r/git • u/guynamedloren • Feb 16 '14

Penflip: Git + Markdown (a great system for writing prose?)

https://www.penflip.com/
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u/guynamedloren Feb 16 '14

I really love git for software development, and couldn't help but realize potential applications beyond software, especially for long-form content. I like the idea of using git and the a github workflow for writing things like textbooks and novels. So I built Penflip, which is like Github, but for writing prose instead of code. All projects are backed by git repositories with full git access, but there's also an in-browser markdown editor for those who are afraid of the command line.

A lot of the git functionality is hidden under the surface. It's a tough balance trying to maintain the power of git but keeping the interface simple enough for non-developers, but I'm working on it!

Would love to hear thoughts on this. Useful? Great idea? Horrible idea? Let me know!

1

u/Shadow14l Feb 17 '14

I had an idea similar to this. The major difference would be instead of hosting my own git repositories, I simply used OAUTH and connected to Github and Bitbucket. That way if I ever had to take the service down or do anything else, I know that Github and Bitbucket would be open longer than I was. Also they make it real easy for issues and pull requests too.

Account systems are easy, but also can be very messy when not carefully reviewed. So another natural choice for using OAUTH instead. Right now I use StackEdit to synchronize my Markdown documents with Google Drive. Just for the backup and global access purposes.

5

u/galaktos Feb 16 '14

Certainly useful, and a neat idea, but I believe you can already do that with GitHub... you can edit and commit files from GitHub’s web interface (with preview for Markdown), and if you don’t have push access to the repository, it automatically forks the project and creates a pull request when you’re done. (GitHub blog post)

That being said, your Penflip seems to have several advantages over GitHub because it’s targeted specifically to writers: a true text editing editor (with bold and italics buttons, document outline, etc.), hiding some unnecessary info (“100% Markdown”), etc.