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Show HN: Use your familiar Markdown editor to create and publish web pages (amarkdown.com)

62 points by ymblender ↗ HN
I'm excited to introduce my own developed Markdown editor to everyone. It's built on the Monaco editor and designed specifically for developers. This editor integrates various features such as document management, resource management, and MDX extensions. You can embed images, audio, video, and even use plugins like drawing tools, calendars, and cards to showcase your creativity. What's even more thrilling is that it allows users to customize PostgreSQL table structures, insert and display data in Markdown documents, and even collect form submissions.

My original intention in design was to use MDX to describe pages (with limited differentiation), and utilize low-code building tools to present and collect data. This way, users can use simple text to describe individual web pages and aggregate multiple web pages into their site.

Now, it has completed a portion of the work; for instance, the blog on my official website is self-generated using this method.

However, most users should use it as a markdown editor with extension components. I'm not sure how to better describe my vision. I really hope that you are interested in trying it out and providing suggestions.

60 comments

[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 123 ms ] thread
buf
Honestly, this is exactly what I want as a technical blogger:

- markdown editing

- remote asset support (including js components)

- seo

amarkdown looks great, but I've been using vim. Obsidian points to that folder and I use that for publishing.

jcutrell
Can you explain how you’re doing this? I’m in a very similar spot, using next JS with a special external folder that I use as an “outlet” for publishing
JodieBenitez
Hello,

I appreciate the product idea, well done, and nice UI.

Small gripe about the website: no translation is better than bad translation. Even more so given your target (developers). I actually had to switch language to english to really understand the website, even though It's not my main language. Some translated descriptions make no sense at all.

tobr
Oh, is that why the page doesn’t have any text for me, just images, blank buttons, and an occasional “undefined”? I suspect it’s trying to translate it on the fly and failing?

EDIT: Clicking the semitransparent blue rounded square next the word “undefined” reveals a choice of languages. I have to choose one to actually see any text.

ymblender
Thank you very much for your feedback. It should be that i18n does not support certain languages well. I will troubleshoot this issue as soon as possible.
fodmap
Fun fact: sometimes Amarkdown is translated as 'Amazon down', at least in the Spanish translation.
ymblender
Oh My God... It's interesting. Thank you for your support. You're right, I just write English, other language use auto translate when build.
tobr
I18N is tricky! Especially when you’re trying to implement languages you don’t know yourself and can’t sanity check your work so easily. Good luck!
tomgs
Hey hey! Would be happy to translate at least the home page and give it a little polish free of charge (I do GTM consulting for developer tools, I do a lot of these homepage refreshes before launches and whatnot).

Hit me up at writing@granot.dev :)

politelemon
I'm still unable to tell from the page, what is the purpose of the database feature? Is this not a static website generator? I guess I misunderstood
ymblender
You can create your own database structure above and insert some form collection into the page created by markdown to complete some simple CRUD business
rauli_
The site doesn't render any text in Firefox.
CrimsonRain
I went to the pricing page. It thanked me for paying and says I have already paid and subscribed to the basic plan as well as the "superlative" plan!
pratio
I saw the videos and it looks very impressive. Congratulations on the release.
rodolphoarruda
I found the landing page confusing. No text at all in the cover, just a "AI + Markdown" title which pushes me into abstractions and wishful thinking about the product and what it does.
ymblender
Sorry, it has just been fixed. English will be used by default for unsupported languages. This is a low-level mistake on my part
jdthedisciple
Why does the website need to be eating my CPU?
ymblender
Maybe it’s due to the rendering of the two large canvases on the homepage. Thank you for your suggestion. I will consider changing it to video.
codegeek
Don't consider changing it. Change it. If your landing page eats CPU, you will lose lot of potential customers. I immediately bounce from any page that eats my CPU.
ymblender
Your suggestion is correct, I have replaced canvas rendering with video.
loloquwowndueo
It’s probably the hero typer thing that is constantly changing the page content and makes it tremendously distracting.
roschdal
Can I use the familiar HTML to edit and publish web pages?
ymblender
Not for now, but maybe in the future (depending on how widespread the need is). Currently only simple html tags are supported.
yosito
The way I see it, Markdown is a way to add semantic formatting to a text document. Yes, you can insert other forms of code into a Markdown document, but at a certain point, inventing a new "markdown" syntax for all of the the non-semantic-text code that you want to add isn't really Markdown anymore, and just kind of misses the point. If I want to write semantic text, I'll use Markdown, if I want to create a PostgreSQL table, I'll use Postgres, etc, etc. I don't see the point of trying to make Markdown an interface for things that is wasn't designed for.
ymblender
Certainly, I wholeheartedly agree with your perspective. The viewpoint you expressed is directional and falls within two philosophical realms. This issue has been a longstanding debate in my mind. There is an abundance of simplistic Markdown editors available in the market. If our sole purpose is to render pure Markdown content, there are already enough editors on the market.

