Content editing without the yaml showing

[twocs]

I can't get any non technical person to use Front Matter, because they see the yaml and their mind melts. They want to see the Front Matter panel for editing their pages, and the preview, but nothing else. Why isn't there a fancy GUI mode that makes Front Matter look more like a content editor than a side note to a markdown/yaml editor?

[davidsneighbour]

There is a configuration parameter that hides the frontmatter. If THAT is the YAML you are referring to?

[davidsneighbour]

In any other case, sure, Front Matter is more a developer's CMS than a "non-technical persons" CMS. Maybe an option like Decap CMS (formerly Netlify CMS) or Tina CMS (formerly Forestry CMS) is a better option for people that wouldn't open VSCode in any other case. I am not trying to wean you off Front Matter ;) But sometimes, end-users don't fit it perfectly.

[estruyf]

Why isn't there a fancy GUI mode that makes Front Matter look more like a content editor than a side note to a markdown/yaml editor?

Thanks, @twocs, for the feedback; we/I can put this on the backlog to see what we can do. Please feel free to provide as much feedback as possible on what you want to see or how you want to use it.

Thank @davidsneighbour for stepping in, you are right that it is built for "non-technical persons" first, but I have seen other non-technical people use Mardown as well without an issue to know that we can eventually make it work. I believe @zivbk1 has non-technical users who use it too.

It all comes down to time and contributions. As it is an open-source project, we do our best to give you the best possible experience. That said, this is the reason why we haven't implemented it yet.

[davidsneighbour]

I believe @zivbk1 has non-technical users who use it too.

Me too... but... in the end... some non-technical users are worse than others ;) there is a certain tech-phobia in older people that prevents them from using VSCode at all.

Anyway, let's see if the hidden frontmatter parameter does the trick. I find it great to hide most of the technical stuff from the end user.

[estruyf]

ah, good to know @davidsneighbour! Feel free to suggest where it can improve (I know you already provided valuable feedback).

[twocs]

I tried the frontMatter.content.hideFm and it does improve things a bit. But fundamentally, Front Matter doesn't have a way to use only FM and preview as a first class view.

As soon as I focus the preview panel, I'm not able to use FM. Seems that the yaml file is dictating how the editor looks. So it's easy to lose track of the article. I understand that the preview is not the content, since you could navigate using links.

I definitely raised this as something to think about, without a lot of expectation that it would be done (much less done quickly). I pitched Front Matter to the marketing team to replace forestry.io, but it was a no-go, even though it was able to do everything they asked even without any training (For example, they wanted to create a new content. Easy, just click the "Create new content" button and add the details in FM, the preview just works and refreshes instantly unlike their experience with forestry.)

[estruyf]

Thank you, @twocs; that's valuable feedback.

As soon as I focus the preview panel, I'm not able to use FM.

The FM panel is indeed linked to the currently open file, but it makes sense to add some metadata to the preview panel to avoid losing that context. I believe this is something we can improve in the future, will create a new issue out of it.

Anything else you got from feedback? Not trying to push you or your marketing team to use it, but more to learn about the needs of others and what and why they wouldn't use it.

[estruyf]

Bumping this issue. Is the current implementation of the panel which keeps its context to the open markdown file, enough when viewing the preview?