Show HN: GitBook Editor Beta – Markdown WYSIWYG, TeX(gitbook.com)
gitbook.com
Show HN: GitBook Editor Beta – Markdown WYSIWYG, TeX
https://www.gitbook.com/blog/releases/editor-5-beta
38 comments
I am a huge fan of overleaf. I use it almost every day to take class notes, write up homework, etc. Two features which I see heavily requested are speed (people who compare overleaf to sharelatex often cite this as the reason they use sharelatex over overleaf) and offline editing. Thanks again for the great software!
I've got a question for you since you mentioned that you use it to take class notes. I have attempted this in the past and I have found it pretty hard to keep up with a professor while they talk and write things down. When it is just straight speech I am taking notes of there is no problem of course since it is just normal text. But when math starts being quickly written on a board I find it hard to keep up.
Writing out all the symbols names and getting the formatting right seems to take a fair amount of time and I typically get behind.
I have a Microsoft Surface I use for class, so what I have just switched to handwriting the notes now on the surface.
Writing out all the symbols names and getting the formatting right seems to take a fair amount of time and I typically get behind.
I have a Microsoft Surface I use for class, so what I have just switched to handwriting the notes now on the surface.
I guess my reply wasn't worded so well. I don't really mean in-class notes. In class, I do the same thing you do - I write everything down on paper. In the past I have tried to type everything and ran into the same problem you stated. What I currently do is move most of my written notes into class independent documents on Overleaf. It then become easy to create study guides for exams since all of my notes can be printed and shared from a single document. Sorry for the confusion!
Are you able to save your notes out of Overleaf in the free version? It looks like a nice service but I don't want to pay to have offline access to notes especially since I like to have a nice git repo with all my old notes backed up.
Yes, you can use the git sync for this :) https://www.overleaf.com/blog/195
Is that available to free users?
Can I edit my overleaf stuff while offline? Gitbook looks like you edit offline and send changes to the cloud, while overleaf looks like you can't work if your connection dies, on a plane etc.
We have a git-bridge for offline working - it's in beta at the moment but has been pretty popular: https://www.overleaf.com/blog/195
It's not the same as having a full offline mode, but it certainly helps.
It's not the same as having a full offline mode, but it certainly helps.
You should run a more modern LaTeX engine, such as XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX. I can’t type diacritical characters (ąęłóż) without going to the past and figuring out the necessary encoding things.
You can already use these with Overleaf if you need to :)
We try to detect which compile engine to use, and you can always specify it manually in the editor settings. Just click the gear icon in the top right.
We try to detect which compile engine to use, and you can always specify it manually in the editor settings. Just click the gear icon in the top right.
Neat editor, I've long felt there's room for a markdown editor geared to writing 'real' documents - been working with Atom which covers a lot of ground with the right plugin - I even wrote a plugin that does something similar to their inline math rendering: https://atom.io/packages/preview-inline
If you're on mac, I'd give ulysses a try – it's pay to play — but well executed.
Agreed! I just wish tables were supported. I actually have to export it to a .docx and then add the tables :/.
I asked them a while back and they said they weren't planning on supporting tables any time soon.
Well, that's no fun! Tables are handy for writing (particularly of the tech. sort). Hopefully they get to it.
This is perhaps a general question about 3rd-party auth, but how am I supposed to trust an app like this when I click "log in with google/github/etc"? I'm simply shown a new pane within the same application that could easily be a phishing attack. There's no way to verify who the hell I'm sending my user/pass to.
Is there some way for native apps to launch my preferred default browser to do this task?
(Note: this is by no means an accusation towards OP; I just tend not to type my gmail password into random apps I downloaded from strangers on the internet).
Is there some way for native apps to launch my preferred default browser to do this task?
(Note: this is by no means an accusation towards OP; I just tend not to type my gmail password into random apps I downloaded from strangers on the internet).
> This is perhaps a general question about 3rd-party auth, but how am I supposed to trust an app like this when I click "log in with google/github/etc"? I'm simply shown a new pane within the same application that could easily be a phishing attack. There's no way to verify who the hell I'm sending my user/pass to.
I see this happening over and over again on my phone. Especially with Facebook logins.
I see this happening over and over again on my phone. Especially with Facebook logins.
If you are already logged in with google/github/etc you shouldn't need to re-enter your password, just give approval. The authentication and association would be handled in the background. If you have to enter a password when you are already logged in then it is a huge red flag and you should probably run.
