Who knows our work also knows we’re big fans of using Markdown for entering text. All the websites we design include Markdown as the only option for entering formatted text into the content-management system. Using Markdown ensures style consistency (all text styles are defined by the designer, while the author can focus on content), and prevents accidents due to incorrect HTML.
Markdown is very human-friendly and intuitive, with no need to learn even just the subset of HTML necessary to write paragraphs of text. Writing in Markdown is as easy as using a simple-text editor, like TextEdit on the Mac, or NotePad on Windows. However, there are a few apps that can make writing and collaborating on Markdown documents even simpler and more engaging.
On the Mac
Our favorite writing tool on the Mac is, without question, iA Writer. It also has sister apps for iPhone and iPad, with iCloud and Dropbox support. All versions provide clean, distraction-free writing, and the Mac version goes as far also provides visual formatting of Markdown code.
The Soulmen’s new Ulysses III app, whose scope is broader and more complex, also supports Markdown, and is interoperable with Daedalus Touch for iOS, also by The Soulmen.
Marked is not a Markdown editor, but a preview tool, which updates automatically every time a document is saved. Starting with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, the system’s autosave feature makes using Marked effortless.
On Windows
MarkdownPad constitutes an adequate solution for Windows users who want to write in Markdown, with the addition of real-time preview.
On the web
Dillinger is a web-based Markdown editor, which can be linked to Dropbox, for all your writing needs when you don’t have your own computer available.