I’ve tested a few markdown themes, but my favourite is Made of Code.

Options:

1. idleFingers.tmTheme

2. if you don’t write a lot of code and you haven’t already fallen in love with a text editor, I’m convinced you should have a look at the Mou app. Why Mou?

   • composing/previewing markdown with Mou is good fun
   • Mou’s available live preview will quickly teach you markdown syntax
   • Mou’s actions (keyboard shortcuts) automate most markdown formating for you
   • Mou’s themes are gorgeous
   • Mou is a superb example of OS X 10.7 Lion technologies nicely implemented by a very clever programmer.

>> learn about the Mou app

Related articles:

1. Mou App Evolving
2. Markdown Apps

Have you been searching for Markdown apps for iOS? Writing Kit might be exactly what you’ve been looking for.

If you have an iPhone and/or an iPad and enjoy Markdown, I’ll bet, like me, you already own the excellent app, Elements.

Q: What does Writing Kit offer that Elements, currently, does not?
A: Watch Don McAllister’s video

Markdown shortcut keys, Dropbox sync and integration with CloudApp, OmniFocus, TextExpander touch, Terminology and the Quick Research tools are my favourite Writing Kit features.

It’s worth mentioning that although I’m really enjoying using Wrtiting Kit, right now, Metaclassy the developer of Byword app, my favourite Markdown app for Mac OS, has been hinting that something iOS and iCloud related is in the pipeline. I’m betting on Byword for iPad.

When my hard drive died, having a bootable clone, immediately available, saved me days of work, restoring Mac OS and all of my apps. Time Machine and Crash Plan backups were useful, but my clone took centre stage; it had me up and running again, within minutes. All I had to do was to select my bootable clone as my new Startup Disk in System Preferences and restart.

Almost everyone will eventually experience a hard drive crash. If you haven’t had a crash already, unfortunately, the clock is ticking. Data loss can be avoided by taking a few simple precautions. I’m convinced that one of the precautions should be to create and maintain a bootable clone of your startup disk. Most people who create bootable Mac clones use either Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper. Both apps are time-tested and very trustworthy; I don’t have a single complaint about either one of them; they served me well for years. This post will highlight a lesser known, but equally impressive backup app.

When I upgraded to Lion, Mac OS X 10.7, one of my goals was to select 64-bit apps, whenever possible. I chose SmartBackup.

Q: Why SmartBackup?
A: SmartBackup:

• is 64-bit (CCC and SuperDuper are 32 bit)
• is fast
• has a very attractive UI

• will archive changed and deleted files, if that’s something you want (archived files are browse-able and can be easily restored)
• has a commandline mode
• can be automated
• is very well supported by Thomas Bauer, the developer

The best way to be certain that you have a current bootable clone, available at all times, is to automate the entire process.

Create an automated bootable SmartBackup clone:

1. install SmartBackup in your applications folder
2. launch SmartBackup in SuperUser mode (set in preferences, or for the App Store version using SuperUser launcher)

3. select the destination volume for your new backup
4. add your startup volume as the source
5. now create a LaunchDaemon plist file (downloadable example)

6. place the LaunchDaemon plist file in the /Library/LaunchDaemons folder (not /Users/username/Library/ and not /System/Library)
7. if you’re using Lion (Mac OS X 10.7.x) you’ll have to change the ownership of your LaunchDaemon plist file to root (in Terminal app, type "sudo chown root /Library/LaunchDaemons/smartbackup.plist" without the quotes and then press return)
8. restart and you’re backup will run, silently in the background, at the time you selected (you can always check when the last backup executed by launching SmartBackup).

>> download my LaunchDaemon plist as a template

Note: You’ll have to edit the backup location (I use /Volumes/FWE Backup) and start time (mine runs at 0100 hrs. (1 am) daily).

Comment: If you think this looks like a lot of work, remember, once these eight, straightforward, steps are completed, your backup will execute every day, automatically. Then, at a future date, when disaster strikes you’ll be back in action, in just minutes; after booting from your bootable clone super hero.