EDIT: Done correctly, "Log in with ..." should NEVER need your password for the site it will use separate authentication tokens to associate with your account. It may try to redirect you if you're not logged in, just make sure you log in by directly accessing the primary auth site first.
EDIT: Done correctly, "Log in with ..." should NEVER need your password for the site it will use separate authentication tokens to associate with your account. It may try to redirect you if you're not logged in, just make sure you log in by directly accessing the primary auth site first.
Nice tip, thanks. But in this case it's wrapped in a destop app runtime distinct from my browser (Electron?), so there is no way to be already logged into Github/Google.
In an ideal world auth flows would always open in my system browser that I can trust. On both mobile and desktop.
(Well, technically I already installed a proprietary .deb and am running the process as my user, so game over.)
In an ideal world auth flows would always open in my system browser that I can trust. On both mobile and desktop.
(Well, technically I already installed a proprietary .deb and am running the process as my user, so game over.)
I'm working on a new book lately, and I've been trying to settle on the right workflow. I've been posting the chapters as blog entries, as I complete them, but editing in WordPress leaves a lot to be desired, and I don't really think HTML is the right authoritative source for a book. I wrote my first book, and a lot of old documentation in SGML DocBook, and then later converted it to XML DocBook...it had many benefits, and with a decent vim setup wasn't too hard to work with, and the output options were super flexible. Final format for publication was a Word doc with extensive templates provided by the publisher.
All of that was a long time ago, though, and there's a lot more flexibility in where a document can start and end up in various other formats. pandoc changes the rules entirely, and markdown seems the most "native" format for pandoc.
In short, I think I need to be working in Markdown. But, this doesn't look like the right tool for me, at all. A subscription service for a text editor just feels wonky. I don't really want anyone else in the workflow until I send it off to an editor or for print publication. And, the idea of paying for a text editor, especially one as limited as this one seems to be (though it has some neat tricks), when there are such good/flexible/powerful/free/open editors, seems bizarre.
I think I just need to find a good set of vim settings for markdown, or give Atom another try.
All of that was a long time ago, though, and there's a lot more flexibility in where a document can start and end up in various other formats. pandoc changes the rules entirely, and markdown seems the most "native" format for pandoc.
In short, I think I need to be working in Markdown. But, this doesn't look like the right tool for me, at all. A subscription service for a text editor just feels wonky. I don't really want anyone else in the workflow until I send it off to an editor or for print publication. And, the idea of paying for a text editor, especially one as limited as this one seems to be (though it has some neat tricks), when there are such good/flexible/powerful/free/open editors, seems bizarre.
I think I just need to find a good set of vim settings for markdown, or give Atom another try.
I don't think this editor requires subscription?
You can skip login ("not now" or something like that at the bottom), and work with local git repos; I suspect you can also use coax it to work with private remote repos (Book -> Repository Settings... ?) without logging in, but haven't tried.
You won't get GitBook's online services but their build toolchain is fully open, can be run locally.
Aside from being proprietary, this seems a neat local markdown editor with built-in git support. I too would prefer something FOSS and more flexible, esp. for a huge project like a book, but I can see myself recommending this to people.
You won't get GitBook's online services but their build toolchain is fully open, can be run locally.
Aside from being proprietary, this seems a neat local markdown editor with built-in git support. I too would prefer something FOSS and more flexible, esp. for a huge project like a book, but I can see myself recommending this to people.
Are you familiar with Ghost, the open-source Markdown-based blogging platform? It might suit what you're looking for.
Also, I haven't written any books, but I wonder if Markdown is the best choice for a canonical format. The syntax is lightweight but also limited. For example, it doesn't support tables, and doesn't differentiate between source code (which should be syntax highlighted) and literal text (which shouldn't). You could define your own extensions, of course, but that breaks the compatibility feature. I think reStructuredText (for example) might be a better choice, although Emacs' Org-mode is my personal favorite document format. I suppose that in the end, whichever's most comfortable for the author to write in is the best.
edit: I should mention that this is in reference to a technical book because I've been thinking about technical writing lately. It just occurred to me that you could be writing the type of book that doesn't need tables or source code, in which case Markdown is probably perfect.
