The Viewing Markdown documents section (around lines 448-456) lists some dated or niche options for previewing Markdown files. It should be refreshed to reflect current best practices.
Current list
- Notepad++ Markdown Panel plugin (Windows-only, niche)
- Markdown Live Preview (web tool)
- Google Colab Text cells (stretch — it's a notebook tool)
Suggested updates
Lead with:
- VS Code — built-in Markdown preview (
Ctrl+Shift+V for side-by-side, or Ctrl+K V). Free, cross-platform, no plugin required. The dominant editor in 2026.
Also worth including:
- GitHub / GitLab / Codeberg — render
README.md automatically on the repo page (already mentioned later in the episode; worth cross-referencing here).
- Obsidian / Typora / MarkText — WYSIWYG-style editors popular with researchers.
grip — renders Markdown locally using GitHub's API, so the preview matches what GitHub will display. Useful specifically for READMEs.- Pandoc — for converting Markdown to HTML/PDF for sharing.
Drop or demote:
- Notepad++ plugin (Windows-only, niche in 2026)
- Google Colab (not really a Markdown preview tool)
- Markdown Live Preview — keep as a secondary "no install" fallback
Acceptance criteria
The Viewing Markdown documents section (around lines 448-456) lists some dated or niche options for previewing Markdown files. It should be refreshed to reflect current best practices.
Current list
Suggested updates
Lead with:
Ctrl+Shift+Vfor side-by-side, orCtrl+K V). Free, cross-platform, no plugin required. The dominant editor in 2026.Also worth including:
README.mdautomatically on the repo page (already mentioned later in the episode; worth cross-referencing here).grip— renders Markdown locally using GitHub's API, so the preview matches what GitHub will display. Useful specifically for READMEs.Drop or demote:
Acceptance criteria
gripadded for GitHub-accurate local previews