“This is the 14th day of my participation in the August Text Challenge.
Recently a small partner in asking what to use to write articles recommended tools, today I recommend to give you a few I have been using software, most of these software can be used online, very suitable for lazy people like me 🤣.
1. The sparrow
For programmers, many will choose to use Markdown to write articles, take notes, etc. There are many note-taking software in the market that support Markdown, such as Youdao Cloud Note, Typora, Graphite Document, etc. I personally have been using a whisperer. Yuqiq is a professional cloud knowledge base produced by Alibaba, and supports titles, fonts, tables, lists, uploading pictures, tables, code snippets and other common functions.
The online address is www.yuque.com
Language finches client download (support for Mac, Windows) : www.yuque.com/install/des…
There are both Web and client versions of TypeScript, which are easy to use. Here is the Mac version of the client version of TypeScript (I recently created a TS directory 🤣) :
When using, we can create a knowledge base. The above picture is a knowledge base of my “study notes”. The knowledge base can be set to be visible to the Internet or only to be visible to ourselves. In the knowledge base we can create a directory, in the directory can create an article to write. After the creation is complete, you can quickly find the created article through the catalog.
Not only can you create blank MD documents, but you can also create documents in the following formats:
In addition to the general function of text editing, The Language Sparrow also supports the insertion of attachments, calendars, mind maps, flow charts, labels, encrypted text, etc. :
Third party services can also be inserted to enrich the article:
When writing an article, the content will be saved as a matter of fact, and will not be lost due to computer problems. In addition, you can also go back to the version at a certain point in time:
For finished articles, after publication, you can view and edit them in your browser:
We can also export finished articles in the following formats:
These are the functions I use most frequently. In addition, there are other functions such as teamwork, presentation, review, etc. I don’t use many of them personally. The Whisperer has also been updated recently and is worth using. Here is no more introduction, there is a need for small partners can try their own.
2. draw.io
A lot of times we need to draw pictures. We used processOn when we were in college, but the number of free drawings was limited and it didn’t feel very useful. When I discovered the treasure trove of draw. IO, I abandoned processOn.
Draw. IO is a free online chart editing tool that can be used to edit workflow, BPM, ORG Charts, UML, ER diagrams, Network Topology diagrams, and more.
Draw. IO for online use: app.diagrams.net/
Also supports the use of the client, Mac client version of the following interface:
Draw. IO supports switching languages, which can be used by most people:
It supports many drawing elements, allowing us to create flowcharts, UML, etc. :
When an element is selected, you can modify its style, text formatting, and graphics:
Another useful feature is that it can create new pages just like Excel, so we can draw each file without creating many files:
For completed diagrams, you can export them in a number of formats:
This year in writing graduation thesis, the requirement of picture DPI at least 300, many software is not up to this standard, and draw. IO is to support the setting of DPI, in the export – advanced inside can be set DPI:
I usually use the main function is these, there are a lot of interesting, practical functions we can explore.
3. Xmind
Xmind is also one of my favorite apps. It is mainly used for mind mapping, but it is not free. You can buy it on demand, or you know……
Mac client:
You can also see the outline of the mind map. If you want to change the content of the mind map quickly, you can change it in the outline:
It supports not only mind mapping, but also:
Xmind supports a number of template formats for each graph, and you can choose from them as required:
In addition to inserting text, you can also insert notes, stickers, markers, links, attachments, etc. :
When an element is selected, its style can be set:
If you don’t like the current canvas style, you can change it:
Xmind supports the following map formats:
I usually use the main function is these, a very good drawing mind mapping tool, recommended use.
4. CodeSandbox
When writing articles, you often need to write sample code to make the theory easier to understand. I don’t want to create a separate project to write the demo, so I can use CodeSandbox to write the demo.
CodeSandbox is an online code editor based on React that focuses on creating Web application projects. Support mainstream front-end related file editing: React, Vue, JavaScript, TypeScript, CSS, Less, Sass, Scss, HTML, etc. Support automatic code prompt.
CodeSandbox online: codesandbox.io/
We can create different types of projects:
The following page is displayed:
As you can see, it supports code hinting, as well as hinting for errors.
We can debug code online:
CodeSandbox supports login, we can log in using github or Google account, after logging in, we can see the project we created earlier, and can continue to edit.
In fact, CodeSandbox is an online IDE, perfect for lazy people like me. Each project we create is a URL link, and if you want to share it with others, you can share the link directly (this way is viewable but not editable, if you want others to collaborate on the code, you can configure it by clicking the Share button in the upper right corner).
On the left side of the editor, we can see the library dependency version of the current project and visually change its dependency version quickly:
In addition, we can also introduce external static resources:
When we finish a project, if we want to export to continue development locally, this is also fully supported:
After exporting as a ZIP file, unpack it locally and NPM install can be developed locally.
5. Figure monster
The last one is the drawing tool. For me, the pictures are mainly used for article covers, and because I’m lazy, I don’t want to make my own drawings, and I don’t want to download templates from the Internet and use Photoshop to edit them. I wish I could provide templates and edit them online to save a lot of time. And Tuoju is exactly what I need. Image Monster is an online image editing service platform, providing image template elements, users by replacing and modifying text to complete the image design.
Note: Monster is not entirely free, non-paying users can download one image per day. Since I have SVIP for life, I can use more functions. Article covers are not for everyone, so they can be used selectively.
Picture monster’s official website: 818ps.com
There are many templates supported by Monster, but I usually choose the “first picture of wechat official account” for the cover and change the size of the picture to the cover size suitable for digging gold:
After selecting the template, you can go to the workbench to create:
In the workbench we can change and adjust the fonts, pictures, ICONS and so on. You can also insert words, materials, photos, tables, etc. :
Of course, we can create a blank canvas and create our own, but I’m not a lazy person. I usually find a suitable template and change the text on it.
As for the size of the image, it can also be adjusted, it will adapt to the content according to the new size we set (some templates may not adapt very well), I usually set the cover size 1303 * 734px as recommended for the nuggets article:
For created pictures, you can export them (non-paying users can only download one per day) :
That’s all for today’s share. There are five kinds of software in total, among which Xmind and Monster are not completely free. You can choose to use them according to your actual situation, while other software are basically free to use. And four of the five apps are available online, requiring only a browser. If you think it works, give it a like!
