MultiMarkdown Composer 4 Pro Upgrade

Background

When I released the first version of MultiMarkdown Composer in 2011, my goal was to create the best Markdown-focused editor possible. (And since it was the only one at the time, by definition I succeeded!)

Over the last 6 years I have spend countless hours refining and improving the application, and the most recent version is something I am very proud of.

But in addition to creating a great text editor for anyone uses Markdown/MultiMarkdown, my other goal is to continue to add truly innovative ways to work with the information already in the documents we write. Not everyone needs all of these features, but for some they are indispensable. The more advanced features often take a disproportionate share of development time.

The Pro Upgrade represents a way to ensure continued development on these sorts of features.

But First, the Standard Upgrade

The free version has a few limitations:

• Only one document open at a time

• TOC and other sidebars limited to only a few entries

• Unable to use custom themes and CSS

• Unable to print

• Unable to export to other file formats

The standard upgrade unlocks these features.

Current Pro Features

• Automatic Text Expansion -- Automatically substitute trigger words for longer text, including automatic date formatting. More information available here.

• Custom keyboard shortcuts and custom macros -- Customize Composer to behave the way you want it to! More information available here.

• Share configuration files -- Automatically sync your configuration files (Themes, CSS, and Expansion files) between all devices where you have installed MultiMarkdown Composer.

• History Mode Undo -- Have you ever hit "Undo" a few times in your document to revert changes and start working again, only to realize that you lost an important change amidst those Undo steps? Not anymore. With History Mode, you can Undo/Redo backwards and forwards through every step along the way. It's hard to explain, but easy to use once you experiment with it.

• Limited depth to the Table of Contents -- In long documents, the TOC Sidebar can become unwieldy. Limit it to only the top 2 or 3 levels if you wish to make it easier to navigate.

• Project Windows -- Open a window that shows contents of a folder to quickly navigate between related files.

• Editing multiple text locations simultaneously -- the macOS text system doesn't support editing multiple locations at the same time (not really). Composer allows you to open multiple windows showing you different portions of the same document. This allows you to edit the bottom of a long document while referencing a section at the top.

Pro Features in Development

The following are some Pro Features in various stages of development (no ETA on final availability, and I can't guarantee things until they're finished):

• The v3 beta of Composer had support for outline folding -- enabling you to show and hide parts of your document to make it easier to work with. I was not thrilled with the performance of this, so I'm starting over to make it better for v4.

• Collaborative Editing -- CriticMarkup is great for working with a partner, but it takes time to send files back and forth. It's much easier to work on the same document at the same time, while keeping all the advanced features you're used to in Composer. In the "R&D Lab" I've worked on prototypes that allow multiple users to work at the same time on a shared document and see changes in real time. Once v4 is ready, I plan to revise that code for the new text engine. This will be even more useful with Composer for iOS.

• Selective Undo -- The advanced undo engine in v4 that provides the History Mode also makes it possible to selectively Undo/Redo specific changes. The fundamental functionality is there, I need to develop a GUI for it. This could allow you to undo/redo the changes in a single paragraph, while leaving the other changes you have made intact.

• TextBundle File Format Reading -- I've worked before on the ability to read/write TextBundle files as a native document format for Composer. With the new improvements in MultiMarkdown 6, I need to revisit this.

• Improved autocompletion -- the v4 text engine includes support for "fuzzy" autocompletion that intelligently predicts the best match for what you've typed, even if there are missing characters in between. I need to polish it up a bit to make it more user friendly, but it makes it much faster to type long words.

Ideas for Possible Features Down the Road

I've also had other ideas that need fleshing out, but might make for interesting Pro features -- no promises though!

• Interconversion between CriticMarkup and Undo/Redo to allow you to save your edit history in the file.

• Improved editing functionality for tables

• And many more ideas that are still too "fuzzy" to describe here

In Conclusion

As always, I recommend that you base your decision on purchasing the Pro Upgrade on whether it meets your needs right now. You can always buy the Standard Upgrade first, and then migrate later (for the same total price).

But I've heard from many users that I charge too little for my software. Those same users know that I try to offer the best support possible, and that I work hard to ensure that my software is the best it can be.

If you agree, here's your chance to follow through. Buy the Pro Upgrade, and help provide the support needed to continue adding innovative features to MultiMarkdown Composer. You'll get extra features now, as well as more to come.

And, as always, thank you for all of your support through the years!