Contents:
I get it.
You've got a Markdown file to write or read and you don't particularly want to begin by studying a manual.
So, here are the things worth knowing before you dive in:
AccessiMD is a Markdown editor designed to make writing and navigating Markdown pleasantly straightforward.
You can work directly with Markdown source when you want to edit it, then switch to Reader Mode when you want a cleaner representation of the document and quick movement through its structure.
It includes document tabs, tables, bookmarks, filtered searching, an outline, document statistics, spell checking and automatic recovery of unsaved work.
Markdown is plain text with a small amount of punctuation used to describe structure and formatting.
For example, a line beginning with a hash sign can be a heading, text surrounded by two asterisks is bold, and lines beginning with a dash can form a bullet list.
Because the underlying document is still ordinary text, Markdown files are small, portable and useful in many different programs and websites.
Each major part of AccessiMD has its own section. If you forget how to use tables, Reader Mode or bookmarks, you can jump straight to that section rather than reading the entire guide again.
The Keystrokes section near the end is intended as a quick reference once you know your way around.
Press Control+N or choose New tab from the File menu.
A new untitled document opens in its own tab. Type normally, then press Control+S when you are ready to give the document a filename.
Press Control+O or choose Open from the File menu.
AccessiMD opens Markdown and ordinary text files. You can also launch AccessiMD with a Markdown file from Windows, including by associating Markdown files with AccessiMD.
Each open document has its own tab.
Press Control+Tab for the next tab and Control+Shift+Tab for the previous tab. Control+W closes the current tab.
If a document contains unsaved changes, AccessiMD marks it as modified and asks before discarding those changes when necessary.
Control+S saves the current document. Control+Shift+S opens Save As so you can choose a different filename or location.
Markdown files normally use the .md or .markdown extension.
Edit Mode is the normal text-editing view. It shows the actual Markdown source, so you are always in control of what is stored in the file.
You can type Markdown yourself or use the Insert menu and shortcuts to create common structures.
Press Control+1 through Control+6 to insert a heading at the corresponding level.
Level 1 is normally the main title of a document, with lower levels used for sections beneath it.
Press Control+L to create a bullet list or Control+Shift+L to create a numbered list.
Enter one item per line in the list dialog. Nested list levels use two spaces of indentation for each level.
Reader Mode displays different bullet symbols at successive nesting levels so nested lists are easier to distinguish.
Control+K opens the link dialog. Enter the text people should see and the destination URL.
Control+Q creates a block quote. Code blocks are available from the Insert menu.
Control+Z undoes your most recent editing action and Control+Y redoes it.
Press Control+E to switch between Edit Mode and Reader Mode.
Reader Mode presents the document without most Markdown punctuation and recognises document structures such as headings, lists, links, tables, quotes and code blocks.
It is read-only, so you cannot accidentally change the document while browsing it. Press Control+E again whenever you want to edit.
The Options menu lets you decide whether Reader Mode includes heading-level wording, bold and italic wording, and list wording.
Control+R reads the current item and Control+Shift+R reads the whole document.
The following navigation commands are available in Reader Mode:
Choose Table from the Insert menu.
First choose the number of rows and columns. AccessiMD then opens a grid where you can fill in the cells. The first row is the table header.
When you confirm the dialog, AccessiMD writes the corresponding Markdown table into your document.
Place the cursor in a table and press Control+Alt+T, or choose Open current table in grid from the Edit menu.
The table opens as a grid, which is often much easier than editing pipes and separator characters by hand.
The table context menu also contains commands for inserting and deleting rows and columns.
When you are in a table, Enter moves forward through table cells and Shift+Enter moves backwards.
Alt+Left and Alt+Right move between columns. Alt+Up and Alt+Down move between rows.
The insertion point follows the active cell as you move.
Press Control+F to search the current document.
You can search all text or restrict the search to particular kinds of content, including headings, links, lists, tables, block quotes, code blocks, bold text and italic text.
Press F3 for the next result and Shift+F3 for the previous result.
Press Control+F7 to open the document outline.
The outline gives you a structured list of headings and other recognised document objects. Choose an item and press Enter to jump to it.
Bookmarks let you mark useful places in the current document and return to them later.
Press Control+B to add a bookmark at the current position. Press Control+Shift+B to open the bookmark list, where you can jump to or delete saved bookmarks.
Press F7 to run the spell checker.
AccessiMD uses Aspell for spell checking. If Aspell is available, misspelled words are presented with suggestions and options to replace, replace all, ignore or add the word.
The Options menu contains commands for choosing the spell-check language, selecting the Aspell executable and installing a dictionary archive.
AccessiMD periodically stores recovery information for documents with unsaved changes.
If the program or computer is interrupted unexpectedly, AccessiMD checks for recovery data the next time it starts and asks whether you want to restore it.
Recovery data is separate from the Markdown file itself and is removed when it is no longer needed.
AccessiMD remembers your open documents between sessions. When you start it again, it can restore the documents you were working with.
This is intended as a convenience and does not replace saving important documents normally with Control+S.
The Options menu contains switches controlling how Reader Mode presents headings, formatting and lists.
Try the combinations and keep whichever presentation you prefer.
Choose Working directory from the Edit menu to select the folder AccessiMD should use as its normal starting location for opening and saving files.
Press Control+Shift+W to view the current document's word count, character counts and line count.
AccessiMD works primarily with Markdown and text documents.
It can also open supported web URLs supplied to it, including ordinary HTTP and HTTPS addresses and raw Markdown from GitHub or Gist links where supported.
In Reader Mode, press Enter on a recognised link to open it with the appropriate application. AccessiMD limits launched link types to HTTP, HTTPS and mail links.
Reader Mode interprets Markdown rather than showing every punctuation character. Press Control+E to return to the source and inspect the exact Markdown.
Markdown has many extensions and dialects, so unusual syntax may not always be interpreted in the same way as another Markdown program.
Spell checking depends on Aspell. You can configure its executable and dictionaries from the Options menu. This does not affect ordinary editing, Reader Mode, tables or other document features.
On the next launch, check the recovery prompt carefully. If recovery information exists, AccessiMD will offer to restore it.
Recovery is a safety net rather than a replacement for saving important work regularly.
Check that the address is an HTTP or HTTPS URL and that your internet connection is working. Some websites do not expose their content as Markdown and may not be suitable for opening directly in AccessiMD.
AccessiMD is a Nathan Tech product.
For information, feedback and support, visit the Nathan Tech website:
https://nathantech.net
AccessiMD 1.0.
Copyright © Nathan Tech. All rights reserved.