Show HN: I brought the benefits of LaTeX to non technical users

https://www.monsterwriter.app/

by WolfOliver • 4 years ago

32 17 4 years ago

Rochus2• 4 years ago

I use this one: https://www.lyx.org/; it's free.

WolfOliver8• 4 years ago

The idea of MonsterWriter is to break free of LaTeX and "only" support it as an Export mean (for PDF of LaTeX directly).

With MonsterWriter you also can export into other formats like Markdown, HTML or directly publish on a ghost blog.

Also you do not need to install LaTeX on your system. The typesetting is done on a server. For this the content is encrypted and is only processed in plaintex for the purpose of generating the PDF.

Rochus2• 4 years ago

to break free of LaTeX and "only" support it as an Export mean (for PDF of LaTeX directly)

The same with Lyx; it's even often criticised by LaTeX experts since it hides it very well and it is not particularly well suited to fiddle directly with the generated code.

lahvak• 4 years ago

Or this one: https://www.texmacs.org/; also free, no TeX required.

WolfOliver8• 4 years ago

Link is broken because of the semicolon; Did not know you do not need TeX for this one.

rschachte• 4 years ago

Doesn’t load and no SSL

RyEgswuCsn• 4 years ago

Don't trust whatever is interpreting the link: https://www.lyx.org

Cert seems to have expired two days ago.

oliverx0• 4 years ago

Congrats!! This looks really cool, will give it a shot.

WolfOliver8• 4 years ago

If you have any feedback, send me an email. Would be happy to give away a free licence for constructive ideas.

xtagon• 4 years ago

HN hug of death?

404 Not Found: Requested route ('www.monsterwriter.app') does not exist.

WolfOliver8• 4 years ago

Is resolved.

layer8• 4 years ago

Still happens.

httpsterio• 4 years ago

Interesting project! It's quite relevant to me as I'm just about to embark on my bachelor's thesis and I've been fiddling around with a few different work flows so I'm definitely going to give it a spin.

A few things I noticed when trialing.

1. Left sidebar, second icon. What's it supposed to do? I'm assuming maybe export but the button doesn't do anything. I couldn't find export at all either, so I'm not sure if it's broken on my machine or if it's a limitation of the trial.

2. The block type options (paragraph, title etc.), I'd like if the options looked more like buttons rather than just plaintext fit in a box. Just a border around the options (or optionally a background color for them) would already be very helpful.

3. Contrast. The left sidebar icons have very low contrast. The border around the blocks also could use a stronger contrast. I wouldn't actually mind seeing each block's borders at all times just to have a visual outline where one ends and the next starts.

4. I haven't tested this, but does the app support different types of citation standards? Both for the source list at the end as well as the inline references inside a text?

5. do we have any type of control of the final exported product? Can we make our own template with fonts and everything set in place or will I have to export it to LaTeX first?

WolfOliver8• 4 years ago

Yes this is supposed to be the export. What OS are you using?

Show HN: I brought the benefits of LaTeX to non technical users

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