Native Markdown Support

[brampeirs 30]

The ability to use markdown native in the App.

[eayllon1 2]

On 10/18/2019 at 10:12 AM, jefito said:

Dunno about PR, but the real question is how much money would it add to the bottom line vs how much would it cost to add it and how much they might lose by implementing something else. In other words, the usual calculations that development companies make all the time.

I guess they're not considering how much customer retention they're losing for not having a core feature to many. That's probably more important than gaining new clients.

On 10/18/2019 at 10:12 AM, jefito said:

So the question here is what do you mean by adding Markdown? If you mean Markdownish shortcuts to produce specific formatting,

Yes, markdown shortcuts is exactly what I want. Nuclino (project management Wiki app) has that exact functionality, and possibly the best example I can think of. Formatting headings takes way too long for productive clean notes on Evernote. 

I actually use Marxico, but deeply prefer a good native solution.

 

[DTLow 4,000]

5 hours ago, eayllon1 said:

Yes, markdown shortcuts is exactly what I want.

I'm actually seeing some markdownish shortcuts in the Evernote editor    
They're not well received by the general user base; we see many "how do I turn this off" posts    
The original request is for native support, as in the markdown code would be preserved

The latest shortcuts in the web beta set heading styles

[PinkElephant 403]

Yes, I would like to get markdown editing as well. I have voted in favor of this some time ago.

Since it seems not clear what is meant: For my usecase, I am collecting stuff in EN. Then I go and prepare some publishing in a blogpost or on my website. I would prefer to be able to write this down directly in EN using markdown, then copy and paste into the web editor without a need to touch it there. This would streamline the research - collect - write - edit- publish- process for me.

But if I do not get markdown, the world is still turning, the sun rising, the birds singing ...

And EN is still my tool to organize information for me.

So, markdown please, because it would be nice to close this thread for good.

[jefito 5,407]

On 11/23/2019 at 12:51 PM, eayllon1 said:

I guess they're not considering how much customer retention they're losing for not having a core feature to many. That's probably more important than gaining new clients.

My guess is that they actually have a fair idea of what it's costing them, and also what it would cost (time/money) to implement, and they haven't been able to do it yet because of that. But we're both guessing here, aren't we?

On 11/23/2019 at 12:51 PM, eayllon1 said:

Yes, markdown shortcuts is exactly what I want. Nuclino (project management Wiki app) has that exact functionality, and possibly the best example I can think of. Formatting headings takes way too long for productive clean notes on Evernote. 

They already have some of this in at least the Windows client; adding more would be a lot easier than implementing a full Markdown round-tripping solution (which appears to be what other folks want), and -- providing you could also disable them -- not be bothersome to those who don't need Markdown.

[zx1986 0]

It is end of 2019.
Do we have markdown now?

[cpinegar 0]

On 1/19/2015 at 11:27 PM, brampeirs said:

The ability to use markdown native in the App.

YES, PLEASE. FOR CHRISTMAS 2019, PLEASE.

[Ken.I. 0]

I think if Evernote is not going to support this standard, I have to take my attention to a product that does.
For the sake of transparency, what do the dev teams definf as the most difficult aspect of integrating
Markdown with Evernote. I've resisted subscribing to Evernote because it is not  robust enough to
commit all my time. My workflow needs to be smooth for it to be useful and economical for my time.

[DTLow 4,000]

14 hours ago, Ken.I. said:

For the sake of transparency, what do the dev teams definf as the most difficult aspect of integrating
Markdown with Evernote.

I haven't seen any feedback from developers on this integration
I know the majority of users are unwilling to fund development for this product

[smittyplusplus 0]

I would also love to see markdown if y'all can figure out how to make it work well.  But... I think the reason it isn't implemented is fairly obvious: Markdown has 2 distinct modes, authoring (with markdown syntax) and viewing (with rendered styles). Notes are meant to be edited and read and changed and used as you go.  "Note taking" is not the same thing as "authoring", and writing Markdown is definitely a form of "authoring".

[Feliope Largo 0]

I'll be migrating by 1400 Notes to a nn app that supports markdown unless Evernote commit for include this ubiquitous feature in a forthcoming release. I don't see what the problem is: arrogance ,stubbornness, we know better than the market. This is how all apps die...

