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How to Use MDConvert

Welcome! This guide will help you set up and run MDConvert on your computer. You don't need to be an expert programmer to get this running.

1. Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have Node.js installed. It's a tool that lets you run JavaScript outside of a browser.

  • Check if you have it: Open your Terminal (Mac) or Command Prompt (Windows) and type: node -v
  • If you don't have it: Download and install the "LTS" version from nodejs.org.

2. Installation

  1. Open your Terminal.
  2. Navigate to the project folder (if you haven't already). 
    cd path/to/mdconvert
  3. Install the project dependencies. This downloads all the little tools the project needs to work. 
    npm install
    Wait a moment for it to finish. You might see some "warn" messages—don't worry, that's normal!

3. Running the App (Development Mode)

If you want to use the app or make changes to it:

  1. Run the start command: 
    npm run dev
  2. You will see a message like: Local: http://localhost:5173/
  3. Open your web browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox).
  4. Type http://localhost:5173 into the address bar and hit Enter.

Boom! You should see the MDConvert interface.

4. How to Convert Files

  1. Drag and Drop: Take your HTML, PDF, or JS files from your computer and drop them into the big box that says "Click or Drop Files".
  2. Wait: You'll see a progress bar. It's usually very fast!
  3. Download: Click the "Download ZIP" button to save your converted Markdown files.

5. Building for Production

If you want to create a finalized version of the app (maybe to put on a server or send to a friend):

  1. Run the build script: 
    ./bin/build.sh
  2. This creates a new folder called dist/.
  3. The dist/ folder contains the "ready-to-go" website.

Troubleshooting

  • "Command not found": Ensure you installed Node.js and restarted your terminal.
  • Build fails: Try running npm install again to make sure everything downloaded correctly.
  • PDFs not working: Make sure you are running the app (step 3) and not just opening the HTML file directly. The app needs a "server" (which npm run dev provides) to read PDFs correctly.