my notes app fully working with features like #Markdown support, the visual canvas for brainstorming, and a search function similar to #Raycast.
I have already implemented a basic search function in the sidebar which works nicely. Nothing special about it. But I do want something similar to Raycast, Arc Browser, and Spotlight on Mac. A search function that opens through a shortcut, perhaps CMD + SHIFT + F. It shows a search input in the center of the window with a beautiful blurry background. Then search results will show in a grid of three columns with previews for each search result. So for example, searching for a document, would show a preview of the text, image, or whatever content is inside the document (basically the first 5-10 lines). #dev
Markdown is great for simple notes, journaling, and such, but if you need _advanced_ formatting then Markdown quickly starts to become too basic and limiting. Even something as simple as text alignment, you just can’t do in Markdown, unless you break the simplicity of Markdown and start introducing CSS.
This is why I think, besides supporting Markdown in my notes app, having another format would be a good idea. Something more advanced.
It needs to be non-proprietary, so it must be an open standard like #Markdown - perhaps #Asciidoc or #Pandoc Markdown.
There are mainly two downsides to having support for multiple different formats in the app. Firstly, it takes longer to develop, and secondly, it makes it more confusing to non-technical people.
The first downside is not so much of a problem imo. I’ll start with Markdown (which I’m already working on and have most of the essential formatting working), and then later, I can start implementing support for another format.
I see the second downside as more of a problem. If users need to choose between two formats such as Markdown or Asciidoc, they are going to be like _“wtf is this?!”_
I probably need a little helper explaining the two formats…
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