In iA Writer, it’s also possible to start a code block with a tab, as long as the text doesn’t start with list, header or blockquote syntax characters (1.,., -, +, #, ). In addition, you can use Fenced code blocks, which begin and end with triple backticks, and don’t need indenting. How to Use iA Writer for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, and Android. Programmers have been using syntax highlighting to improve their code for quite some time. Highlighting syntax provides you.
I’m using iA Writer to write with Markdown formatting. It’s an effective app and a pleasant way to write (compared to, say, Microsoft Word or straight HTML). The files are portable because they are plain text, but that also leads to a shortcoming: apps handle Markdown differently.
This page just tests the limits of iA Writer’s output, a kind of acid test. The markup also ends up being a test of this website’s styling of all the different HTML elements.
The HTML that I exported is immediately below and the original MultiMarkdown source from iA Writer is further below for reference. I sent the whole thing to the website by an iOS Shortcut.
Ia Writer Code Block Syntax Highlighting
See also the MultiMarkdown Syntax Guide and iA Writer’s own Markdown Guide.
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Paragraph with important text, emphasized text, and super important text (BETTER THAN ALL CAPS!). There is a strikethrough,
code
, a link, of course, and an inline image in a link with a footnote: 1.- Ordered list item
- Nested, bulleted list item
- Task list item (click to check off in iA Writer!)
- Ordered, completed task list item
The rare definition list:
- definition2
- a statement of the exact meaning of a word, especially in a dictionary
- the degree of distinctness in outline of an object, image, or sound
A block quote (with a citation reference):
Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection, the lovers, the dreamers, and me, … la da da dee da da doo, la la da da da dee da doo.
Ia Writer Code Syntax Highlighting Tutorial
Clipart prime 1 5 1. —Kermit the Frog[3]
And a code block: Cheatsheet 1 3 2 math.
Markdown supports tables but they are messy. iA Writer handily includes a CSV file as a simple table:
Header Row | Column 2 | Column 3 |
---|---|---|
Row 1 | Data | is nice |
Row 2 | So | make it look good |
Markdown is meant to format simple writing in a way that is readable to both human and computer. It is not meant for more complex formatting. When all else fails, use raw HTML. This snippet has embedded Markdown (be sure your quotes are straight!):
Your browser does not support HTML5.
Some notes:
- There are a few things not tested here that iA Writer is capable of handling: Setext-style header, Table of Contents (
{{TOC}}
), Markdown table (or table caption), or Math (TeX). - iA Writer wraps a block image (one that is on its own line) as a
<figure>
element with the optional text as a<figcaption>
. This is preferred. (Inline images are just the<img>
with the optional text set as itsalt
attribute.) - iA Writer doesn’t distinguish between
*emphasis*
and_citation_
, rendering both as<em>
instead of<i>
or<cite>
(I’m not aware of any Markdown editor that does differentiate them, but they are semantically distinct). - iA Writer doesn’t recognize
::highlight::
(HTML:<mark>
). It doesn’t claim to but it would be nice. - iA Writer has it’s own file transclusion syntax, beginning a new line with
/
followed by the relative path to an image or text document to include (also works with an absolute URL on it’s own line). Much neater than MultiMarkdown spec. The table above is included this way.
iA Writer’s implementation of Markdown is the best in my opinion, compared to other apps and tests, even MultiMarkdown Composer.
It’s a good idea to export directly from iA Writer to HTML or Microsoft Word rather than let another tool convert it such as the Markdown module in the WordPress Jetpack plugin (which uses Markdown Extra). Pandoc comes very close.
- Media courtesy of Apple Music. Use their service and maybe they won’t hold it against me. Forecast download free. ↩︎
- Oxford Dictionary of English↩︎
- Jim Henson, It’s Not Easy Being Green: And Other Things to Consider. (This quote may or may not be contained in this book.)