[DTLow 4,000]

2 hours ago, Feliope Largo said:

app that supports markdown

My favourite markdown app is Typora, on a Mac

>>migrating by 1400 Notes

Evernote's base format is enml (basically html), but attachments can be any format
I'm not familiar with any converter services    
My approach for markdown notes is to use .md files, stored in Evernote as attachments

>> I don't see what the problem is

Neither do I.  I'm able to chose whichever editor is best for the job

[PinkElephant 403]

@Feliope Largo thanks for posting your position. I am supporting the idea of including markdown into the EN editor as well.

Just one more thought: You write about the market, ignoring customers etc. Currently you are using EN on a free account. Thus you are no part of a market, because it is defined as exchanging value / money against goods / services. And you are no customer, for the same reason. You are a user, and have a voice here, that’s o.k. For me your vote would carry more weight if you would as well contribute to the cost of the development you desire.

[Heidi Duan 0]

5 years since the initial request has been posted and Evernote still hasn't supported lol.

I am going to switch to some other note applications. Can anyone kindly provide some suggestions? So far I just know Typora is a pretty nice and lightweight option.

[Ic3MaN 0]

Yes, please. The markdown (like) notes in Bear are amazing and would love to consolidate everything into Evernote but currently am using both.

[cpinegar 0]

On 1/4/2020 at 2:08 PM, Heidi Duan said:

5 years since the initial request has been posted and Evernote still hasn't supported lol.

I am going to switch to some other note applications. Can anyone kindly provide some suggestions? So far I just know Typora is a pretty nice and lightweight option.

Joplin is promising for a similar feature set to Evernote, with native Markdown.

[DTLow 4,000]

On 1/4/2020 at 1:08 PM, Heidi Duan said:

Can anyone kindly provide some suggestions? So far I just know Typora is a pretty nice and lightweight option.

Typora is my choice for using markdown on a Mac   
I store the .md files in Evernote as note attachments

[jefito 5,407]

43 minutes ago, cpinegar said:

Joplin is promising for a similar feature set to Evernote, with native Markdown.

Evidently Joplin used Markdown as its native format. (https://joplinapp.org/#markdown).

Evernote does not (https://dev.evernote.com/doc/articles/enml.php), and that's the crux of the problem. Round-tripping from Evernote format to Markdown and back to Evernote is not trivial.

Not sure where Joplin lines up vis-a-vis feature set (or performance, or convenience, etc.), so no opinion there. If Markdown is critical for your use case, and 3rd-party tools like Marxico don't cut it for you, then you should probably use a tool that handles Markdown well. If that's Joplin, well then, there you go...

[Jim Bonds 0]

@jefito I get that ENML is completely different from MD and I understand why.  However, the EN devs could recognize some of the MD syntax and translate it.  It would be super convenient to be able to place text in triple quotes for code snippets and such.

[Jacob Graf 1]

It's 2020. Evernote is one of my favorite apps, but I can't use it for basic things due to its lack of Markdown. Please add Markdown support.

[jefito 5,407]

1 hour ago, Jim Bonds said:

@jefito I get that ENML is completely different from MD and I understand why.  However, the EN devs could recognize some of the MD syntax and translate it.  It would be super convenient to be able to place text in triple quotes for code snippets and such.

I don't know what post of mine you're responding to, but I certainly get that Markdown is an important feature for a fair number of Evernote users, and indeed, some Evernote clients (the Windows client anyways) do actually support use of some Markdown-ish syntax as a one-shot operation (e.g. I type '* ' and it adds a bullet point), and all of that's fine and should be added to other Evernote clients as well. My problem is that some folks expect more, like the ability to go back and forth between Markdown and Evernote formats (i.e. View as Markdown vs. View as Evernote), and that just doesn't seem feasible. These are two separate features, and a lot of folks are asking for the latter, as far as I can tell.

If you're asking for the former, more power to you. If you're asking for the latter, well, I have my doubts.

BTW, on Windows, Ctrl+Shift+L gives me a new code block (or creates one containing any selected text). It's not clear to me why the Markdown would be easier than that. Horses for course, I guess...

[lucianadl 0]

+1 for native Markdown support, please

[LynuSBell 2]

If you think markdown will only be used by developpers, businesses and professionals, think again.

