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Dropbox Paper

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Re: Dropbox Paper

#151

Post by enobrev »

ktta wrote: post #30

Another closed file format. I think we're are in need of a lightweight document format, which is more complex than markdown, but needn't be as complex as docx. A quick google shows some results which look like pet projects of small business which have obviously failed (since I've never heard of them before) All of these new document formats that are pushed by big companies (some are really great I actually love using…

I've been using Paper since October, and thus far it's been my favorite Markdown Editor. It's not perfect, but it does a great job of accepting inline markdown and then just getting out of the way.

Also, you can export from Paper to Markdown or docx. I've written a few of my github READMEs in Paper and then exported to Markdown and they've worked just fine.

The examples you've mentioned (ctrl-i, ctrl-b, insert hyperlink) all work just fine, as does pasting markdown directly into the editor.

-- I have nothing to do with Dropbox, except as a happy paying customer and a happy Paper user.

Re: Dropbox Paper

#152

Post by andy_ppp »

I have almost this idea too with some interesting twists; it's probably going to be hard to complete with Dropbox though as a one man team. At least this is only a component of what I plan to build and probably the least important bit...

Re: Dropbox Paper

#153

Post by nvr219 »

aembleton wrote: post #137
wodenokoto wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's Google docs but instead of being aimed at producing documents for prints, it is aimed at producing document for online consumption (multimedia) These documents can be used for notes about ideas, documentation, business plans, etc., etc. Kinda like webpages, but with an easy-to-write interface, collaborative chat, and easy user access management. Honestly, I thought the landing page showed that quite well. It did…

This does feel like Google Wave. I hope they succeed at it, rather than drop it.

My thoughts exactly

Re: Dropbox Paper

#154

Post by partisan »

ungzd wrote: post #21

After looking at landing page, it's completely unclear what it is. Powerpoint with comments? Pinterest for enterprise? Google Wave with Material design? "Create, review, organize" — but even Quake level editor is about creating, reviewing and organizing.

The problem is they are trying to use a name which has a widely understood meaning - Paper - and then attempting to redefine it but doing so by using it in sentences where the common meaning almost makes sense, leaving you in a state of partial confusion.

Re: Dropbox Paper

#155

Post by partisan »

ungzd wrote: post #21

After looking at landing page, it's completely unclear what it is. Powerpoint with comments? Pinterest for enterprise? Google Wave with Material design? "Create, review, organize" — but even Quake level editor is about creating, reviewing and organizing.

The problem is they are trying to use a name which has a widely understood meaning - Paper - and then attempting to redefine it but doing so by using it in sentences where the common meaning almost makes sense, leaving you in a state of partial confusion.

Re: Dropbox Paper

#156

Post by toomim »

master5o1 wrote: post #145
wodenokoto wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's Google docs but instead of being aimed at producing documents for prints, it is aimed at producing document for online consumption (multimedia) These documents can be used for notes about ideas, documentation, business plans, etc., etc. Kinda like webpages, but with an easy-to-write interface, collaborative chat, and easy user access management. Honestly, I thought the landing page showed that quite well. It did…

>It's Google docs but instead of being aimed at producing documents for prints, it is aimed at producing document for online consumption (multimedia) Pretty weird to name it after a printed medium if it is not primarily meant for printed media.

Hahaha.

Re: Dropbox Paper

#157

Post by chipx86 »

tekacs wrote: post #51

I'll throw Notion ( https://notion.so/ ) into the mix here, as an (as far as I can tell far more full-featured) alternative to this. I've used Paper a number of times, starting from long before Notion was a thing, having been a happy Etherpad and Hackpad user in the past. Somehow Paper managed to inspire less in my collaborators than either the latter services (where perhaps plain text was the factor) or than Notion…

Another happy customer here.

We started off with Hackpad and used that for years, and tried moving to Dropbox Paper when Hackpad was end-of-lifed. While a good product, it wasn't really good enough for what we needed. We were using Hackpad like a wiki, and Paper just wasn't (at the time, at least) built to really be effective for public content like that.

We moved to Notion, and while it's certainly more complex in what it can do, it's met our needs far better than Paper and even Hackpad have. Notion continues to improve pretty much constantly (I get excited when I get the blue banner at the top of the UI saying there are new updates), and the people we've interacted with there have been fantastic.

It's not perfect, but they've been hammering out the major bugs and shortcomings we hit when we first started, and recently pushed a big update that improved how free/paid teams work, added namespaces for pages, and a handful of other improvements here and there.

We have a lot of content in Notion now, and it's been pretty easy to keep that updated and to jump around. (The native Mac app has helped a lot with that as well.)

(Also not in any way affiliated. Just another happy customer.)

Re: Dropbox Paper

#158

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

master5o1 wrote: post #145
wodenokoto wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's Google docs but instead of being aimed at producing documents for prints, it is aimed at producing document for online consumption (multimedia) These documents can be used for notes about ideas, documentation, business plans, etc., etc. Kinda like webpages, but with an easy-to-write interface, collaborative chat, and easy user access management. Honestly, I thought the landing page showed that quite well. It did…

>It's Google docs but instead of being aimed at producing documents for prints, it is aimed at producing document for online consumption (multimedia) Pretty weird to name it after a printed medium if it is not primarily meant for printed media.

Well, facebook is neither a face nor a book

Re: Dropbox Paper

#159

Post by PerfectElement »

dylanz wrote: post #77
ungzd wrote: post #21

After looking at landing page, it's completely unclear what it is. Powerpoint with comments? Pinterest for enterprise? Google Wave with Material design? "Create, review, organize" — but even Quake level editor is about creating, reviewing and organizing.

Seriously. I landed on the page, watched the intro, and the little animated wizard created a rainbow. I actually sat there waiting for the damn wizard to deliver me an "aha" moment, but he just kept creating rainbows. Hah! I scrolled down and still don't get it. I actually like the wizard, but @#$%^... why can't landing pages actually explain to me what the @#%^&ing product is, or does.

> why can't landing pages actually explain to me what the @#%^&ing product is, or does.

I like landing pages with lots of screenshots, showing how a problem is solved in a few steps. However, I tried to do that for my company and conversion rates dropped. So I had to give in to the marketing guy who was telling me to just focus on the benefits of using the product and not on how it solves it. Now our landing page has no screenshots and the conversion rates are great. Go figure.

Re: Dropbox Paper

#160

Post by IgorPartola »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #158
master5o1 wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It's Google docs but instead of being aimed at producing documents for prints, it is aimed at producing document for online consumption (multimedia) Pretty weird to name it after a printed medium if it is not primarily meant for printed media.

Well, facebook is neither a face nor a book

Facebook was originally an online equivalent of a yearbook, where you know, there are lots of pictures of faces.
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