Welcome to our Customer Story series, where we spotlight incredible teams using HackMD to drive collaboration and achieve their goals. In each post, we’ll dive into how our users leverage HackMD to build, share, and innovate — whether organizing projects, documenting knowledge, or empowering their communities.
The below article was written in partnership with the SCIST (Students’ Community of Information in Southern Taiwan) team. Learn how SCIST has transformed their workflow using HackMD and how they’re creating impact through collaboration.
Before we get started, allow me to give a little background on SCIST. We are the Students’ Community of Information in Southern Taiwan, and our mission is to expand informational technology education in our region. We saw a need for better resources for those wanting to learn about technology and decided to create an organization where like-minded individuals could share knowledge and grow together.
As the Lead of SCIST, I work with a lot of talented people and have seen firsthand how HackMD has played an important role in the success of our group. It changed the way we collaborate and keep ourselves organized.
How SCIST uses HackMD
We have found many uses for HackMD throughout our organization:
1. Meeting notes
There’s always a lot to discuss when our group meets. HackMD makes it easy for us to dive into any part of the meeting notes, adding our thoughts and contributing relevant content simultaneously. As new information is added, we don’t have to worry about losing anything. But it doesn’t end after the meeting. A lot of us use the HackMD meeting notes to keep each other accountable for progress, making sure nothing is dropped or forgotten.
2. Resource sharing
Like I mentioned earlier, a big part of our mission is sharing knowledge about the IT industry. We share relevant articles, tutorials, or links internally that will be useful to each other’s learning. And HackMD provides us with a place to compile these resources. The Markdown formatting is straightforward, so we can focus on content without spending too much time on formatting. While organization is important, we also value efficiency! And HackMD allows us to optimize both.
3. Project documentation
For our projects, HackMD is where the magic happens. We document our goals, processes, and results in a centralized location. The “Book Mode” feature is particularly useful for organizing everything into chapters, making it easy for everyone to find what they need later.
4. Knowledge sharing with our community
We believe in sharing knowledge beyond just our team. With HackMD, we can create documents that can be shared with our community and other student organizations. This not only helps us connect with others passionate about the space but also encourages others to utilize HackMD, fostering a supportive community ecosystem.
Areas for improvement
Because we use HackMD day-to-day throughout our organization, there are a few areas that, if added, would help us streamline our workflows even more:
1. Customization
We often wish for more customization options, as changing colors and styles can be difficult without some CSS knowledge. More intuitive customization features would enhance our experience.
2. Folder structure and tag management
The absence of a folder structure within a HackMD workspace complicates document management. It would be much easier to categorize our documents if we could organize them in folders. (Although, an insider has spilled that this is in development.)
In the same vein, the tagging system within the workspace has limitations. Ideally, we could modify or color-code tags, making organizing our documents easier and more visual. As our library of documents grows, finding specific notes can be time-consuming.
3. Public profile layout
As a final note, we think the layout for profiles and bookmarks could be improved. A grid layout would allow users to browse shared content more easily and quickly find what they need.
Future plans
Looking ahead, we’re eager to continue integrating HackMD into our work:
1. Integrating HackMD into our workflow
We plan to integrate our HackMD workspace with tools like Anytype or Notion to manage timelines and tasks while still using HackMD for documentation. This will help us stay organized and efficient.
2. Encouraging use through our community
We want to inspire more student organizations to adopt HackMD. By sharing our experiences and holding workshops, we hope to show others how it can benefit collaboration and knowledge sharing.
3. Providing feedback
And of course, we’re eager to share our feedback with the HackMD team to help improve the platform. By providing our insights, we hope to contribute to making HackMD even better for all users.
A game-charger for SCIST
In conclusion, HackMD has been a game-changer for SCIST. It has made collaboration more efficient and streamlined our documentation process. I highly recommend HackMD to any group looking to enhance teamwork and organization. It’s truly made a difference for us.
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Follow SCIST at:
NOTE: We’re delighted to share that, as hinted above, the ‘Folders’ feature is coming to HackMD soon. This highly requested feature will help streamline document organization for both teams and individuals.
The ‘tag management’ feature is another highly recommended feature. Rest assured, it’s on our radar! We’ll monitor how Folders impact organization before diving into tags.
And in other exciting news, we’re working on new customization features that will allow you to better manage your published content, pinning posts on your profile, for example, with additional customization options to follow.
We’re committed to continually improving HackMD to meet your needs, and we appreciate your insights! These insights help us create the best product for you.
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