Medium Editor | Hacker News Reader

Medium Editor

github.com

143 pointssathishmanohar37 comments

This is nice, but is pretty much useless on a tablet. I realize that desktop users are the primary focus, but it seems like any new editor has to consider tablet/mobile use.

It must be a difficult problem. Without using some kind of plain text markup syntax like Markdown, the user is required to select some text for formatting, but then you're competing with the OS's UI actions.

Are there any good mobile/tablet browser-based editors that _my mom_ would use?

I'd be interested too! I think on iPad, the easiest thing is to have a fixed toolbar at the top of text area. (But still, this repo is a very nice work!)

But how would that work? Is the experience as per Android that if you select text then the OS cut-and-paste dialogue appears?

You could tap the button to add a <strong> element, then type your text and re-tap the button to close </strong>. Or you could select it and tap the button directly, but you'd have to dismiss the OS dialogue. I mean, it looks feasible on iOS, as I don't use Android, I can't really tell…

Presumably like the google drive app, it doesn't show the cut and paste action bar but keeps the formatting bar, it does pop-up a cut and paste dialog.

Evernote does show the cut and paste action bar but also has the text formatting bar at the bottom of the app, which will work on the selection.

That is exactly what I do in Hallo: http://bergie.iki.fi/blog/hallo-editor/

Rather a moot point, as tablets are useless for typing anything of value. They're only meant for consumption of videos and other diversions.

Pretty much definitely not true. Tablets are mostly used for consumption, and putting together anything with extensive formatting like a slideshow is difficult, but just typing text really isn't difficult.

It probably depends on your ability at typing, for anyone with a reasonable wpm an iPad is a major hindrance.

I see an increasing number of people using keyboard cases with iPads. They work fine.

I type about 90wpm on a keyboard and I can get a pretty consistent 55wpm - 60wpm using an ipad iwth the touch screen keyboard.

I've used it as a big part of a content creation when creating with training materials and writing sop's, etc.

It's obviously slower than my normal typing speed, but I've actually been surprised at how content I've been using it for that sort of thing. If I'm authoring anything of any substance, the bottleneck is usually my brain and not my typing speed, as far as phrasing and structure goes. I had originally thought about getting an external keyboard/keyboard case for it, but once I realized I could bang out text pretty quickly, I said "screw it" and just got a smart cover. I also hated the idea of bulking the thing up.

I've also done a lot of document notation and review with PDFExpert adn that experience was really handy. Obviously you wouldn't make the final edits there, but given the right software, I don't think it would be that crazy.

Obviously hugely subjective and ymmv

I've also wondered how much could be done with a touch screen-only interface for code editors, using structure detection and the sort to input elements.

After using Lisping for a bit on the iPad, I think you could really do some interesting things to make a really productive editor on an ipad. I really like that project because it seems to be the only editor I've found that really tries to embrace the tablet experience from the ground up. It's not perfect, but it's definitely a step. Not sure there's a market there, but it's interesting to me.

I do all my writing on iPad (<3 iA Writer).

It's really not that bad for typing. My typing speed has increased on my iPad mini after splitting the keyboard. Feels natural.

I use a keyboard with an iPad all the time. This can work badly in some web editors.

Nice, a few similar projects if someone need something slightly different:

https://github.com/mduvall/grande.js

https://github.com/sofish/pen

https://github.com/tholman/zenpen

And another one http://bergie.iki.fi/blog/hallo-editor/ (integrates nicely with Aloha editor, http://aloha-editor.org/)

Do you know if any of these (or the OP one) could easily have image support attached?

I'm looking for a minimal editor that also allows very simple image support

Image support is a can of worms really. You quickly need to be able to browse a catalogue of images, with the ability to upload etc.

I don't really want to make a big deal about this like it's the most offensive thing in the world, BUT... why in God's good name did the software writers choose the sample passage they did? Gun violence, shooting people in the head, "motherfucker", etc.

Seriously? Was that the first thing that was sitting around, or did they pick it deliberately? Whatever happened to some good lipsum? Very strange. Possibly not the best sample text to promote software.

That would be http://slipsum.com/

It's from Jackie Brown. An excellent, vulgar, Quentin Tarantino movie with Pam Grier and Robert De Niro.

Edit: and of course Samuel L. Jackson.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Brown_(film)

They use it as a litmus test for people that are too easily offended.

No jQuery == color me impressed

If I have the time, I may fork and add the ability to show which styles are applied to the selected text when the editor is brought up

Nice work

Pretty nice! I did a very initial integration into Create.js: https://github.com/bergie/create/commit/fe3f1396fa36a7005676...

To be fully functional the Medium Editor would need to implement change events and a way to turn of the editor. Issues reported.

WTF is am reading on the demo site for this project?

https://github.com/daviferreira/medium-editor/blob/master/de...

http://daviferreira.github.io/medium-editor/

A quote from Jackie Brown.

that's my point. as someone who had no idea of this, i would think that the author was a raving lunatic or something. at the very least put the thing in quotes and have a citation at the end.

That's Elmore Leonard, recently deceased, and author of some of the best crime noir and westerns ever written.

Specifically, this looks like it's from "Rum Punch", which was later co-opted into the movie "Jackie Brown" by Quentin Tarantino, who is a huge fan of Leonard's.

Leonard is most famous for his movie adaptations of "3:10 to Yuma", "Get Shorty", "Out of Sight", etc.

I always wonder what the implication is of such a free license. Does it really mean "whatever you want"? Because it does say so...

"The above code will transform all the elements with the .editable class into HTML5 editable contents"

I think that means contentEditable, which is how Medium works. (Part of the "death to textareas" movement.)

Also, it's a cool library, but to state the obvious, I hope they change the name.

Great on these people for making this available as open source. But referring back to medium.com: Really, this is why people are giving their content away because it has a nice web-based editor?

I like this but I don't like that it's branded as a Medium clone. Be that as it may, I wish it would stand on its own as a unique solution despite the apparent similarities.

Noowit has also a similar editor. Create an account an go to http://www.noowit.com/writer

Wow, Noowit is amazing. Thanks for the link.

Edit: I think it is a little early for wider use. But that's ok, looks like it will turn out to be good.

Thanks Jeswin, we're working hard on constantly improving Noowit. Stay tuned and you will be pleasantly surprised.

I am working on an open source project in the same space. "Screenshot": http://flipper.foraproject.org

I wonder if there's any wiki or CMS software based on the Medium editing UI?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com