Also, I haven't written any books, but I wonder if Markdown is the best choice for a canonical format. The syntax is lightweight but also limited. For example, it doesn't support tables, and doesn't differentiate between source code (which should be syntax highlighted) and literal text (which shouldn't). You could define your own extensions, of course, but that breaks the compatibility feature. I think reStructuredText (for example) might be a better choice, although Emacs' Org-mode is my personal favorite document format. I suppose that in the end, whichever's most comfortable for the author to write in is the best.
edit: I should mention that this is in reference to a technical book because I've been thinking about technical writing lately. It just occurred to me that you could be writing the type of book that doesn't need tables or source code, in which case Markdown is probably perfect.
Yes, we support Ghost in Virtualmin. I like it a lot, but I like the huge ecosystem of WordPress (and my higher level of familiarity with it) better.
It is a technical book, but no math. There is table support in some extended versions of Markdown, so that's not a problem. And, I've found syntax highlighting works OK on our website (which is Drupal with a geshi filter setup for Markdown text format posts...it is a little clumsy in that it has to be wrapped in <code></code> tags, but it works well enough that I'd be comfortable using it).
I just started googling WordPress plugins for Markdown. Maybe that'll do the job well enough, and I'll do my editing in vim or Atom.
It is a technical book, but no math. There is table support in some extended versions of Markdown, so that's not a problem. And, I've found syntax highlighting works OK on our website (which is Drupal with a geshi filter setup for Markdown text format posts...it is a little clumsy in that it has to be wrapped in <code></code> tags, but it works well enough that I'd be comfortable using it).
I just started googling WordPress plugins for Markdown. Maybe that'll do the job well enough, and I'll do my editing in vim or Atom.
I'm currently writing a book in Markdown. Basically, I enjoy using Atom a lot, and I host the book in a private GitHub repository. Once I finish writing it, I'll just make the repository public and license it under Creative Commons. I have heard of GitBook and tried it out before (their web service that is), but I absolutely don't need it.
You might like AsciiDoc: it strikes a nice balance between DocBook and Markdown.
Curious to try this as an alternative to Evernote. I'm not wholly dissatisfied with it, but I feel that I tend towards messiness with Evernote and find myself never bothering to delete anything. I also get frustrated with formatting, though I absolutely love their inline image markup functionality.
I've used a live-preview app (http://marked2app.com) for a few years that I've been happy with for smaller projects, but I really like how they've created a Scrivener-like IDE with integrated source code control.
As for consuming documentation, I find Read the Docs[1] way easier to navigate. It feels like GitBook tries to strip away all sense of navigation and makes it way too "minimalistic" or "slim".
[1]https://readthedocs.org
[1]https://readthedocs.org
I actually like read the docs a lot, as far as the tips and notification boxes go, the code boxes are really nice, but not a huge fan of the sidebar
I'm always wary of putting in-progress work on random third-party services.
LyX+Mendeley works pretty well for me...
LyX+Mendeley works pretty well for me...
Excellent - I'm a big fan of GitBook and have been using it for my main project. So far, so good. Would maybe be willing to beta test this but I'm afraid I only use basic functions, no Latex etc support.
Rust by Example[0] (and possibly the Rust Book[1]) uses gitbook, for those curious as to how a language reference may look like with GitBook.
[0]: http://rustbyexample.com
[1]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/
[0]: http://rustbyexample.com
[1]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/
Rust by example does, but The Rust Programming Language does not. The current version uses "rustbook", and the next gen will (probably, we'll see) use mdBook, both similar projects but written in Rust.
Thanks (for being so active here)! I definitely want to check out working with mdBook.
Any time. :)
I've really been enjoying mdBook. https://github.com/azerupi/mdBook/issues/29#issuecomment-168... for example is so awesome, can't wait until it lands.
I've really been enjoying mdBook. https://github.com/azerupi/mdBook/issues/29#issuecomment-168... for example is so awesome, can't wait until it lands.
This seems like it could be an incredible collaboration tool for university class notes (either students or professors). I think I would have used this in Engineering University instead of something like ShareLaTeX
Oh hey, I designed the current gitbook layout :D This is nifty news!
Any free service similar to Gitbook but primarily for blogs?
It's geared primarily towards research papers and associated material, but can be used for anything! One of the first projects (not by the founders) was a set of wedding invitations!
[1] https://www.overleaf.com
PS: In case you can't guess, I'm one of the founders, and any feedback is always appreciated, thanks.