Cloud-based alternatives to NotePad++?

December 27, 2012 11:03 AM

NotePad++, but in the cloud? I have the app I like, but I want it everywhere at once.

I already have it installed on a thumb drive, but I switch back and forth between computers a lot. I don't need a full-fledged development whatsit, I'm just looking for a cloud-based text editor with regexp-based search & replace and, ideally, custom syntax highlighting.

I'd prefer to be able to leave the file open on all machines and have it automatically update when I make changes. And if it'd work on my Nexus 7, too, even better.

Does such a thing exist? One of the computers is at work, so I can't install stuff on it. Having extra features I won't use is fine, but just a plain text editor without the search/replace doesn't work. I'd be willing to pay a little for it, but not more than like $5/mo, since it's for personal use.

posted by gracedissolved to Computers & Internet (13 answers total)

Host the file on Dropbox and use NotePad++ to edit it. Put Dropbox and Notepad++ on your thumb drive.
posted by grouse at 11:21 AM on December 27, 2012 [4 favorites]

Cloud9 is about as close as you're going to get. It's all browser-based, so no software to download.
posted by ConstantineXVI at 11:23 AM on December 27, 2012

jsFiddle is cloud based, but not nearly as feature rich as notepad++. It has syntax hilighting, but not regex searching, and is meant exclusively for stand-alone projects (not multiple files).
posted by brenton at 11:51 AM on December 27, 2012

You should also look into ShiftEdit, though it hasn't worked for me.
posted by brenton at 11:52 AM on December 27, 2012

PS: Your best option is really a VPS or other remote box of some kind. I'm more of a *nix guy so I don't have any good recommendations on a Windows VPS (but if you can do Linux, Linode gets my vote); but a remote box will give you precisely what you're looking to do.

(Azure and EC2 both have Windows machines on offer; but they might be overkill for just one machine)
posted by ConstantineXVI at 12:07 PM on December 27, 2012

I use Notational Velocity alt, which syncs with Simplenote. Works everywhere.

If you're on a PC, there are other Simplenote clients here.
posted by kdern at 12:26 PM on December 27, 2012 [2 favorites]

I use Dropbox to do this with pleadings I'm working on, except I do not leave the documents open. If you are willing to exit and re-open, grouse has the right solution. Install text editor or portable text editor wherever you need it. Actually, I use metapad and just run it straight from Dropbox.
posted by anthropomorphic at 12:56 PM on December 27, 2012

Seconding nvALT + Dropbox. Any of a hundred editors will do what you want when you save the file on Dropbox; nvALT is just particularly convenient and lightweight.
posted by Nelson at 1:42 PM on December 27, 2012

You could fiddle with ACE, which is the JS-library Cloud9 uses, although ACE itself is free and easily adjustable. You could host it on one of your own websites/servers and it should also work on your Nexus right in your browser.
posted by KMB at 3:10 PM on December 27, 2012

I was going to recommend Mozilla Bespin, however it looks like that was closed down and rolled into ACE and Cloud9. Looks like that's the best you're likely to get.
posted by AltReality at 3:13 PM on December 27, 2012

I do this old-school, with a little Debian box running 24/7 at my house. Vim and screen and ssh get the job done for me. I can use all that stuff natively from any Internet-connected Mac or Linux box, and ssh clients are readily available for Windows, Android and iOS.
posted by flabdablet at 7:05 PM on December 27, 2012

Response by poster: My tentative solution, which is not at all newbie-friendly, is that I already had a VPS, and I have managed to get VNC running quite nicely on it with XFCE. It's kind of a resource hog for what it needs to be and I may yet switch to something lighter-weight, but it was sort of interesting to toy with.

Cloud9 did look pretty cool, but this allows me to run a couple other things in the same persistent way, which is awesome. I sadly use enough mouse in my text-editing that I haven't yet been comfortable enough to switch to something like vim, although that would be considerably easier to run on a low-end VPS or a Raspberry Pi or something. (I always end up running my desktops into the ground, so I don't really have any spares.)
posted by gracedissolved at 3:36 AM on December 31, 2012

You know vim has mouse support, yes?
posted by flabdablet at 7:55 AM on December 31, 2012