FAQ
Common questions about building, platform limits and rendering differences — plus known limitations.
Building
NuGet package restore fails?
Make sure the nuget.org source is reachable and run “Restore NuGet Packages” on the solution in Visual Studio. Older packages such as MarkDig 0.15.5 are still hosted on the official source.
Can’t find the Windows 8.1 / Phone 8.1 tools?
Newer Visual Studio installers may not include these components by default. You can:
- Tick them manually under “Individual Components”.
- Or build with Visual Studio 2015 / 2017.
How do I deploy to a Surface RT / Lumia device?
Switch the build platform to ARM, connect a developer-unlocked device, and press F5 to deploy. Both RT and Phone require sideloading.
Platform Limits
Why no Windows 10 / 11 UWP?
Mark::Blocks is a Metro-design app for the Windows 8.1 era, using the WinRT 8.1 project structure. It runs on Windows 10 / 11 through the compatibility layer, but has no UWP adaptation.
Why no Split View on Windows Phone?
Phone screen width cannot carry a split screen, so the phone uses independent “clean write / clean preview” modes plus an immersive mode that hides the tabs.
Rendering
Why are Gantt charts unavailable?
Due to the Mermaid 7 + IE11 WebView combination, the Gantt component is unavailable in the current version; other diagrams (flowcharts, sequence diagrams, etc.) render fine.
Formula rendering looks wrong?
KaTeX 0.11.1 is stable under IE11. If the layout breaks, check that your formula syntax is compatible with that version — newer KaTeX syntax may not be supported.
Preview and editor scroll out of sync?
That is by design. See User Guide - Sync Scroll Rules: scrolling the editor moves the preview; scrolling the preview does not move the editor.
Other
Is this project AI-assisted?
Yes. Mark::Blocks was developed with the help of: GPT5-Codex, GPT5.1-Codex-Max, Gemini-2.5-Pro, Gemini-3.0-Pro, Claude Sonnet 4.5, and Claude Opus 4.5.
Where do I report issues?
Please head to GitHub Issues with problems or suggestions.