The StudioPress Genesis framework has quickly become the industry standard for WordPress authors and designers. Whether you’re a novice or an advanced website developer you can build incredible sites with the combination of WordPress and StudioPress Genesis. Over 60,000 online publishers have over 250,000 websites running on the Genesis Framework.

Top 2 reasons marketing professionals love StudioPress:

1. unlimited everything
2. outstanding forum support from 20+ helpful, and at least a couple of brilliant moderators

It was the “unlimited everything” that first grabbed my attention. Here’s what the StudioPress folks have written,

“Unlimited support. Unlimited updates. Unlimited websites. There’s no “Developer Option” here. One low price entitles you to unlimited support, updates, and domains.

You get unlimited support. Unlimited updates. Unlimited websites. There’s no “Developer Option” here. One low price entitles you to unlimited support, updates, and domains you can build on. If you’ve got multiple websites (or client projects), Genesis offers unparalleled value. And when you want answers to questions about your site, you want them now. That’s why we give you lifetime access to our world-class support team and forum. We’re here today and tomorrow, whenever you have a question.”

A few of the other, good, reasons to choose StudioPress Genesis:

• state-of-the-art security (security expert and core WordPress developer Mark Jaquith made certain that StudioPress Genesis had the best security possible)
• impressive SEO (by Greg Boser, partner and SVP of of search marketing powerhouse BlueGlass Interactive)
• updating to the latest version is a snap, just click the button and you’re done
• customizing your website is incredibly easy

“Child themes are the only way you should build your WordPress site on top of a framework, and Genesis has great support for child themes and other WordPress functionality.”
— Matt Mullenweg – Founder, WordPress

• turn-key designs
• multiple default layout options (examples – content/sidebar, sidebar/content, content/sidebar/sidebar, sidebar/content/sidebar, sidebar/sidebar/content, full width content)
• powerful custom widgets
• threaded comments and Gravatar integration
• ad ready
• fully internationalized

“Genesis lets me sleep easy. Knowing my blog is well optimized, secure and easy to update lets me get on with developing content, community and building a business from my blogging.”
— Darren Rowse – Founder, ProBlogger.net

“The Genesis Framework lets me focus on my business, not on design tweaks and SEO. It’s really easy to edit and adapt, and in the hands of a good designer, it really sings.”
— Chris Brogan – President, HB Works

The StudioPress Genesis team authored a terrific getting started guide they call ‘An Introductory Guide to the Genesis Design Framework’, click here to download the 44 page PDF.

>> check out StudioPress

>> Genesis Framework

StudioPress is part of Copyblogger media.

StudioPress has an affiliate marketing program that pays commissions for the sale of the Genesis Framework and themes. It’s a terrific way to pay for your chosen themes and perhaps even earn a significant profit.

Choosing a Mac To Do List Manager is tricky, simply because there are so darned many Mac OS and iOS apps to choose from.

Background: When I began the ‘university-phase’ of my life, I was ill prepared for the academic world. I was one of those fortunate/unfortunate kids who found high-school easy; the result was that I focused on sports and I never learned to study. In Pre-Med my concept of getting ready for exams was to redo my multi-coloured study plans, over and over again, as there were fewer and fewer hours remaining to study. Surprisingly, quite a few months passed before I discovered that a little less time spent planning and more time invested doing, was the key to success. I consider myself fortunate to have uncovered the essence of studying, before I reached the relatively unforgiving Med-School environment.

