/markdown-preview-for-google-docs

Markdown previewer add-on for Google Docs.

Primary LanguageHTMLApache License 2.0Apache-2.0

Markdown Previewer for Google Docs

This tool is a markdown previewer add-on for Google Docs. It displays the preview of the rendered markdown in the sidebar of a Google Doc.

Features

  1. Live github flavored markdown while editing a Google Doc with others.
  2. Clicking on the sidebar/rendered markdown will shift/scroll the Google Doc to the same location.
  3. TODO: Clicking on the Google Doc will scroll the sidebar to the same location. (Make this optional.)

Motivation

In my Operating Systems class (CS162), we worked in groups of 4 and had to write a design document in github markdown format of how we would approach the project of building a portion of the OS. As a group we needed to work collaboratively and so a shared Google Document came to mind as that is what most college students gravitate towards. Unfortunately Google Docs doesn't have a markdown preview so we were just writing in plain markdown.

There a few other options to markdown.

  1. When I'm working by myself and I'm editting a README such as this, I work in Visual Studio and use a plugin for a live markdown preview.
  2. For a web browser based approach, I use stackedit which provides some Google Drive support but does not provide for live editing.
  3. Some other student found hackmd which is a collaborative markdown editor but doesn't have many of the features that Google Docs has such as comments.

For that reason, I built this add-on so I could use the tools that Google Docs provide (namely comments and being collaborative) while being able to view the markdown preview while I type.

Screenshots

  • A typical workflow.

screenshot

  • A helper window to display Github flavored markdown syntax.

screenshot

Resources