The Markdown Link no. 11

An occasional post from The Markdown Handbook.

Among today’s links are static site generators Dodeca and Makko, markdown editors MacDown, Nota, Heptabase, TablaCognita and Markjason, plus ebook creator Pinery.

• MacDown is a free, lightweight markdown editor for macOS that is very much in the Dillinger vein but for the desktop. No controls over settings, no library panel, just the file you have open in front of you. That makes it difficult to skip between notes, unless you are hyper organised.
• Pinery is a free app designed for those looking to create e-books, rather than a general note-taking application. See the formatted book come to life in real-time as you write. You can sync with iCloud or keep files local, and personalise every aspect of your book, from fonts to layout. It even imports your existing .docx manuscript if you have one already on the boil. Requires macOS 12 or newer.
• Nota has a beta version for macOS that the developers would like to share, but there’s currently a waitlist. You can use Nota for free for as long as you want, but now and then, it'll ask you to buy a licence. Currently, $49 for a personal licence, $75 per year for a business licence.
• Heptabase is a visual knowledge base built for students, researchers and lifelong learners. Use whiteboards and cards if you need those assets to clarify your thinking. Requires a credit card, even to start the trial. Tiers start at $8.99 per month. AI model trial for the first tier, not till you get to the next tier ($17.99) to get full AI access. Forget about AI for a minute and concentrate on ‘requires a credit card’. That says to me, Heptabase is trying it on, waiting for the opportunity to snag a few dollars off those who fail to cancel at the appropriate time. Not for me.
• TablaCognita. Web-based markdown editor that is billed as: “The markdown editor where you and your AI write together.” Hm, no thanks. Plus requires sign-in with Google and Microsoft. Hm, let me think, no thanks.
• Markjason bills itself as “the fastest way to read specs, edit prompts and manage configs. Built for the only human tasks in agentic coding.” That says about enough.
• Makko is a free, markdown-based, static site generator “that allows you to set up a blog in a matter of minutes”. Well, it took a lot of minutes, not a few.
• Dodeca is a markdown-based static site generator that accepts TOML frontmatter and has directory-based sections. The developer says: “If you've used Zola, [which I have and still do] you’ll feel right at home.” Similar to Zola, but no explanation of tags or how to include them, nor whether they can be included in your blog. Nor whether it includes a blog in the first place. Supports adding Mermaid and Pikchr diagrams. Useful as a page-based site creator.