Does my university experience relate to choosing and using a Mac To DO List Manager? Yes, it does, I’ve used OmniFocus, Things and TaskPaper, but my task management style, or lack thereof, is best suited to TaskPaper, let me explain…

I’ve always been a fan of OmniGraffle Pro and OmniOutliner Pro, so, it shouldn’t surprise anyone to learn that my Mac To Do List Manager quest began with OmniFocus. OmniFocus can be as simple as you want it to be, but it also has considerable depth for folks who need it. I was lured away from OmniFocus by Things which is prettier than OmniFocus and quite elegant. Although Things is very impressive, when I first tested TaskPaper, I was hooked. Here’s why:

• it’s really easy to plan
• the focus is on doing/accomplishing, not on planning and GTD systems
• documents resemble plain text

• blissfully straightforward shortcuts:
  • end a word/sentence with a colon to create a project
  • start a sentence with a dash and a space and it’s a task
  • everything not recognized as a task or a project is a note
  • place @ before a word to create a tag/keyword

Are you old enough to remember Dave Winer’s brilliant outliner ThinkTank™? TaskPaper reminds me a little of ThinkTank, but of course, in today’s world, there’s an iOS version of TaskPaper that syncs with Dropbox.

TaskPaper is a Mac To Do List Manager done right. One minute and you’re a TaskPaper expert, the next, you’re getting stuff done.

My recommendation is that you begin your search for a Mac To Do List Manager by checking out @jessegrosjean’s TaskPaper.

If you’re a Mac OS user, a fan of plain text and Markdown this post may be of interest to you. Compose your email messages with Markdown without leaving your email client.

MailMate a popular, alternative, email client for Mac OS is testing Markdown in a new beta release.

If you’ve enabled Markdown in MailMate’s ‘Composer’ preferences, MailMate email messages will have two alternative body parts:

1. a plain text body part and
2. an HTML body part which is automatically generated from your Markdown within MailMate.

>> Download MailMate here

The beta can then be downloaded by holding down ⌥ (option) while selecting the “MailMate ▸ Software Update ▸ Check Now…” menu item.

Fans of HTML5 and Markdown might enjoy Dillinger. It’s a free, online option for markdown composition and preview.

>> check out Dillinger

Note: Not Mac OS specific, if you have an HTML5 capable browser, you’re good to go.

Warning: Comparing Markdown app features has been known to boggle the brain.

My Mac OS Markdown adventure began gently with the MultiMarkdown bundle for TextMate and the Made of Code theme. Life was good.

My dizziness (round and round in circles reference) began when I discovered an excellent HTML preview app called Marked – "Markdown preview for any text editor". I blame Brett Terpstra, the developer of the Marked app, for making it really easy for me to test a variety of Markdown/MultiMarkdown composers.

Mac Markdown apps I’ve played with:

• BBEdit without Marked
• Byword with and without Marked
• iA Writer + Marked
• MarkdownNote
• MarkMyWords
• Mou
• MultiMarkdown Composer + Marked
• Sublime Text + Marked

Lesson Learned

Q: What did you learn?
A: John Gruber nailed it with Markdown:

"… write using an easy-to-read, easy-to-write plain text format, then convert it to structurally valid XHTML (or HTML)."

"The idea is that a Markdown-formatted document should be publishable as-is, as plain text, without looking like it’s been marked up with tags or formatting instructions."

MultiMarkdown, created by Dr. Fletcher Penney, is a ‘superset’ of Markdown’s syntax. My gut feeling is that MultiMarkdown messes with the "easy," not-marked-up paradigm that defines Markdown.

These days, I write almost exclusively for the web and I very rarely have a need for tables, footnotes and citations. Likewise, I don’t require LaTeX, OPML or OpenDocument. Wouldn’t folks who use these features all the time be best served by an app like Ulysses?

My conclusion is that Markdown is a good fit for what I do; I rarely, if ever, need MultiMarkdown.

Preferred Mac Markdown App

Q: So, after testing quite a few Mac apps, do you have a favourite?
A: I have two and another app I’m watching closely.

Mac Markdown Favourite #1: Byword + the Marked preview app with ‘Markdown Compatibility Mode’ checked in preferences. I wish the Byword app had a Markdown only mode. Otherwise, it does exactly what I need it to do.

