Again in October once we began Inside.Viewwp, I discovered myself rediscovering writing. So as to write lots, it’s necessary to discover a device that helps you discover flow. Thankfully there are numerous nice distraction-free textual content editors available on the market. As we’re utilizing markdown based mostly Ghost for our weblog I chosen iA Author for its glorious markdown enabled device.
When iA launched their new Writer Pro product not too long ago promising to kind of reinvent the writing expertise, it felt like a no brainer to buy. However total, as many others have commented, it’s not all the things I’d been hoping for — particularly after watching their fairly exciting intro video. Nonetheless I actually preferred that iA had a stab at one thing totally different with their newest product. I believe it reveals numerous promise, and I’m nonetheless utilizing it, so I hope it will get higher. And sure, this publish was written in Author Professional.
Leaving apart the patent/PR points (that are a separate discussion altogether) I assumed it could be attention-grabbing to speak about how iA’s new Author Professional could possibly be improved from right here. It’s all from the consolation of the pundit’s armchair, freed from execution accountability, and accountability. With that main caveat, right here’s my opinion on how I might change the product for v2, would love to listen to what others suppose!
(1) Everlasting ‘Notes’ that may be sidebar’d in
I want that the Notes I write could be retained ultimately once I swap to Write mode. In the intervening time there’s no precise distinction besides to remind me that I ought to begin with some notes – however I already try this!
It will be cool if I may show my Notes in a aspect panel with a keyboard shortcut to make them seem/disappear whereas I’m writing. Then I may rapidly remind myself what I wished to jot down about, with out having all of them up in my precise writing (which is one thing I can already do with my outdated iA Author, or some other editor for that matter).
(2) Notes Connected to Sections
For Notes to be actually helpful they must be tied to the a part of the doc you're writing. This would want some kind of doc ‘part’ idea. So for instance you could possibly have some notes for the ‘intro’ part of an article, and when you're in Write mode see these notes solely when you're writing that a part of the article. This is able to have some UX challenges to make one thing like this really feel intuitive. Thankfully that’s iA’s specialty!
(three) Learn My Closing Draft Again to Me
The way in which I edit is to learn out loud. For an newbie author like me, I’m more likely to hear unhealthy grammar than to see it. I don’t understand how you’d do that, however it could be tremendous cool if Author Professional may learn my article/publish/no matter again to me within the Edit mode. Ideally this might be accomplished utilizing Morgan Freeman’s voice as a result of that might make all my work really feel further necessary.
(four) Allow A number of-Edits
In some unspecified time in the future most individuals get another person to edit their content material. My spouse Cyan graciously does this for me for something necessary. Usually this course of includes me handing my laptop computer to her, a complete lot of enhancing, after which me getting my laptop computer again. This works for me as a result of I belief her edits. However it could be neat if there was a method I may preserve a number of variations that I may tab between in Edit mode. Perhaps present edits and notes in a greater method that MS Phrase’s monitoring options (that are practical however slightly ugly).
(5) Add Some Horsepower
The unique iA Author was a minimalist product, whereas Author Professional is positioned as an skilled device. As such, I’d anticipate it to hold a bit extra in the best way of performance. In reality I believe that is the good alternative – there are already numerous minimalist distraction-free writers round. Right here’s a spot to distinguish. The Word and Edit modes are an incredible begin, however listed below are extra issues I’d love Author Professional to do:
- Tasks – Have you ever ever tried to jot down a guide? I wrote three utilizing Writeroom and also you rapidly find yourself with a sprawling assortment of paperwork, revisions, folders, and mess. Assist me organise and hyperlink a number of paperwork collectively, handle my outdated revisions, and maintain monitor of my undertaking.
- Prompt Public Net URL – I’d love to have the ability to hit a button and have my article publish to an account at say, author.professional/collis/post_title. This is able to immediately carry Author Professional into the sphere as a little bit of a Medium competitor.
- Dropbox integration and A number of iCloud Syncing – Simply on a sensible degree it could be good if I may cross paperwork between iCloud accounts or Dropbox accounts to assist with collaboration.
General
I suppose what all that is going to say is that the thought of a Word and Edit mode is absolutely cool. I certain hope iA builds on this and makes one thing extra formidable out of every of them for the subsequent model. And I hope they flesh out the remainder of the writing toolchain additional to create an actual professional product.
I believe there’s an incredible alternative to take the writing expertise up a notch and carve out a giant area of interest. Firms like Medium, Draft, and Quip are all having a purple scorching go. With some work, I believe iA’s Author Professional may take a good stronger swing in its subsequent incarnation.
I can’t assist feeling like iA put their status in the bathroom for just a few swirls with among the drama round this launch, which is a disgrace as they do some nice work and are good software program craftspeople. Perhaps with the subsequent model we’ll see them put that stuff behind them and get again to being identified for nice merchandise.
This text was initially printed on Inside Viewwp.