Markdown or any markup is a very fast way to format things without the need to click a button or remember a shortcut!

See Bear for iOS / macOS. How fast is that?! Would have saved me a lot of time to apply formatting on the go when I was taking notes for school!

The main reason I do not use Bear is because it is Apple exclusive when I use Android or work with people using other platforms. Plus, I learned how to use Evernote so why would I change?

It is unbelievable that a note-taking app doesn't have a formatting on-the-go equivalent to markdown! Some system that helps you format your notes quickly and easily without spending 30% of your time formatting your notes!!!
If you do not want to integrate markdown, include a similar/equivalent system to make it as easy as a Bear writer at least.

If there is such system, I didn't find it and I would love to be proven wrong.

So far, I only found the auto-formatting:
https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001758468-How-to-use-auto-formatting

Which does not include title size (e.g. H1, H2...) nor change the size of the font on-the-go.

[DTLow 4,000]

21 hours ago, LynuSBell said:

If you think markdown will only be used by developpers, businesses and professionals, think again.
Markdown or any markup is a very fast way to format things without the need to click a button or remember a shortcut!

I don't know which post you're responding to.
No one is disputing that Markdown is a valuable tool for some users

>>It is unbelievable that a note-taking app doesn't have a formatting on-the-go equivalent to markdown!

Well believe it - there are many editors that don't support Markdown
It is unbelievable that of all the available editors, you choose to use one that doesn't support markdown
- My choice is Typora (Mac).  I store the .md files in Evernote as attachments

[CalS 3,889]

On 1/10/2020 at 7:18 AM, LynuSBell said:

If you think markdown will only be used by developpers, businesses and professionals, think again.

Markdown or any markup is a very fast way to format things without the need to click a button or remember a shortcut!

The contra is that for some of us buttons and shortcuts are faster then remembering Markdown code.  Me being in that category.  Potato potahto I suppose.  I would prefer some  completeness and uniformity of format and formatting across platforms before adding any new stuff.  Like a table that column wraps on one device and not on the other, using default fonts in both cases.  No issue at all if EN adds Markdown, more power to those that want it.  I'd just like some consistency in the formatting and display with default fonts I control.    🤷‍♂️

[LynuSBell 2]

21 hours ago, DTLow said:

I don't know which post you're responding to.
No one is disputing that Markdown is a valuable tool for some users

>>It is unbelievable that a note-taking app doesn't have a formatting on-the-go equivalent to markdown!

Well believe it - there are many editors that don't support Markdown
It is unbelievable that of all the available editors, you choose to use one that doesn't support markdown
- My choice is Typora (Mac).  I store the .md files in Evernote as attachments

But that's the thing. I don't want an editor. I don't want to code my notes. I just want the fast ability to format my notes as I write like I would write text.

[DTLow 4,000]

7 hours ago, LynuSBell said:

I don't want to code my notes.

The above request is for native markdown support    
An example is that bold text is coded as **bold** and stored in the Evernote database as such
Currently, Evernote stores the text as <b>bold</b> (html), however we never see the code

[Gabriel Rodrigues 0]

The markdown support is certainly important. However, from my perspective it has two main features: the import of .md formatted files and the "on-the-go" edition.
The former has not been done, but it seems like an easy problem to solve. Translate, create the file and continue, should be straight forward. The latter is the complicated one.

Nevertheless, have you used Evernote lately?

I mean, the support for Markdown is partial, but it is there already. I checked it today and I was gladly surprised since this is a very useful feature. Just try it out!

(# + space) gives you the biggest header.
(## + space) gives you the second biggest.

There is also the auto-formatting that you can find here: https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001758468

You will say "cursive and bold is not supported!".
True, it is not supported yet, but in the meantime you can do (ctrl + b) and (ctrl + i). It works just fine and you probably are used to those shortcuts anyways.

I do expect the feature of fully supporting Markdown comes, but the effort that has been done in this is great comparing with the state of the product 5 years ago.

Be grateful and help them prioritise which Markdown formatting to support first. The whining attitude is helping no one.

[mvieghofer 0]

I would really love this. Although I love Evernote I‘m thinking more often than ever to switch.

