File Format: Plain Text option
I made heavy use of voodoopad over a decade ago. At the time, there was an option for individual pages to be stored and accessible as standalone .txt files, allowing for browsing outside the app, and opening in other apps.
Gus explained it here:
http://gusmueller.com/blog/archives/2007/05/voodoopad_s_file_format.html
I can't seem to find that option in Voodoopad 5. I'm looking for a personal wiki on the Mac that can do this. The options are fairly limited.
Am I missing something?
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1 Posted by Sarah on 20 Aug, 2018 01:17 PM
Hi Jeff,
It does not look like there is an option to automatically store pages as .txt files in VoodooPad 5. There is still an option to manually export into .txt files by going to File > Export Document > Export As Text. This option exports each page to individual .txt files, so I would recommend exporting them to a specific folder if you choose to do so. If you didn't know this already, you can also make Plain Text your default page type in the Info Palette under Documents > New Page Format.
We do have a VoodooPad 6 Wishlist thread going, if you would like to add to that: http://support.primatelabs.com/discussions/voodoopad/9498-voodoopad...
2 Posted by Jeffrey Long on 20 Aug, 2018 03:36 PM
Hi Sarah. Thank you for replying.
My purpose for the file storage being in individual plain text files is for
them to be available to any text alllication at any time, including
voodoopad. Use case. I write something in my wiki in markdown, decide I’d
like to work on it in another editor. Open byword. Open the file. Edit
there. Go back to voodoopad, and see the file edited there. That’s
different than exporting because you’d have to round trip. Export. Edit.
Re-import.
This is my workflow. Everything is a text file in a Dropbox folder,
accessible by any text editor on any device.
Voodoopad will have to be capable of this for me to use it. I would *love*
it to be. I don’t think the older versions that supported it still work in
high Sierra. And I’ve tried to find a different app to do it, and can’t
seem to. Tiddlywiki keeps everything in an html file, which is a step in
the right direction because it is plain text.
Thank you for your time.
~ Jeff.
3 Posted by Darin on 22 Aug, 2018 01:00 PM
@Jeff
I think the functionality that you describe is still in VoodooPad, and in roughly the same place, the "Document" tab in the "Info" palette (see screenshot, which highlights the pop-up menu/drop-down list of page types).
But, as Gus pointed out in the post you linked to, the file names are not immediately clear to the user (Gus gestured to why in link you posted).
So although VoodooPad still allows you to create and store pages as plain text files (and convert individual pages from RTF to plain text and back), it doesn't append the .txt to the file name nor does it name that file in a way that makes it easy to identify (at least not for the user). This makes the round trip editing you describe a bit tedious.
@Sarah
This feature of VoodooPad is difficult to find in the online documentation because the page that describes the Info palette is a bit wonky (tables didn't render correctly in HTML?): https://www.voodoopad.com/documentation/info-palette/
(a number of other pages are similarly afflicted, some of which still refer to Plausible Labs).
4 Posted by Jeffrey Long on 22 Aug, 2018 07:18 PM
@Darin
Thanks for the help. I see it now.
Where are the text files kept?
Would it be crazy difficult to implement naming the text file by the title
of the page?
Btw… It’s crazy to see how muscle memory works. I practically lived in
voodoo pad years ago. So I can already get around really quick. nvAlt
replaced my workflow. But I’ve really missed wiki functionality. My brain
seems to work better that way. But it’s trading one modality for another if
I can’t have easy access to the text files and them named according the
page title.
I appreciate your time.
~ Jeff
5 Posted by Darin on 22 Aug, 2018 07:48 PM
Hi Jeff,
The text files are in a file structure inside the .vpdoc container (ctrl + click on the file to get the contextual menu and choose "Show Package Contents").
As for naming the files the page title, I expect there are lots of potential problems/difficulties (Gus points to the difficulty of rendering unicode characters, and while that problem might not pose the same difficulties now, I can image other difficulties).
Like you, I drifted to nvAlt for a bit, and then returned to VoodooPad. I run two copies of VoodooPad—one on my laptop and one on my desktop. I store all my files in a local folder that I sync between machines (using Resilio sync these days, so I avoid DropBox or Box). If I need to open a file in a different editor, I use the "Edit in" command in the Edit menu from within VoodooPad or use Spotlight to search for some unique content in the page and then open the file from the Finder (see the screenshot below showing a Spotlight search turning up the page in the VoodooPad document). For this to work, be sure to check the "Make document searchable from Spotlight" in the Info palette (see above screenshot).
Not perfect, but does what I need to do.
All the best,
Darin
6 Posted by Jeffrey Long on 23 Aug, 2018 11:51 PM
Hi Darin.
Thousand pardons if this is winding up on the forum and is without use to others. I’m trying to understand your forum.
I have tried to search for “font color link,” so I can see if I can make the color of a link blue.
However, whenever I do that, all the results are geek bench. I tested to see if I could bring up something re: voodoo pad, so I used “voodoopad” as a search term, and it brought up no results, even though I can see the “Voodoopad 6 wishlist” is one of the top forum topics.
So.
Question #1: How do I search the forum?
Question #2: Where do I find the setting that will let me change the color of the link text, so that wikilinks stand out with a different color, likely the net standard of blue.
Thanks. I’m enjoying getting to know it again. Likely going to purchase it.
~ Jeff
7 Posted by Darin on 24 Aug, 2018 12:14 AM
Hi Jeff,
I can help with the link color (if I understand your question correctly). I'll let somebody from Primate help with searching the forums.
You can set the link color in the "Appearance" tab of the preferences pane. See attached screenshot. I've got mine set to a dark grey and a grey-blue. But you can choose what you like here.
Best,
Darin