Here's how I convinced myself: if I only need pure Markdown, I can abstain from those advanced features. However, when I desire it to accomplish more, then perhaps MDX extensions could be a choice. Once you venture beyond the realm of basic Markdown features, it becomes less universal. Nonetheless, it can accomplish tasks that pure Markdown alone cannot.

INGSOCIALITE
emacs + org-mode + ox-hugo Works perfectly for me!
nkko
I have no clue what is this. The landing page is absolutely confusing.
astrojams
The blog didn't work for me. I just got a circle that spins forever.
dukeyukey
> "You can create a separate Postgres table to complete your personal or company business; Combining Open AI and Amarkdown makes it easier for you to create custom pages"

Tf does that mean? What does OpenAI have to do with a Postgres table? Why does that make it easier to create custom pages?

> "Based on a hybrid rendering of editor and Golang"

Like, was Go used to write the editor? Why would I care about that?

ymblender
Thanks for your expense, I should revise this part of the copy.
dclowd9901
Gonna take this opportunity to plug my static site generator, which uses markdown as well. It deploys to an S3 bucket and handles purging a Cloudfront CDN. It’s opinionated, but lightweight and fast, and you own everything.

https://github.com/dclowd9901/posse

hoofhearted
Hey David, nice work!

It looks like we are interested in the same areas of frontend engineering.

I'm currently searching for a cofounder to join me in disrupting the WordPress market using the new serverless frontend cloud paradigm.

Could we chat?

dclowd9901
Hey, I’m actually not in the market for new work but I appreciate your reaching out. This is just a little side project I threw together and figured people might get utility from it.
hoofhearted
Nice! Thanks for the response :)

For just a side project, you did pretty great. Keep up the good work.

ioslife
Unfortunately, this site is not ready to be shown in public. The homepage is massive, the Blog page doesn't load, the Pricing page automatically shows that I am subscribed, the FAQ section calls the premium plan "SUPER" while the pricing page calls it "SUPERLATIVE," the pricing shows $9.9 instead of $9.99.

Product looks cool tho

shortformblog
I sort of feel like you should call this something else. Markdown implies a certain simplicity in form and function. This feels much more complex and in-depth.
shortformblog
I should add by the way that I do like what you’re doing with widgets, and I think it’s a direction other CMS platforms—particularly, Ghost—should move towards.
ymblender
Yes, I regret not having received such advice earlier. Moreover, when I search for "amarkdown" on Google, it thinks I've made a typo and asks if I meant to search for "markdown." Using a name without any bias is also very favorable for search engines.

But I have already invested too much effort into the name "amarkdown," including on Twitter (X), YouTube, and various other accounts.

shortformblog
I encourage you to consider changing it anyway. Changing now is going to be way easier than doing it a year down the line when momentum is lost.
hoofhearted
I’m working on a free markdown editor that is built with Next.js, Tailwind, and TipTap if anyone is interested in a more production ready project compared to op’s :)

https://github.com/elegantframework/elegant-cli

millerhooks
Nice. I totally am looking for that.
hoofhearted
Awesome! Great to hear :)

If you have any questions or want some help getting started, my email is below:

brandon at elegantframework dot com

dang
We're getting complaints from users that you've been overpromoting your project on HN. I think they have a point - this is arguably too much:

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

It's fine to occasionally link to your own stuff when it's particularly relevant, but it's not fine to use HN primarily for promotion. The intended use of the site is curiosity, and promoting one's own stuff is a completely different motivation (though, of course, a super common one). If you'd please roll this back a bit, we'd appreciate it.

(Btw, when users do this egregiously, we just add it to a spam filter. I wouldn't say you've been egregious, which is why I'm asking rather than spambinning. But if you'd get back on the good side of the line, i.e. using HN for personal curiosity, that would be helpful. I suppose I should also add that this is not any comment on your work itself, which I'm sure is very good.)

thatguyagain
Wow! Did you build the Calendar component by yourself, or is it using a library?
ymblender
Thanks, Calendar component by myself
stronglikedan
This was my experience: "Try it" -> "Log in" -> close tab

Sorry, but I'm not going to jump through hoops to try it.

neilellis
Yep, let the user play and create a temporary sample page for themselves.
iKnowKungFoo
Jekyll, Gitlab Pages, and VSCode. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Once you get the config and include syntax for Jekyll, it's a piece of cake.

iefbr14
Makes my browser eat my cpu, both brave and palemoon unfortunately.
XCSme
Nice landing page. I love markdown, very easy to write and move between applications. I also decided to use it in a similar way, but only for the blog [0] section of my websites.

[0]: https://github.com/Cristy94/markdown-blog

janalsncm
For creating static web pages I usually use grip [1] to convert markdown. If you’re lazy this even works as a blog. I suppose if you’re even lazier you can just use a GitHub repo directly.

[1] https://github.com/joeyespo/grip