[daeda 0]

3 hours ago, creatorbri said:

This is ESSENTIAL. I'm already on the hunt for a good replacement tool that fully supports Markdown (if not even an extended flavor thereof).

I've mostly switched to https://boostnote.io/ -- it's under active development and has a great open source ecosystem (sources features with IssueHunt, etc.).

[guzmonne 0]

Please add markdown as a feature!

[David Griffiths 0]

Just wanted to add my voice to the clamour for this feature. Existing users needn't be affected by it. You could have tabs where the default (unless changed in preferences) is to display the formatted view as at present. But another tab switches you to the markdown view. The way Enterprise Git Hub switches between markdown and preview mode for example.

[Heinzel 0]

On 1/12/2020 at 11:44 PM, Gabriel Rodrigues said:

I mean, the support for Markdown is partial, but it is there already. I checked it today and I was gladly surprised since this is a very useful feature. Just try it out!

(# + space) gives you the biggest header.
(## + space) gives you the second biggest.

 

In which version of Evernote is this working? Currently on Windows

# + space

does not create any header.

[jefito 5,407]

7 hours ago, Heinzel said:

In which version of Evernote is this working?

In the current web beta, for one. I don't know of any others but I don't have Mac or iOS access. Certainly not in Windows or Android at this time..

[Owllison 0]

I just started using evernote to organize my home and work documents, and I'm more than a little sad to come here and see a 5 year log of people requesting support for markdown with little to no feedback from the company. Instead, I find this thread is full of rude and snide sneering at people who would like to use a commonplace markup language for quickly writing notes. It really makes a bad impression to a new user.

As for the feature, Markdown support is commonplace these days, and it shouldn't take 5 years to let your community know what your plans are with this feature. This thread is currently the 5th highest voted feature request on this forum and has been around for years. Maybe it's time to let your paying customers know whats going on with this feature that a large number of users would clearly love to have? Just a little hint as to whether we'll see it or not?

Like I said, I'm pretty new to evernote and I'm not *yet* invested. But seeing this thread leaves me concerned that I should try to find to something else before that happens (which I would hate -- I really like everything else about evernote).

Specifically, I'd like to just see a markdown rendering mode for displaying markdown files. The editor would simply be a plain-text editor that markdown is typed directly into. It doesn't need to be WYSIWYG or anything fancy to have the basic functionality, just a plain text editor with a markdown renderer for viewing.

While the current rich text editor provides a lot of formatting options, one thing missing is inline code markup. For example, the markdown string

The variable `foo` is a `double`.

would use code formatting for both "foo" and "double". I have not been able to find a way to do this with evernote, but it's a basic markdown feature that I sorely miss when typing notes into Evernote.

[jefito 5,407]

23 hours ago, Owllison said:

Instead, I find this thread is full of rude and snide sneering at people who would like to use a commonplace markup language for quickly writing notes.

It's a long thread, but I think you'll also find there are many rude and snide comments directed at Evernote from folks requesting Markdown, and on the other side, some respectful, even thoughtful discussion about why fully supporting Markdown in Evernote might not be so easy at it may seem. Can't recall any feedback from Evernote staff in this one, apart from @Shane D.'s pinned post; I'd have to review it, but as I say, it's a long thread, so I won't be doing it right away. By implication, Shane's post implies "not any time soon", and their current focus is elsewhere than adding brand new big features (see https://discussion.evernote.com/forum/306-behind-the-scenes-series/), but sure, it's always good to get direct guidance on what's on their radar. It's not always been their way, however.

23 hours ago, Owllison said:

Specifically, I'd like to just see a markdown rendering mode for displaying markdown files.

The traditional Evernote way to deal with files is as attachments. Evernote doesn't handle editing, but in some cases like PDF and image files, you get a preview inside the note, at least for desktop Evernote (I use Windows). I could see something similar for markdown files being useful: you could display the rendered version in Evernote in a  box in the note, scroll up down in it, a la PDF files, but in order to edit it, you'd need to invoke a separate editor. That way, Evernote doesn't need to do any translation back and forth between Markdown and Evernote's internal ENML format, the user can see the Markdown results inside an Evernote note, and the user gets to use their favorite Markdown editor to make changes.

23 hours ago, Owllison said:

While the current rich text editor provides a lot of formatting options, one thing missing is inline code markup.