Mac Markdown Favourite #2: I’d love to use Mou all the time. Mou is an elegant, single window, Markdown-only app with a split screen; one pane for composition and the other for live HTML preview. It’s very easy to use. Chen Luo, the developer, is crafting a terrific Mac app. His beta:

• is a modern, 64 bit, Cocoa app that’s fun to use
• has very impressive syntax highlighting in the editor/composer pane
• features keyboard actions that make Markdown really easy
• is donation-ware (people who donate while the app is in beta will receive the final release for free).

I enjoy writing with the preview pane hidden most of the time. I use Shift + Command + I to toggle the preview window and I use Moom to reposition and resize Mou’s window quickly.

So, what is the Mou app missing, why isn’t it my #1? The big things are:

• auto formatting of list entries after pressing ‘enter’ while inside a list
• something similar to Byword’s list-shortcuts (added Mou 0.7)
• custom CSS for the HTML preview pane (added Mou 0.7).

Mac Markdown app worth watching: MultiMarkdown Composer with ‘Enable MultiMarkdown syntax and features’ unchecked in preferences + the Marked preview app

>> Byword app

>> Marked app

>> Mou app

>> MultiMarkdown Composer app

MultiMarkdown Composer is now available in the Mac App Store. When I wrote Markdown Shakedown, I suggested that the arrival of MultiMarkdown Composer would herald the beginning of a shift away from the Markdown standard toward a new MultiMarkdown era and that many people would choose Composer rather than purchase a full-featured text editor, like BBEdit, Sublime Text or TextMate. Was my postulation nothing more than bold hyperbole or could it actually happen?

Q: Is Fletcher Penney’s MultiMarkdown Composer likely to gain traction in an already crowded Markdown/MultiMarkdown application marketplace?
A: It might, but only if Doctor Penney is as determined as his competitors.

What I liked most:

• no one understands MultiMarkdown better than Fletcher Penney
• Composer is a modern 64 bit app
• selecting some text => pasting a URL => watching link syntax appear
• QuickCursor support via the ODB Editor protocol
• export and print options
• integration with Marked app preview.

See the full list of features here.

Interestingly, the ‘Syntax Highlighting as You Type’ would have seemed like a breakthrough feature had I not seen Mou‘s implementation three weeks earlier.

FYI, my favourite composers are:

• Byword – developers Jorge Pedroso, Rúben Cabaço and Bruno de Carvalho – Markdown/MultiMarkdown
• Mou – developer Chen Luo – Markdown
• Sublime Text – developer Jon Skinner – Markdown/MultiMarkdown

My ‘go to’ app combo has been Byword and the Marked app, but it’s very likely that I’ll be using MultiMarkdown Composer with Marked more and more as the days pass.

Update: I’ve had an opportunity to play with MultiMarkdown Composer today and I’ve discovered that I really miss a couple of Byword’s keyboard shortcuts:

• Bulleted List: Select text, Cmd + L
• Numeric List: Select text, Cmd + Option + L

Example: Let’s assume I have just pasted the following text into a document

BBEdit
Byword
iA Writer
Macchiato
MarkMyWords
MarkdownNote
Markdown Pro
Mou
MultiMarkdown Composer
Sublime Text
TextMate

Step 1. Select text from BBEdit up to and including TextMate
Step 2. Use shortcut ‘Command + L’

The result would be

* BEdit
* Byword
* iA Writer
* Macchiato
* MarkMyWords
* MarkdownNote
* Markdown Pro
* Mou
* MultiMarkdown Composer
* Sublime Text
* TextMate

and, similarly, shortcut ‘Command + Option + L’ would create

1. BEdit
2. Byword
3. iA Writer
4. Macchiato
5. MarkMyWords
6. MarkdownNote
7. Markdown Pro
8. Mou
9. MultiMarkdown Composer
10. Sublime Text
11. TextMate

I wasn’t able to uncover similar keyboard actions in Composer; it’s possible they’re there but I haven’t found them. I’ve sent an email to Fletcher Penney asking if they exist and, if not, requesting they be added to Composer’s Format menu.

