I’ve decided to try out the WordPress Markdown block to draft this post. I’ve been using the Block Editor for some time now and, while it is really flexible design-wise, it is challenging to learn when stepping away from the Classic Editor. As time has gone on I’ve gotten pretty good with the Block Editor. But there was a block I had never heard of before: the Markdown block. I just had to dive in and find out more about it!
It turns out that one of the features of the Block Editor is the ability to compose posts entirely in Markdown syntax. I admit, this was something new to me since if I wanted to write something like a letter, book, blog post, or the like I would turn to Microsoft Word or Google Docs to do the deed. Word is the grand-daddy of them all and does a lot of things really well. Google does most of what Word does and is sometimes better and sometimes not so much.
Interestingly, composing in Markdown does circumvent the blockiness of the Block Editor since this entire post is composed in one block. You still have access to all the gooey goodness of the Block Editor but without any of the GUI goodness of the Block Editor!
I’ve read that typing Markdown is somehow more efficient or somehow better than typing the old fashioned way, but it’s my fourth paragraph and I’m not seeing how typing asterisks four times to get a word to bold face is more efficient than the good old fashioned Ctrl-B. I imagine that if it was something I used every day I would find it much easier to work with.
Perhaps instead of thinking of Markdown as being somehow superior to the old way of doing things (or vice versa) we could agree that it’s a different way. An acceptable way for some folks who find it less maddening than to do things another way. The old adage "different strokes for different folks" comes to mind.
If you find yourself maximizing your work by using Markdown then keep it up. In fact, I’ve thrown in a link to the Markdown quick reference for WordPress if you’re interested! As for me, I’ll probably revert back to doing things the old fashioned way — well relative to my time and experience on this blue-green ball of goodness anyway.
Note: This article reflects the opinion of the author. It may not reflect your opinion, and that's okay. Everyone is entitled to their own.