Apps for May

I have come across three applications in the last week which I should note down before I forget them. In fact I already have forgotten the third.

I will add it later.

1. Zettlr

Although it has no mobile apps Zettlr looks as though it could be the markdown app I have searched for. I recently attempted to switch to Libre Office, but it forces me back into Word to deal with some of the issues in documents people have shared with me. Perhaps the answer lies not in using an alleged alternative, but using something different that will import and export to Word, leaving me to work in markdown (which, by now, has become my preferred way of working).

Like Libre Office, Zettlr operates as open source. It has a wide range of import and export features. It will work with any document from anywhere, by which I mean it does not impose a directory structure on you. It features LaTex and pandoc if you want them.

2. Jekyll

Written by one of the founders of Github, this will “transform your plain text into static websites and blogs”. Built in Ruby, Jekyll

Jekyll is a static site generator. It takes text written in your favorite markup language and uses layouts to create a static website. You can tweak the site’s look and feel, URLs, the data displayed on the page, and more.

I have added this here, not because I recommend it, but because I intend to try it when I have some time and see just how I might use it.

And while writing that, I remembered the third app I intended to post something about. Let’s refer to it as Fontbase.

3. Fontbase

Fontbase “is built for designers, by designers. We understand what you need and deliver a set of great features to help you find the right font”.

It offers a font manager that lets you swap fonts in and out of the system at will; collections that let you swap groups of fonts in and out; and a live link to Google fonts to let you browse and download them without leaving the app.

I have organised the fonts I use and so far it works well.