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I'm a big fan of It's All Text for Firefox, as it's really helpful to be able to quickly open up gvim and write out code, wiki markup, etc in a powerful editor rather than trying to do edits in a large text box. Is there a similar plugin for Chrome? I'm looking for a cross-platform solution, or at least something that will work on Linux.
Jeff
Posted 2011-03-24T05:59:41.387
Reputation: 1 647
49
On macs:
On Windows:
Other platforms:
from https://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome/blob/master/servers/README
Because the Chrome(ium) security model doesn't allow for extensions spawning processes we can't just exec() the editor process. Instead we have to implement an "edit server" which listens to XmlHttp requests on port 9292 (default) and then sends a response when the edit is complete. We include a couple here:
Both of these require you run a webserver too, (e.g. http://opencoder.net/edit-server):
TextareaConnect (extension removed)
TextAid (last updated July 3, 2012)
kriegar
Posted 2011-03-24T05:59:41.387
Reputation: 768
16
Have a look at GhostText. (Full disclosure: I worked on it)
It's made of two parts: browser extension (Chrome/Firefox) and text editor plugin (SublimeText/Atom).
It updates the text as you type it, so if the site offers a live preview (like on StackExchange) that'll keep working (unlike with It's All Text)
This also works with complex editors like CodeMirror, ACE editor and contentEditable elements (plain HTML)
Demo:
fregante
Posted 2011-03-24T05:59:41.387
Reputation: 395
1Where has this extension been all my life! editing this with sublime right now :D – ptim – 2015-02-02T10:46:20.510
1This looks like a fantastic solution. I'd love to see a vim plugin for this. – Screenack – 2015-03-19T15:06:26.370
2@Screenack It's working for me on Linux+Chrome+Vim. Semi-realtime updates are nice. Not all sites are compatible (notably, JIRA misbehaves and doesn't allow Ghost Edit) – sehe – 2016-06-10T10:56:12.330
@sehe — did you write your own vim editor extension? I only see Atom and Sublime listed? – Screenack – 2016-06-10T13:51:22.853
2
@Screenack Oh. I somehow forgot to link https://github.com/falstro/ghost-text-vim
– sehe – 2016-06-10T13:53:37.677Thanks! Atom works great, but there's issues with the tcl script on Mac, which I'm reporting to that issues queue. – Screenack – 2016-06-10T19:01:03.497
15
Some possibilities are listed below. It would be easier if you told us what is your operating system.
Edit with Emacs Chrome extension
It's Chrome's answer to Firefox's "It's all text" extension, which makes composing emails, blog posts, and other long-form text in a browser a lot more tolerable. (Hooray!)
Since Chrome extensions can't spawn arbitrary processes, the Edit with Emacs extension requires the cooperation of an additional edit server that can. The edit server is implemented in elisp and is bundled with the extension.
TextareaConnect a clone of the "It's All Text!" Firefox extension for Chrome. It allows you to edit any textarea using an external editor like Vim, Emacs, gedit, Kate etc. Since Chrome API won't allow spawning new external processes, TextareaConnect relies on separate http-server, TextareaServer, for starting the external editors.
[EDIT] According to its web page, TextAreaConnect is currently not usable because of incompatible updates to Chrome
harrymc
Posted 2011-03-24T05:59:41.387
Reputation: 306 093
+1 best answer I've seen so far in terms of what I'm looking for. I'll keep the bounty open for now in hopes that there's an easier solution that doesn't involve running a server to receive commands, but it doesn't sound like it. – Jeff – 2011-03-28T05:11:39.550
15
Text editor anywhere is really neat if you are using Windows.
Text Editor Anywhere allows you to edit text anywhere with your favorite text editor. It provides a means of taking advantages of some advanced features (like auto-completing, spell checking and syntax highlighting) that are only available in an external text editor. It may also save you from web browser crashes.
For example, you can use Vim to tweet or reply a post in Chrome with the help of Text Editor Anywhere.
- Support all kinds of text editors
- Support all applications
- Support Unicode
- You can pass complex parameters to the editor
fjut
Posted 2011-03-24T05:59:41.387
Reputation: 484
Really, that's awesome – gluk47 – 2015-10-23T11:45:51.483
This is awesome. – jdhao – 2019-04-12T12:19:26.827
1Looks pretty awesome and I like that you can use it for more than just Chrome! Thanks! – Jeff – 2011-11-14T23:45:09.673
1fjut, I can't thank you enough for making me discover this gem. – Giacomo Lacava – 2012-03-16T23:01:28.227
2This is really good! I was always looking for chrome extension but this do the same thing and it is even better and more polished! Thanks! – Jiri – 2012-04-12T07:45:35.910
6
I found this via google, and took the time to register so you don't have to :)
The hidden link is this program called listary, which seems very useful (I'm gonna try it right after this post). It works with windows explorer, it's not a chrome plugin. Basically you can pop up a sort of command prompt in the corner at any time, run a program or open a folder or whatever, and then go back to what you were doing. They show someone editing text in their favorite editor and having it go straight to an email in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDHXhm7YSw8&feature=player_detailpage#t=48s
The app page is here: http://www.listary.com/
CreeDorofl
Posted 2011-03-24T05:59:41.387
Reputation: 2 053
This is windows specific. Runs as an app outside of the browser. – kriegar – 2011-03-27T07:54:02.127
my bad, I shoulda read more closely. Bummer, I've found it pretty handy. – CreeDorofl – 2011-03-27T15:06:23.193
+1 Good answer, but unfortunately not exactly what I'm looking for. – Jeff – 2011-03-28T01:14:33.493
5
I've written a simple userscript (which run cross browser/platform) that takes advantage of CodeMirror's excellent Vim/Emacs functionality and allows you to change any textarea into a mini version of Vim or Emacs by double clicking on the textarea.
Note that when I say mini, the Vim version supports things like macros and registers, which is crazy!
BenjaminRH
Posted 2011-03-24T05:59:41.387
Reputation: 171
There's no support for visual mode multiline as far as tested – Gilles Quenot – 2016-09-12T21:05:28.243
1
If you don't care about actually opening a separate editor, and like a vim-like editor, (wasavi)[http://appsweets.net/wasavi/] is a good option.
jpbochi
Posted 2011-03-24T05:59:41.387
Reputation: 201
The link for QuickCursor is now broken. – JamesRat – 2015-02-16T14:40:21.087
+1 Didn't realize it's that hard to spawn processes with Chrome. – Jeff – 2011-03-28T01:15:13.693
Sorry, didn't realize you already posted TextareaConnect and TextAid before harrymc. It looks a little like your post is only addressing Macs; and the links could be replaced with the program names. Edit your post for a little clarity and you have my vote =) – Jeff – 2011-03-28T07:38:38.850
@edited for clarity =) – kriegar – 2011-03-28T07:56:18.763
5Note that QuickCursor doesn't work anymore on recent versions of OS X. – Dav Clark – 2013-08-01T00:43:22.090