Implemented Markdown (new try)

[Cthulhux]

As I presume xF 2.0 will have a couple of bigger changes, I'm taking this chance to suggest Markdown support again. Markdown seems to be the declared successor of BBCode, being supported by more than just forums (most blogs, websites like GitHub and Stack Overflow, ...). This would be a giant step forward.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Sim]

Having just implemented a BBCode to Mkdwn (Slack's simplified implementation of Markdown) renderer - I found there were quite a few things we can do in BBCode which just aren't possible in Markdown (not even full flavoured Markdown/Commonmark).

However, I'm so used to doing things like `backticks` for inline code (which is cumbersome to do in the XF editor) - and I use them a lot in discussions here on xenforo.com, I can see the value in implementing Markdown parsing support alongside BBCode - even if it simply parses to BBCode (so when editing the post - you see BBCode where you used Markdown).

Automatic parsing of lists / headings / word formatting / quotes would all be nice as well.

Usage would largely depend on audience - websites with a largely technical audience would certainly make more use of it than those without.

 

[TrevC]

I'm still hoping someone implements this on Xenforo. Take my money! It's vastly superior to bbCode simply due to the fact that people (even less tech-oriented) have some familiarity with it. A small handful of users know markdown, none of them know bbCode. It just doesn't feel very relevant in 2018.

Discord uses Markdown now too.

even if it simply parses to BBCode (so when editing the post - you see BBCode where you used Markdown).

That would certainly be better than nothing! What's missing from Markdown?

 

[Ozzy47]

I'm still hoping someone implements this on Xenforo. Take my money! It's vastly superior to bbCode simply due to the fact that people (even less tech-oriented) have some familiarity with it. A small handful of users know markdown, none of them know bbCode. It just doesn't feel very relevant in 2018.

Discord uses Markdown now too.


That would certainly be better than nothing! What's missing from Markdown?

Next version, https://xenforo.com/community/threa...markdown-support-and-more.154701/post-1287381

 

[The Dark Wizard]

I'm still hoping someone implements this on Xenforo. Take my money! It's vastly superior to bbCode simply due to the fact that people (even less tech-oriented) have some familiarity with it. A small handful of users know markdown, none of them know bbCode. It just doesn't feel very relevant in 2018.

Discord uses Markdown now too.


That would certainly be better than nothing! What's missing from Markdown?

This got announced:

https://xenforo.com/community/threa...-management-markdown-support-and-more.154701/

 

[Sim]

What's missing from Markdown?

Anything other than basic formatting.

Things you can do in BBCode that you can also do in Markdown:

• bold
• italics
• strikethrough
• url
• email
• indent (single level only)
• quote (indent only - no automatic links)
• code
• inline code
• list

Things you can do in BBCode that you can't do in Markdown:

• underline
• color
• font
• size
• left
• center
• right
• img
• media
• plain (have to use a code block)
• spoiler
• user
• gallery

Think of Markdown as a simplified subset of the functionality of BBCode. This is why the XF2.1 method of rendering Markdown to BBCode will work well - you can use Markdown to do simple formatting without losing any of the fidelity that BBCode offers and if you need something that Markdown doesn't offer - you simply do it in BBCode.

It doesn't work so well going the other way: BBCode to Markdown rendering ends up stripping a lot of functionality and formatting.

 

[TrevC]

...

• color
• font
• size
• left
• center
• right
• plain (have to use a code block)

Quite happy to lose these anyhow, since there's always that one guy who wants to write centered blue text.

Isn't underline in markdown just __underline__ ? That's what I've used in a couple of places, anyhow.

That's awesome news about XF supporting Markdown. Very nice upgrade and implementation.

 

[Sim]

Isn't underline in markdown just __underline__ ? That's what I've used in a couple of places, anyhow.

There are lots of competing implementations of Markdown since there was never a definitive standard for it.

CommonMark is the closest we have to a standard - supported by a number of significant sites which have fostered the use of Markdown-like syntax (Berkeley, Github, Reddit, Stackexchange, etc).

The CommonMark standard is fairly basic, but strongly defined.

Reference here: https://commonmark.org/help/

History here: https://commonmark.org/

FYI: __foo__ is actually bold according to the standard (as is **foo**), while _bar_ and *bar* are both italics.

From what I can tell by the announcement (assumption based on the fact that they mentioned GitHub which supports CommonMark) - XF2.1 will use something fairly well aligned to the CommonMark standard (@Chris D can you confirm this?)

 

[TrevC]

There are lots of competing implementations of Markdown since there was never a definitive standard for it.

CommonMark is the closest we have to a standard - supported by a number of significant sites which have fostered the use of Markdown-like syntax (Berkeley, Github, Reddit, Stackexchange, etc).

The CommonMark standard is fairly basic, but strongly defined.

Reference here: https://commonmark.org/help/

History here: https://commonmark.org/

FYI: __foo__ is actually bold according to the standard (as is **foo**), while _bar_ and *bar* are both italics.

From what I can tell by the announcement (assumption based on the fact that they mentioned GitHub which supports CommonMark) - XF2.1 will use something fairly well aligned to the CommonMark standard (@Chris D can you confirm this?)

That's funny about underline, I've used it on Discord and somewhere else without thinking about it. Most places seem to define that syntax as a secondary __bold__. Underline felt a bit more logical to me

Regardless of syntax differences, any implementation in XF is a huge win.