HedgeDoc: Collaborative Markdown Notes
With HedgeDoc (hedgedoc.ethz.ch), ETH members write meeting minutes, notes and texts together in real time, in Markdown, with link sharing, revisions, export and slide mode.
What is HedgeDoc?
HedgeDoc (hedgedoc.ethz.ch) is the shared online editor for notes and texts of the Department of Architecture at ETH Zurich. Several people write in the same document at the same time and see each other's changes in real time. Texts are written in Markdown and shown formatted right next to the editor. Typical uses: meeting minutes, to-do lists, concepts and drafts, notes in lectures and workshops, checklists, instructions or simple presentations.
HedgeDoc is the ETH-internal alternative to Etherpad, HackMD, CodiMD or a shared Google Doc for notes. It is open source and runs on servers at ETH Zurich; the content stays at ETH. All members of ETH Zurich can create notes with their ETH account. Depending on the sharing level, reading or co-editing a note requires no account.
Create a note
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Open hedgedoc.ethz.ch and click Sign In. Under Sign in via ETH Zurich (LDAP), sign in with your ETH username (without @ethz.ch) and your ETH password. No separate account is needed.
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Click New note at the top right. The new note opens with a random, unguessable address. The first heading (
# Title) becomes the title of the note. -
Write Markdown on the left and see the formatted preview on the right. The three icons at the top left switch between View (preview only), Both (split) and Edit (editor only). The toolbar above the editor inserts bold text, lists, tables, links, images and code.
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There is nothing to save: every change is stored immediately. You will find all your notes later on the start page under History.
Write together and share
To share a note, simply pass on its address from the browser bar. Everyone who has the note open appears in the Online counter at the top right, and each person writes with their own coloured cursor. As the owner, you set who may read and who may write via the lock icon at the top right of the preview:
| Permission | Read | Edit |
|---|---|---|
| Freely | anyone with the link | anyone with the link, even without account |
| Editable | anyone with the link | signed-in ETH members |
| Limited | signed-in ETH members | signed-in ETH members |
| Locked | anyone with the link | owner only |
| Protected | signed-in ETH members | owner only |
| Private | owner only | owner only |
- Publish: creates a clean reading view without the editor, for example to distribute finished minutes.
- Menu → Revision: shows earlier versions of the note; an older version can be restored with Revert.
- Comments in the text: for questions within the document, use highlights such as
==highlight==or an info box:::info.
Markdown in brief
Markdown is a simple text markup: you type characters such as # or *, and HedgeDoc turns them into headings and formatting. The most important elements:
| You type | You get |
|---|---|
# Heading, ## Subheading | Headings (level 1, 2, …) |
**bold**, *italic*, ~~strikethrough~~ | Text formatting |
- item or 1. item | Bulleted or numbered list |
- [ ] open, - [x] done | Checklist with clickable boxes |
[text](https://ethz.ch) | Link |
 or drag an image into the editor | Image; inserted images are uploaded |
| A | B | with separator line |---|---| | Table (the toolbar inserts a template) |
``` … ``` | Code block with syntax highlighting |
$E = mc^2$ | Mathematical formula (LaTeX/MathJax) |
```mermaid … ``` | Diagram (flowchart, sequence, Gantt) with Mermaid |
:::info … ::: (also success, warning, danger) | Coloured info box |
[TOC] | Table of contents from the headings |
{%youtube VIDEO_ID %} | Embedded video |
:smile: | Emoji |
The question-mark icon in the editor opens the full Cheatsheet, and the sample note Features shows everything that is possible.
Presentation from a note
HedgeDoc turns a note into a slide presentation: separate the slides with a line --- and choose Menu → Slide Mode. The slides run in the browser; use the arrow keys to navigate and F for full screen. This gives you a presentation without PowerPoint that you can revise together until the last minute.
Export and backup
- Menu → Download: save a note as Markdown or HTML, for example to file it in the project folder or to continue in Word.
- Start page → Export user data: download all your notes at once as a ZIP file.
- Import: paste existing Markdown text via Menu → Import from the clipboard.
Good to know
- For all devices: HedgeDoc runs in the browser on desktop, tablet and smartphone, with nothing to install.
- Data protection: HedgeDoc runs on ETH Zurich infrastructure and is operated by the IT group of the Department of Architecture. No data is passed on to third parties.
- Manual: the full documentation is available at docs.hedgedoc.org.
If you have questions, contact the Service Desk.
Not solved? Log in to open a ticket, or contact the D-ARCH Service Desk, servicedesk@arch.ethz.ch