stevenf.com
Steven Frank's website
November 2, 2011
Here’s a rough spec of what I think would comprise my ultimate note keeping environment. I’m writing this down in the hopes that someone will implement it, as I don’t have sufficient spare time.
“Have you tried…?”
Yes, I’ve tried that app. It didn’t do at least one of the following things.
There are at least a half dozen apps that are frustratingly close to what I want, but they just don’t close the obvious (to me) loops.
Although I describe this as a single app, it must actually be implemented as both a desktop and iOS app with full feature parity to work for me, as I want my notes accessible in the highest quality editing environment I have available at any given time: a Mac, if I’m near my Mac, iPad or iPhone if I’m not.
- Dropbox
The app has a pref for a root folder on Dropbox, which is where all notes are stored as plaintext files.
There may also be images in this folder, so some sort of inclusion/exclusion based on file extension is desirable.
- List of files
The app shows all text files in this directory. I can click on one to open it. I can sort it alphabetically or by modification date.
- Search
A search field pares down the file list to files that match the keyword either in title or content.
- MultiMarkdown preview
When I open a note, I see its Markdown preview. A button/hotkey toggles between preview and edit.
- Plaintext edit
I can edit the note in plaintext with some affordances for Markdown composition.
- Markdown extension: links
I can use double square bracket syntax to link to another note by name.
- Markdown extension: locally stored images
I can reference a locally stored image using the Markdown image syntax or some minor variation of it.
- Use a standard system font like Helvetica, black on white text
Don’t get design-y.
…
That’s pretty much it.
I know you want to tell me about some existing app right now, but trust me, I’ve tried it already, and it doesn’t do the above things.
There are apps that do one half and apps that do the other half and apps that do both but only run on one platform. That’s no good. I just need someone to bring it all together for me.
Any takers? I have money!
