HeySage

Markdown is an easy to use syntax that allows text conversion to XHTML. The wonderful thing about Markdown is that it allows your to compose your prose in an easy to write and easy to read text format. The goal of John Gruber’s Markdown program is to make text as readable as possible. Ultimately, markdown is a software tool, written in Perl, that converts the plain text formatting to valid HTML.

In order to utilize markdown formatted text in your blog there are several steps that must be taken (for the sake of this article all steps will be discussed with reference to WordPress although markdown can be used with a variety of blogging platforms).

1. Download and install PHP Markdown 1.01f from by Michel Fortin.
   • This involves unzipping the markdown.php file and uploading it to your WP Plugins Directory (home/wp-content/plugins) and activating it via the WP control panel.
   • You will have to disable the visual editor in the user preference pane in Wordpress.
2. Compose your prose utilizing the Markdown Syntax.
   • The best way to familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of markdown are to look at someone else’s text. There are excellent examples on John Gruber’s website Daring Fireball. You may view this posting in markdown here.

TextMate offers great support for Markdown and blog publishing via its blogging bundle. You can write your prose and preview them using the preview engine built into TextMate. There are some very handy keyboard shortcuts for adding syntax elements. For example highlighting text and pressing ⌃⇧L will convert the text to a link to whatever is on the clipboard. If nothing is on the clipboard a dummy link is inserted. If you have configured a blog in TextMate you can drag and drop an image into a blog.markdown document and the image will be uploaded to the server and the markdown formatted link to the image will be added to your document (this is extremely convenient).

Of course there is another way to implement markdown in your work flow. You may opt to write your prose in Markdown and use humaneText.service to convert it to XHTML and then upload to your server. This prevents you from having to install PHP Markdown 1.0f on your blog. Using this method you can benefit from text format of markdown and then convert it to valid XHTML prior to posting.

The Sage encourages everyone to enjoy in the wonderful world of John Gruber’s Markdown. You will find that it is extremely convenient and allows your to focus on the thing that is most important. Your Writing

Technorati Tags: Markdown, Wordpress, Tutorials, HumaneText.service, TextMate

HumaneText.service is a handy little tool that allows you to convert Markdown to XHTML and vice versa. Installation is a snap. Simply download, unzip, and store the .service file anywhere that you would like. Congratulations, you now have a system wide Markdown conversion utility. All that is left is to select some XHTML formatted text and hit ⌘-⇧} to convert it to Markdown. Select the same text and hit ⌘⇧{ to convert back to XHTML.

This tool is quite useful. Be careful though, some applications have shortcuts that override the humane text services (e.g the conversion key commands will cycle through open tabs in Safari, etc.).

Technorati Tags: Blogging, Humane Text Service

As the Sage goes through the hoops of getting HeySage.com up and running he feels compelled to share the steps. The Sage is currently attempting to claim his blog at Technorati. To do so he must post this link to his Technorati Profile.

Well, now that’s done!

Technorati Tags: Technorati Claim

On a recent episode of The MacRoundtable Ray Slakinski, founder of PopCurrent, mentioned a wonderful blog publishing plugin for TextMate called BlogMate. BlogMate is a free, graphical plug-in for TextMate that allows creating and editing blog posts for some types of blogs (Wordpress most certainly) from a floating palette within TextMate. BlogMate is developed by Todd Ditchendorf.”

Now for the review. The Sage was able to download the plugin, install it, configure it, and publish a post with it in just a few minutes. As previously stated the plugin offers a free floating palette and has a very straightforward UI. Once configured any open HTML or Markdown document can be published by simply clicking the “Send Post” button in the BlogMate pane. This will bring up a dialog box which prompts you for the title of the post and allows you to configure the time stamp. To set the category of the posting, all you need to do is check the Categories that apply in the Categories pane of the BlogMate window.

The only downside The Sage could find is that the uploading of images or other media is not streamlined as it is when using the TextMate blogging bundle. When using the TextMate blogging bundle the image is uploaded to the location specified by the user in the WP-Admin configuration panel and the appropriate link (in HTML or Markdown) appears in the text so that when you post, the image will display properly. When using BlogMate you must manually upload the image.

The Sage found a simple work around so as to get the best of both worlds. All you need to do is create a document from the blogging bundle template and then remove the “Title:” text at the head of the document. Then you can post the document using BlogMate. This is currently The Sage’s preferred method of posting although he may choose to incorporate MarsEdit in his future work flow.

All in all, BlogMate offers a free, quick and easy way to post to a supported blog using TextMate.

Technorati Tags: BlogMate, TextMate, Bloggin Tools