Suggestion - Clarify what is now a plugin

Features
1

There appears to be some potential confusion for new users over the term "plugin". This is now used for two different things; the markdown extensions built into Joplin and the new plugin system.

The suggestion is that at some point:

  • the text on the Tools > Options > Markdown page in Joplin (see picture below) replaces "plugin(s)" with "extension(s)" or something similar.
  • the text on the Joplin site (https://joplinapp.org/markdown/#plugins) is similarly edited as it talks about plugins but if the user then goes to the Plugins settings page in Joplin they are presented with options for something totally different.

plugin_text

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2

That makes sense, however "extension" for me is a synonym for "plugin" so I'm not sure it clarifies things that much. Perhaps it should just be called "rendering options" (or "renderer options")? For us, we know those are Markdown-it plugins, but from a user perspective it just means that the Markdown is rendered one way or another depending on what is ticked, so just "rendering options" might make sense. What do you think?

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3

Ok. How about "Markdown Options"?

I only say that as using Markdown in the name links in with the "Markdown" labelled settings page. Just thinking that if a user read about "Markdown options" and went to Joplin settings the first place they would hopefully look would be the entry labelled "Markdown". Then the text for that settings page needs to only have plugin(s) changed to option(s).

Same for the Markdown page on the site - mockup below (which now also appears to be a bit out of date due to recent changes - it never stops, does it? :slight_smile: )

2020-11-30 19_27_23-Window
2020-11-30 19_27_23-Window837×393 22.3 KB

Edit: v1.4.19 has changed the default to "hard breaks" so the text in the red box in the picture above is now correct again.

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4

Another (more extreme) option is to do away with the markdown-it plugins entirely. The behaviour that they introduce can be implemented using the Joplin contentScript plugin type. Maybe we should have a selection of simple plugins that are under the Joplin project umbrella that will serve as examples for people developing their own plugins?

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