Pages and the block editor

A page is a Markdrop document that you write with blocks instead of plain Markdown. You type / to add a heading, a to-do list, a callout, a table, an image or one of your Markdrop files, and you drag blocks to reorder them. Underneath, a page is still a Markdown document, with the same link, sharing, custom domain, analytics and who's-viewing as any other.

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• In a workspace or folder: choose New page. Pick a template or Blank, give it a title and choose Create page. The page is filed where you made it, and new items there start with the folder's access.
• From anywhere: choose Create, then Page.
• Inside another page: choose Add a sub-page at the bottom of the page or in its menu, or type /page in the editor. See Sub-pages.
• From a document you already have: open it, choose More actions, then Open in block editor. The Markdown doesn't change, and you can switch back to the classic editor from the page's ⋯ menu at any time. End-to-end encrypted documents keep the classic editor.

If you can edit a page, it opens ready to edit: click anywhere and type. There's no Edit or Done, and your changes save as you go. People who can only read the page see exactly the same layout, without the editing controls.

Type / on any line to open the block menu. Keep typing to filter it, use the arrow keys and press Enter. The menu has:

You can also type Markdown as you go: # and a space makes a heading, - a bulleted list, 1. a numbered one, [] a to-do, > or " a quote, ``` a code block, --- a divider and $$ an equation. **bold**, *italic*, `code` and ~~strike~~ format as you type, and : followed by a name inserts an emoji (:rocket gives 🚀). Keyboard shortcuts lists the rest.

Paste from Google Docs, Notion, GitHub, Word or a web page and you get blocks, not plain text. Paste a link on its own to make it a mention, a bookmark or an embed. See Paste into a page.

Select text to format it, add a link, or turn a line into another kind of block. Hover a block to see its handle: drag it to move the block, or click it for Move up, Move down, Duplicate, Copy link to block, Colour and Delete. Press Esc to select the block you're in. Colours, columns, nesting and selecting several blocks are in Colours, columns and block tools.

A page's title sits above its content. Press Enter in the title to start writing.

Hover the title for Add icon and Add cover. The icon is an emoji (search by name) or an image you upload, and it shows in the browser tab. The cover is one of Markdrop's built-in covers (paper, duotone, lines and calm), an image you upload, or an image link. A new page has no cover until you add one. Hover the cover for Change cover, Reposition (drag the image up or down) and Remove.

The bar at the top of a page stays in place as you scroll. On the left are the page's breadcrumbs, with each page's icon; when there are more than two pages above this one, the middle ones fold into …. On the right are who's viewing, Saving… or Saved, Share (or Copy link if you can't share the page) and the ⋯ menu.

The ⋯ menu in the top bar has:

• The font: Default, Serif or Mono, then the Small text and Full width switches.
• Lock page (owners): only you and workspace admins can edit it, and AI apps can't add to it, until you unlock it.
• Copy link, Add a sub-page, Move to…, Duplicate, Edit as Markdown, Open in the classic editor and Delete page.
• Export PDF and Details (published, views and who can open it).
• The word count.

These options are saved in the page's Markdown, so they travel with it. See Page Markdown reference.

Choose Duplicate from the page's ⋯ menu, or from the ⋯ next to a page in the page tree. Markdrop makes a copy beside it, in the same parent, folder and workspace, called "Title (1)" (then "(2)", and so on), and opens it in the editor.

The copy has the same blocks, icon, cover and page options, and its own copies of the page's images. Its sub-pages are copied too, and links to them point at the copies. A sub-page with its own access isn't copied, because its copy would follow the new page's access; the message names it.

If an image can't be copied, the copy keeps the rest, shows that image as missing, and the message says which one. Upload it again in the copy.

The copy starts with the access of the place it's in, like any new page. It doesn't copy the original's sharing, history, views or analytics.

To move a page somewhere else, see Move a page.

Pages save themselves about two seconds after you stop typing. The top bar shows Saving…, Saved, or Offline, retrying when your connection drops. Until the server confirms a change, your browser keeps a copy, so a crash or a closed tab doesn't lose what you typed: the next time you open the page, choose Restore them.

The first time you type or click in a page, it's held for you, and others see Editing next to your name in who's viewing. Anyone else who opens it meanwhile sees a banner under the top bar, Your name is editing — you'll be able to edit when they're done. They follow your changes live, and the page becomes editable for them on its own once it's free again.

A page is let go when you leave it, or after three minutes without typing or clicking in it, so someone who only has a page open never blocks anyone. It's also released two minutes after the editor stops responding, for example when a laptop goes to sleep.

If someone saved a newer version anyway (from the classic editor, VS Code or an AI app), you see This page changed, with Load the latest or Keep mine. When an AI app only adds blocks to the end of a page you're editing, they appear at the end of your page without interrupting you.

Pages work the same on a phone. While you edit, a toolbar above the keyboard adds blocks, formats text and undoes, and menus open as sheets from the bottom of the screen. See On a phone.

People who can open the page see it as you laid it out, with the same blocks. Embeds of your files show only to readers who can open those files: everyone else sees a locked placeholder. See Embed and mention Markdrop items.

• Templates
• Sub-pages and access inheritance
• Images in pages
• Paste into a page
• Page Markdown reference