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Using MultiMarkdown Composer to create presentations

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Frank

22 Nov, 2017 08:50 AM

Dear Fletcher,

Very quickly MultiMarkdown Composer has become my favourite text editor. Inspired by decksetapp.com, I would also like to use it for creating simple presentations in Multimarkdown. Unfortunately there are some difficulties when I try that:

• I need to be able to use a slide-filling background image that is repeated on every page instead of just a single colour. The CSS background-image property may offer what I need, but does not seem to be working in MultiMarkdown Composer v4.

• I need to be able to write the text of a single-line # tag on the second line of the slide and write the text of a double-line # tag (or of two adjacent single-line # tags) on the first and second lines of the slide. I would expect to able to control this from within the CSS.

• I need to be able to choose a page size from within the css because presentations require a size that I neither want to have to change back and forth manually every time nor need to remember myself.

• I need to control the text of headers and footers from within the slide document (e.g. similar to the per-document settings of Brett Terpstra's Marked 2 app) and also be able to very precisely position the headers and footers to have them line up with specific details in the background image.

Would you consider adding such features to MultiMarkdown Composer? Many thanks for considering this request!

1. Support Staff 1 Posted by Fletcher on 22 Nov, 2017 04:23 PM

   

   Frank,

   Glad Composer is working well for you!

   I'm not sure I follow what the problem is, though. You can use whatever CSS you like and whatever Javascript et al. you like. Export your file to HTML and you're good to go. Composer doesn't change your CSS.

   Fletcher

   PS> Just to be clear, you're not confusing Themes (which control the editor appearance) with CSS (which controls the preview), right?

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2. 2 Posted by Frank on 22 Nov, 2017 09:25 PM

   

   Dear Fletcher,

   This request is about CSS and the settings of MultiMarkdown Composer, not about themes. I do not mind investing some time in writing a CSS that I can use again and again, but the reasons why I like to work in Markdown are also why I do not fancy creating something in Javascript. If only I could express my thoughts in a presentation as easily as I can in a report in Markdown! I have no need for fancy animations, a simple presentation will do. Just some text and perhaps a few images that I can export straight from my editor into a PDF. I can already write presentations using a simple CSS with larger fonts and a plain background, but this is not a 'plug-and-play' solution and requires a lot of trial-and-error inside the text to get it laid out properly. Since there are also corporate identity guidelines to consider, the background of a presentation should ideally be able to contain an image that stretches from border to border and repeats itself on every page. Unfortunately, from my experience with writing a complex CSS for Marked 2, CSS does not handle paginated content very well. This is also where the issues with page sizes and headers and footers come from. If one could configure MultiMarkdown Composer's preview with a few per-document and per-css settings, I would expect an export of such a preview to suffice for many presentation needs.

   Frank

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3. Support Staff 3 Posted by Fletcher on 22 Nov, 2017 10:17 PM

   

   My apologies -- I'm still not clear about what it is that MultiMarkdown
   and/or Composer isn't doing that you need me to do.

   I assume that you're not asking me to create a custom export format in
   MMD/Composer for you just for your presentations with proper logos,
   font, etc.

   So I am sorry to admit that I am still struggling to understand your
   request.

   The way I would create something like I imagine you mean is to use
   HTML/CSS or LaTeX/beamer. Both of which would need to be configured by
   you, not me, to set the desired colors/images/fonts/etc. MMD works
   perfectly well with both strategies, allowing you to write your
   presentation quickly, and apply the desired styling when converting to
   HTML/LaTeX.

   You certainly can use MMD for presentations (I used to do it with
   LaTeX/beamer, but HTML & CSS 3 should be able to handle it as well.)
   Though you are right that pagination is tricky if you use CSS.

   Help me understand what I am missing.

   Thanks,

   Fletcher

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4. Fletcher closed this discussion on 02 Dec, 2017 01:58 PM.