I dig markdown. Aside from the obvious uses on GitHub, I’ve also begun to use it in changelogs, README files, and general text-based notes that I take.
The other day, I sent the following tweet:
i wish i could write email in markdown
— Tom McFarlin (@tommcfarlin) September 5, 2012
And it’s true. If I could, I’d use markdown to write almost anything in place of using rich formatting. Once you get the hang of it, it’s faster, it has clean syntax that are even easy to follow if they aren’t styled, and it’s much simpler than, say, markup (hence, ahem, markdown).
Thanks to a tip from Bobby Shirley, it’s completely possible – and easy – markdown email.
Markdown Toggle is a Chrome extension (that I believe is available for other browsers and email clients, too) that makes it incredibly easy to not only markdown email but to markdown any editor that supports rich formatting.
Some of the places I’ve been using it in the last week:
- Gmail
- Basecamp
- Posts in WordPress
It’s simple, too. Install the extension and then a context menu will appear. Select the text, click the context menu, and you’re done.
At this point, this extension has become a staple in my usual set of tools that I use on a daily basis. Highly recommending this one.
Seriously, if you’re a fan of markdown, this is an extension that you’ve gotta have. You can grab the full project on GitHub.
