Markdown Scripts for MarsEdit

I've created a few AppleScripts for MarsEdit to simplify the process of using Markdown to post to any weblog (like, say, Blogger) that doesn't natively support it.

Translate Markdown to HTML

This script takes text written in Markdown syntax and translates it into HTML. Extraneous line breaks are eliminated, because many blog hosts like to translate them into <br /> tags.

This works particularly well because MarsEdit has native support for previewing content written in Markdown. I normally use the Markdown preview mode while composing a post, then convert it to HTML just before posting.

But wait, you say: what if you need to edit a post?

No problem, says me. Then you use the other script.

Translate HTML to Markdown

This script uses Aaron Swartz's html2text to translate the post from HTML back into Markdown. It works on any HTML post, not just ones that you've created with the other script. Then you're free to edit the post, convert it back to HTML, and repost it.

Updated: Now with Unicode support

Update, Oct 4 2007: MarsEdit's author, Daniel Jalkut, alerted me to the fact that these scripts had problems with non-Roman text and offered a fix. Sure enough, I'd forgotten that AppleScript needs special care to do the right thing and handle text files as UTF-8. I've updated them appropriately.

Get them now!

Interested? Download the scripts now!

MarsEdit Markdown Scripts