No way to link to Markdown/Parsedown comparison on parsedown.org

[scottchiefbaker]

It would be really helpful for bug reports if there was a way to link the Markdown/Parsedown comparison on parsedown.org with a predefined string.

I'd be happy to write the code if you'd open up the code for it. I'm sure it would be pretty simple.

[erusev]

It would be really helpful indeed. I planning on implementing it as soon as 1.0 is done.

[hkdobrev]

I'm sure it would be pretty simple.

I doubt it would be so simple.

• One way is to use GET. The browsers have a limitation on the URL length though.
• Another way is to POST the Markdown. But then it would not be linkable.
• The third way is to use some IDs in the URL and a database. This automatically make it even less easy to implement. It increases costs and storage on the server.

All these solutions involve dealing with caching and the amount of traffic. You need to find a balance between the server availability and the cost unless there aren't some ads which could cover it.

@scottchiefbaker Do you have anything else in mind as a simpler solution?

[wkpark]

this is a markdown comparison tool

http://johnmacfarlane.net/babelmark2/

ex)
http://johnmacfarlane.net/babelmark2/?text=%7C+aaa+%7C+bbb+%7C%0A%7C-----%7C-----%7C

[scottchiefbaker]

I don't think we're talking about more than 1k of text. You can surely send that in a GET string.

Here is a 6k link. Firefox has no problem with it.

I would definitely do a GET, and encode it with base64. I'd be happy to code it if you'd open up the comparison page code.

[scottchiefbaker]

@wkpark YES!

Something like that, except for http://parsedown.org/demo

Since we're MOSTLY concerned with Markdown / Parsedown comparisons.

[hkdobrev]

@scottchiefbaker Most browsers limit on 4k. Percent-encoding could bump up the size really quickly.

@wkpark Babelmark is nice, but it limits to 1000 characters. You could not parse the jQuery readme for example.

Also caching. If a link to the demo becomes popular, you cannot parse it every time. You should cache it both server-side and browser-side (e.g. ETag headers).

I guess the GET approach would be best for a start and the database approach in the long run.

---

One could go even further and build something similar to jsfiddle with forks and collaboration, but for Markdown content. It could be a competitor to Ghost, but for single pages.

[scottchiefbaker]

@hkdobrev 4k would be WAY more than we'd need.