Publishers of technology books, eBooks, and videos for creative people

Home > Articles > Design > Voices That Matter

This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Converting plain text to HTML

Practically every plain text markup language has a way to convert structured text into HTML. In fact, Markdown might be one of the most complex, because there are so many different versions of Markdown itself. (These versions are often called flavors. Don’t ask me why—hungry techies, perhaps.)

The original Markdown lacks an equivalent for every single element available in HTML. This is actually a strong point: it contains equivalents for the most commonly used text elements, and lets you use plain HTML when needed. In that sense, Markdown is not a language of its own; it’s a front end for HTML.

This means that if you want tables, you can enter them in HTML and that’s a totally legal Markdown document.

But this makes Markdown just that much more difficult for nontechnical people (perhaps even your clients) who’ll be preparing the documents for this step in the workflow. As I was developing this particular workflow, I toyed with the idea of using a more “complete” text markup language, but I was already so familiar with Markdown from use in email and other applications that I wasn’t too keen on switching. Luckily for me, as I mentioned, there are several different implementations of Markdown.2

I chose an implementation called Pandoc.3 Pandoc supports the original Markdown and offers extremely useful optional extensions, such as definition lists, numbered example lists, tables, and more. Pandoc can convert to and from a bunch of file formats, which is wonderful and has so many uses beyond web design workflow.

This will be the first of several instances in this workflow when you’ll be typing things into the command line. In case you’re not familiar with the command line, you’ll most likely be using the Terminal application on OS X or Cygwin on Windows. If you use Linux, there’s a good chance you’ve already used your terminal application at some point.

Using the command line

The command line interface (CLI) provides a simple means of interacting with your computer. Its design is actually quite elegant: on the screen there’s a prompt, at which you can tell the computer what you want it to do, and it will do what you ask (Figure 4.2). If it doesn’t understand your command, it will tell you so.

Figure 4.2

Figure 4.2. The command line interface is sparse; you have to tell it what to do.

People like to bring up the potential drawbacks of the CLI: yes, there are commands that will erase your entire hard disk or a portion thereof. Just don’t type those commands. In the graphical interface of your computer you wouldn’t willingly select all your folders, move them to the trash, and then empty the trash.

The argument is that it’s easier to do something stupid like that in the command line. And arguably it is. In fact, many things are easier to do in the command line, not just stupid things. Commands aren’t difficult, though some of them can be difficult to remember. But practice helps with memorization, just as it does when you need to remember which submenu item to choose in a graphical interface.

So don’t be afraid. The command line is a very useful tool, just as graphical applications can be. And as with any computer interface, you need to think about what you’re doing. Just remember that the command line does what you tell it to, nothing more, nothing less. Don’t tell it to do stupid things and it won’t.

The beauty of the command line is that you don’t need to know everything about it. It helps to know some basic commands—such as those allowing you to navigate around your system and create, copy, move, and delete files and folders—but mostly what you’ll need to know are the commands specific to the software you’re using.

If you’re skeptical, consider Adobe Photoshop (Figure 4.3). Photoshop—which this workflow deems unnecessary for creating design mockups for the web—is one of the most complex and sophisticated pieces of software available to consumers today. There are hundreds of books on how to use Photoshop, as well as whole books that cover only a specific functionality. If you’re a designer, you’ve most likely used Photoshop. So there you are, proficient in this really advanced piece of software, but worried about the command line. Believe me, you are absolutely smart enough to learn commands in the command line. And someday when you discover more command line tools and are able to do things like resize fifty images in about three seconds, you’ll feel the power that your developer friends do. If you’re a developer and reading this, yes, go ahead and gloat.

Figure 4.3

Figure 4.3. Graphical interfaces like Photoshop’s provide buttons and other inputs to let you tell it what to do. While visual, they’re not necessarily simpler than the command line.

