This is a request for the CMS to fully support all the markdown that Apple Notes will able to support when it is updated to the iOS27 version. Apple Notes is becoming a convenient tool in my toolbox. With the addition of copy and paste of markdown docs it becomes an even bigger asset.
As long as the new Notes app supports the standard Markdown syntax, it should be supported in the Elements CMS.
@ben Hello Ben, Is there a specific subset of markdown that the CMS is sticking with? I want to make sure the pages I am making now are going to be completely compliant. Do you have a table or link to a page that can serve as a guideline? Thank you!
have fun
@Pegasus Thank you.
@dan The existing Apple Notes app supports more than the basic markdown. The Elements CMS documentation points to this Cheatsheet.
Just to clarify,
@ben Does this mean there are plans to extend support in Elements CMS or is markdown support in the CMS feature complete? Not pushing, just setting up my own guardrails. -Thanks.
I probably use Markdown in the CMS quite extensively. As far as I can tell, almost the entire Markdown syntax is available in the Elements CMS.
One thing that does not work, but is already known, is that table syntax in Markdown is not supported. This is because tables are not part of the official Markdown syntax.
hmm. Tables are in the extended markdown list that the linked page referred to by the CMS support page. Is there an official p[age you are referring to?
No, tables are not part of the original Markdown standard developed by John Gruber in 2004. However, today they are supported by almost all modern Markdown systems and editors, such as GitHub, Notion, or VS Code, as an official extension — most commonly through GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM).
The problem here is who actually is defining “Markdown.” Markdown was Jon Gruber’s original idea, but as both he and others (e.g. CommonMark Spec) have pointed out, there is a great deal of ambiguity in his original simple definitions, and a lot of things people want to do (e.g. indenting with lists, essentially outlining) simply aren’t possible.
Realmac is still in denial about Markdown. I’ve encountered several ambiguities that can be frustrating and, of course, by simply implementing the original Gruber idea, limiting, as well.
What we really need is something like Markdown Extra, which supports:
- Tables
- Fenced Code Blocks
- Footnotes
- Heading IDs
- Definition Lists
- Strikethrough
- Task Lists
- Emoji
- Highlight
- Subscript
- Superscript
- Automatic URL Linking
- Disabling Automatic URL Linking
This would allow us to use the CMS for true articles and documentation, and not just simple blogs.
Well that would certainly be nice to have. But I am simply trying to define the parameters. If it not going to happen in the CMS then I need to either find another way to build in the CMS or simply not use it and stick with an Elements native page. I am just searching for understanding, not trying to stir anything up.
The initial response from Dan doesn’t align with what I thought I knew. And, as you stated, the question is “by who‘s definition are we playing with?”
Well, in theory, we’re playing by Realmac’s definition of Markdown. But as I noted, there are some issues with that. For instance, how extra lines are or are not dealt with. That was one of the ambiguities in the original Markdown definition Gruber supplied.
We can live with “works as currently defined,” but that’s limiting for a product that actually tries to break us out of design limits. I know Realmac can’t do everything at once, but I believe we need some acknowledgment that the Elements Markdown is a minimal in a system that tries to be maximal, and that will get addressed at some point.