Hi HN,
Since 2019, I’ve been working on a writing platform designed for creating complex documents (e.g., theses). I personally use it for everything as it also allows to classify documents in categories so you can organize them efficiently. As of a few months ago, the app is also available in the browser, and you can now invite coworkers to collaborate on a document in real time.
The app is somewhat inspired by LyX. It offers an intuitive, modern editor, but users don’t need to know any LaTeX. When it’s time to export, they can choose from a range of templates (IEEE paper, thesis, etc.).
A few highlights:
- It uses a custom-built block editor that performs well with large documents. Each block is its own contenteditable element (instead of having one massive contenteditable for the whole document)
- If you prefer plain text - you can insert a Markdown block and write using Markdown instead
- Built-in citation management
- Support for cross-references and footnotes
- Mermaid diagrams, inline LaTeX equations, and display math are all supported
- "To-do" sections help you stay organized while writing
You can try it out here: https://www.monsterwriter.com/
Any comparison to Typst?
Looks good! Did you build your own text editor? The markup doesn't look familiar. (Would recommend grabbing one off-the-shelf that handles cross-paragraph selections and concurrent edits, will save you a world of pain)
Looks nice and clean. Good work.
not a huge fan of the name - what about something like idk Tenet or Glossom or Meridian (just off the top of my head)
Is this actually a one time purchase or are you doing the "Actually if you read the small print I actually mean until I reach version 2.0, then you have to pay again" approach?
The application looks nice but…
Why do all these Notion “replacements” seem to think Notion is just an MD editor and note taker. It seems the unique position of notion is the ability to integrate databases into documents much less within each other. That’s the feature most of these replacements are missing.
Honestly if Notion would offer a self hosted version for companies, that would be a killer feature. Until then, I’m waiting until a feature for feature open source replacement appears.
Looks cool, though it sadly isn't the open-source notion/obsidian competitor I've been waiting for.
Also, your images and carousel element don't look right on android Firefox
I started a PhD in 2020 and I know exactly why you created this app because I tried like half a dozen different tools that didn’t fit. I needed a workflow to
1. collect and prioritize relevant research papers
2. make notes and synthesize ideas across my reading
3. use the notes to assemble draft of original writing
4. seamlessly move my own writings into LaTeX documents along with citation details
and ended up in Obsidian where I basically had to build my own tool anyway. Which I never did, because I just wanted to focus on research without fooling around with tools.
My biggest gripe with Notion is that it doesn't work offline. Would you addres this?