Give Us One Minute

I’m not sure where I first learned about TextMate. It could have been from reviews I’ve read in various magazines or it could have been mentioned in one of several podcasts I listen too. Probably from that lunatic Merlin Mann (I use lunatic in the fanboy sense). No matter where the first reference occurred, I downloaded the trail version and from then on I was hooked. See, here’s the deal, I love working in straight text files. You know, documents not created in some proprietary format like .doc and .wp file formats. Text files are simple, contain no weird formatting and can be converted to any format with little to no work. I use them for everything from composing lengthy e-mail message to maintaining my Christmas List. Simple, small and very useful.

When I first purchased my Mac PowerBook G4, I began my foray into the world of text files using the TextEdit application that is included with all Macs. Then my need for more text editing automation grew as I began to work with PmWiki and WordPress so I moved up to the free applications Smultron (which is still recommended as my favorite free text editor), finally I moved up to the pro app, TextMate. It has changed my text creation and editing life. Check out the TextMate web site for more information on this text editing powerhouse.

Soon after turning my trial copy of TextMate into an activated copy for about $50, I purchased a copy of the TextMate: Powering Editing for the Mac by James Edward Gray. This book was invaluable and I recommend it to anyone using TextMate. If you want to help support the development of the pmWiki bundle (discussed in more detail below), use the link below to purchase your copy. This text introduced me to the power of TextMate and especially to the power of bundles.

Support the development of the pmWiki bundle and purchase TextMate: Powering Editing for the Mac using this link.

One of the tasks I perform regularly is the modification of my faculty web site which is powered by PmWiki. I noticed that TextMate included many useful bundles, but it did not include a PmWiki bundle. This was very interesting to me as the TextMate web site has some of it’s pages powered by pmWiki. I visited the ##textmate IRC channel one day and found Allan Odgaard, the creator of TextMate, online. I told him that I was working on a TextMate PmWiki bundle based on the already full-featured Twiki bundle. He said he would be interested in adding it to the subversion server. I then asked why he didn’t already have this bundle developed since he used PmWiki himself. His answer was a pure genius. He simply used the (:markdown:) code in PmWiki so all his coding could use the markdown bundle. {smack on the head} Why didn’t I think of that!

However, as I began to think about this further, I still saw a need for the PmWiki bundle and continued to develop it. This page will server as the home for this bundle and if you are a PmWiki user, please leave comments below and let me know what features you would like to find in later versions. Once I have a complete and usable bundle free of errors, I will forward to Allan for his review and possible inclusion onto the subversion server. {Is this the correct terminology? I’m new to this whole subversion process.}

Caveat: I am not a programmer by trade, but rather a hobbyist, so I am not versed in extensive programming knowledge nor the subversion process. My bundle is mostly a collection of automations. If there are any programmers out there who have interesting code to add to the bundle, send them to me (giveusoneminute+tm@gmail.com) and I’ll consider including them. Specifically, I am looking for someone who can assist with the color coding feature.

Download pmWiki Bundle for TextMater Version 0.8.2 (March 26rd, 2007)

View the bundle’s changelog.plist file to view changes and additions.

Send your comments and feature requests to giveusoneminute+tm@gmail.com