This is separate from the Markdown thingy, but it would be useful. I do use the line-based code formatting a lot, but I could use the inline version as well.  About the closest I've come is just to  format the relevant code using a monospace typeface, and let it go at that (sometimes you get that from copy/paste. This is made easier in the Windows application where you can use the F4 shortcut key to reapply the last formatting you did to the current selection (a great tip from a fellow Evernoter that I saw recently). Doesn't work on Android or on the web (I'm using the current web beta).

[DTLow 4,000]

On 2/11/2020 at 7:30 AM, Owllison said:

Specifically, I'd like to just see a markdown rendering mode for displaying markdown files. The editor would simply be a plain-text editor that markdown is typed directly into. It doesn't need to be WYSIWYG or anything fancy to have the basic functionality, just a plain text editor with a markdown renderer for viewing.

Evernote's editors currently support edit/display for enml files (basically html)

Markdown files can be stored as an note attachment file, however there is no rendering display
We have to use an external editor
- "a plain text editor" works well, I use the Textastic app on a Mac and iPad
- I also use the Typora app on a Mac

 >>a markdown rendering mode for displaying markdown files

I'd like to see inline display for markdown files

 

There's a request posted at the top of the discussion
To indicate your support, use the vote button at the top left corner of the discussion

[yaakovazat 0]

Really want this feature by the way!!!!! At leaast let us choose which editor to chose when we creating a new note in evernote, for example using the markdown editor or the current evernote editor, that may help alot of us including students, reserchers and others!@!@@@@

[DTLow 4,000]

1 hour ago, Amtriorix said:

Do you speak for Evernote, because I report your attitude.

You're posting in a user discussion forum. 
You are a user; I'm a user.

Evernote employees pop in ocassionally.  They are clearly identified in the sidebar.
 

[DTLow 4,000]

On 8/15/2018 at 5:08 AM, Amtriorix said:

Currently our team is using the editor 'Remarkable' in combo with cloud storage.

Remarkable is a Linux product, and there's editors available for other platforms.  I use Textastic on Mac and IOS.  Both of these editors support Markdown formattining, but I still prefer Evernote's native enml/html format.
I'm a fan of using external editors when I need features not available in the Evernote editor.

Evernote is my tool for cloud storage.

[DTLow 4,000]

On 2018-04-28 at 7:59 AM, ssxtrix said:

the reason people are still paying is probably because they have 1000+ notes like myself and it is a pain to migrate.

The software is free, no users are paying for it.
The majority of users subscribe to the Basic account, which is also free.

I have over 10,000 notes.  It's a 30 minute process to export my data.

>>why are you always defending this....

I'm not into "Boohoo, Evernote's so bad" posts.  I'm more interested in posts on how to make this product work better for me.

 

[DTLow 4,000]

2 hours ago, lpuerto said:

@DTLow I don't think this feature would be an incredible amount of work and a lot of people like Evernote and pay for it, and like to simplicity of markdown for formatting. 

What would be your estimate for the amount of work required; hours, $?

There is an existing 3rd party product available (Marxico)    Evernote could integrate that service into their product.

Its not a feature I use, or am willing to pay for ($16US yearly), but close to 400 users have indicated support

[DTLow 4,000]

On 2017-01-24 at 2:04 AM, darkandlong said:

I use it more than Evernote now, mainly due to Evernote's crappy text editor.

Evernote's editor definitely has a limited featureset

If you need more extensive features, I'd also recommend using a different editor, storing in Evernote.  Any document file can be attached to a note

[DTLow 4,000]

On 2016-11-16 at 1:57 PM, justincbeck said:

Yeah, I'm reaching the point where I might abandon Evernote in favor of something that DOES support markdown.

 

On 2016-11-18 at 6:29 AM, thejasonparker said:

I'm thinking the same. People have been asking for Markdown support for some time now and Evernote just simply ignore it or fob people off with 3rd party solutions that add extra work and effort. Very poor show.

If markdown support is the most important feature for you, you should be looking at another product.
If purple highlighting is the most important feature for you, you should be looking at another product.
If .... (this list could go on and on)

In addition to whining, you can add your support to the feature requests using the voting buttons in the upper left corner of the discussion.  It will help indicate the request priorities