Update: Dr. Penney replied, “… this is not a bad feature. I’ll look into adding it.”

Ends up, I also prefer Byword’s subdued syntax highlighting. If I get my keyboard shortcuts, I suppose I could always create a custom style sheet for Composer.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of John Gruber’s Markdown.

In my quest to discover my ideal Markdown composer I’ve purchased:

• BBEdit
• Byword
• iA Writer
• MarkdownNote
• Mou
• MultiMarkdown Composer (added to list 20111022)
• TextMate

and I’ve also had a look at:

• Macchiato
• MarkMyWords and
• Sublime Text.

BBEdit and TextMate are still mired in the 32 bit realm, while the rest are modern, 64 bit Mac OS X apps. My favourite 64 bit Markdown composition apps are Byword, Mou and Sublime Text. Each one of my favourites features Markdown syntax highlighting, but I prefer Bywords subdued approach (Markdown syntax is a light grey and my content is black so that it’s easy to read).

Byword app’s website subtitle is "A writing app that gives you just the tools you need to write Markdown and rich text with as little friction as possible."

Markdown syntax is simple, but Byword’s keyboard shortcuts make composing Markdown an almost magical experience. Overstated? No, not really, the shortcuts are great fun to use.

Handy Byword Keyboard Shortcuts for Markdown:

• strong/bold: select text, command + b
• emphasize/italic: select text, command + i
• link: select text, command + k
• image: select text, command + option + i
• bulleted list: select text, command + l
• numeric list: select text, command + option + l
• block quote: select text, command + ‘
• text selection (a space, a word, a sentence, a paragraph or the entire document) command + option + up arrow (repeat up arrow as necessary to extend your selection) and reduce your selection with command + option + down arrow
• reorder selection with control + command + up arrow or control + command + down arrow
• indent selection with control + command + right arrow and outdent with control + command + left arrow

Light and dark themes, large text (I use Menlo Regular 18 pt), typewriter scrolling and a full-screen focus mode make writing as easy as is possible. I actually prefer using Byword in a window, not full-screen mode, so I can easily use PTHPasteboard, TextSoap and other apps. Byword remembers a default window position and size, so it’s easy to position the window alongside the Marked app for sophisticated HTML preview. Be sure to test Byword.css with Marked (a custom stylesheet that gives Marked.app Byword’s Preview styles). And yes, of course, Byword has all the latest Mac OS X Lion goodies plus the dictionary, spelling/grammar, smart quotes, smart dashes and hyphenation. Oh, and if you happen to love QuickCursor, you’re covered.

Create An ‘Open in Marked’ Service for Byword

Follow these steps to create an ‘Open in Marked’ service for Byword. Marked is a terrific HTML preview app that works with any text editor.

Instructions:

Step One: Create an Automator Service that will run the following AppleScript snippet:

tell application "Byword"
    set theDocument to file of document of window 1
end tell
tell application "Marked"
    open theDocument
end tell

1. Open Automator.app
2. Create a new service
3. In the ‘Choose a type your document’ panel, select Service
4. In the Library column, select Utilities, then double-click Run AppleScript
5. Delete default text
6. Copy the AppleScript snippet above and paste on the right
7. At the top make it so ‘Service receives no input in Byword.app’
8. Save and call the service ‘Open in Marked’.

Check your work by launching Byword.app, then in your menu under Byword click Services and you should see ‘Open in Marked’.

Step Two: Add a keyboard shortcut for your new Service.

1. Open Byword
2. In your menu under Byword select Services
3. Select the ‘System Preferences’ menu item
4. Search for your ‘Open in Marked’ entry
5. Click in the rightmost column
6. Create your preferred shortcut (I created control + option + command + p for ‘Preview’).

Byword’s developers, Jorge Pedroso and Rúben Cabaço, have done a superb job, Byword is exactly what a Mac Markdown app should feel like.

I’ve added Byword to my list of Best Lion Apps.

If you haven’t done so already

>> click here to learn more about Byword

Related post: Choosing Markdown Software