As a developer and tech blogger, I frequently write technical blog posts and documentation in Markdown to share knowledge with the community. VSCode has been my go-to editor for managing and crafting Markdown content efficiently, besides coding. Over time, I've discovered some VSCode extensions that have transformed my writing experience and made it faster, and more productive. In this article, I'll share my top 5 VSCode extensions for Markdown writing and explain how they can supercharge your workflow.
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Writing Markdown in VSCode
- Markdownlint by David Anson
- Markdown All in One by Yu Zhang
- Word Count by Microsoft
- :emojisense: by Matt Bierner
- CoCover - The AI Assistant for Generating Cover Images
- Summary
Writing Markdown in VSCode
Introduced in 2004, Markdown is a lightweight markup language with plain text formatting syntax. It's widely used for drafting and writing documentation, such as README files. Personally, I find writing and storing my articles as Markdown files for my website a much more convenient approach, especially in VSCode , compared to using standard WYSIWYG editors. It helps me stay focused and manage my content more efficiently.
VSCode, a free and popular IDE (or code editor), provides excellent built-in support for Markdown editing, including syntax highlighting and preview features, such as a full preview with Shift + Ctrl/Cmd + V or a side-by-side preview with Ctrl/Cmd + K + V.
Beyond these basic features, you can enhance your Markdown editing experience with extensions. Here are five VSCode extensions that have significantly improved my Markdown writing workflow:
Markdownlint by David Anson
Markdownlint is the first extension I installed when working with Markdown files. It keeps my Markdown clean and consistent by flagging common syntax issues such as missing spaces, trailing spaces, and inconsistent indentation.
Markdown All in One by Yu Zhang
Markdown All in One is a powerful extension that offers a collection of features to streamline Markdown editing. It includes shortcuts for common syntax elements like headers, lists, and tables, along with keyboard shortcuts for toggling bold, italics, and code formatting.
One of my favorite features is its Table of Contents (TOC) generator, which automatically updates the TOC based on the headings in your file. This is particularly useful in helping readers navigate lengthy documents.
It also offers list-editing features for reorganizing content quickly, as well as handy tools like toggling code spans and automatic table formatting. These features make long-form document editing much more efficient and enjoyable.
Word Count by Microsoft
Word Count is a simple yet essential extension that shows the total word count of your current document in the status bar. It's perfect for tracking article length and ensuring your posts meet the word count requirements.
Once installed, you'll find the word count displayed in the bottom status bar, updating in real-time as you type.
:emojisense: by Matt Bierner
:emojisense: is a fun and practical extension for adding emojis to your Markdown files. It provides an inline, searchable emoji picker that makes finding and inserting emojis super easy.
To use the extension, we type : followed by the emoji name or keyword. The extension will display matching emojis for quick insertion. 💡
CoCover - The AI Assistant for Generating Cover Images
Last but not least, CoCover is an AI-powered extension I developed for generating beautiful cover images directly in VSCode. It uses GitHub Copilot and OpenAI's DALL-E to create covers based on your article's title and content.
With CoCover, you can generate blog covers, upload them to Cloudinary, or save them locally—all without leaving VSCode. It's a fantastic tool for streamlining your content creation workflow while making your articles visually appealing.
Summary
These are my top five VSCode extensions for Markdown writing. They've helped me streamline my workflow, minimize context switching, and create better Markdown-based content.
What about you? What are your favorite VSCode extensions for Markdown writing? I'd love to hear your recommendations and suggestions! 😄
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