I recommend that you consult a resource like Zed Shaw’s CLI Crash Course to become familiar with the command line. The online version is free, easy to follow, and you really will learn all the basics.4

That said, there are few commands you should know now: pwd, cd, and ls. Go on, open up your terminal application. This puts you in a shell. On OS X, the system I currently work with, the standard shell is called Bash.5

As a web worker, you’ve very likely seen a terminal before, but if you’re not familiar, that little blurb of text you see to the left of the cursor is called a prompt. It’s customizable, and it tends to look different depending on both the system and the user. It may or may not tell you information about the system or the folder you’re in. No matter. You type commands at the point where the cursor is. Type one now: pwd. You’ll see something like this:

$ pwd

Now press the Return key. The CLI returns a path. Just like paths on a web server, this is a path of folders on your computer. The path you see leads from the root folder of your computer to the folder you’re currently in. pwd means print working directory. The command tells the computer to print the working directory, which is the folder you’re currently working in. This is useful because, in contrast to your system’s graphical interface, you don’t always have a visual clue of where you are when you’re in the command line. This is what I get when I execute pwd:

$ pwd
/Users/stephenhay
$

Yours will be different, unless your name is Stephen Hay (in which case, nice name!). No problem; now you know where you are. Let’s see what’s in this folder. We can list the files in the current folder with ls:

$ ls
Applications   Documents      Library        Movies
Pictures       Desktop        Downloads      Mail
Music          Public
$

Your results might be shown differently, depending on how many files you have and the width of your terminal window.

You’ll also want to change your directory, which you can do with cd:

$ cd Applications
$

This puts me in the Applications folder. You might not have the same folder; just enter the same command in one of your own folders.

My own prompt contains information about where I am (it actually contains the name of the folder I’m in), but I’ve customized it to do so. You needn’t worry about that at this point. As you become more comfortable with the command line, you can learn how to customize your environment.6

So moving down is easy: just type ls, note the directory you’d like to move to, and cd to that directory. Also note that many shells let you use the tab key for completion. This means that instead of typing the full word Applications in the previous example, I could type an A or Ap followed by the Tab key, which would complete the word for me. When the completion matches several words, these will be shown and you’ll need to add one or more letters accordingly before pressing Tab again. This is a huge time-saver:

$ cd A [press Tab key]
$ cd Applications [press Return key]
$

Now you know how to move down a directory. Moving up is easier. A single dot is the symbol for the current directory, and two dots is the symbol for the parent directory. Moving up a directory is done thus:

$ cd ..

followed by pressing the Return key. Moving up two directories would entail:

$ cd ../..

and so forth.

That’s enough to get you started. If you have no previous CLI experience, try these commands out for a while. You can’t do anything bad to your system, because these commands don’t alter anything.

Converting to HTML

The first step in using a command line tool—unless it comes with your system—is to install it. I’m assuming Pandoc doesn’t come with your system, so you’ll need to install it if you’re planning to follow along in the book. On Linux, you might find it and be able install it via your package manager. For OS X or Windows, there are install packages available.7 Go ahead and install Pandoc (or your preferred plain text converter) and then come back.

Once you’ve installed Pandoc, use cd to navigate to the folder that contains your Markdown document. Then type the following command:

$ pandoc index.markdown -o index.html

This says, “run Pandoc on the file index.markdown, convert it to HTML, and save the output of this command as index.html.” If you run ls, you should see that index.html has been created (Figure 4.4). Open this file in a web browser. Your structured content is now HTML. And it works on practically every device.

Figure 4.4

Figure 4.4. Using a command line tool like Pandoc, it takes only a second to turn plain-text markup into a basic HTML page. This can be a huge time-saver.

It just doesn’t look very pretty yet, so let’s do something about that. In the following chapter, we’ll start thinking about the more visual aspects of the design process, using this content as a base.

Peachpit Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from Peachpit and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about Peachpit products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites; develop new products and services; conduct educational research; and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email ask@peachpit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by Adobe Press. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.peachpit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020