Creole to MS Converter
FileFlip converts Creole to MS entirely inside your browser, using Pandoc compiled to WebAssembly. The file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. That means no file-size limit, no queue and no account.
How do I convert a Creole file to MS?#
- Drop your Creole file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer. You can add as many as you like.
- Leave the target set to MS and the conversion starts on its own. FileFlip downloads 65.8 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, then runs Pandoc on your own machine.
- Save the MS file. Your browser writes it straight to your downloads folder, because there was never a server holding it.
Does converting Creole to MS lose quality?#
Not in the sense of pixels or samples. Converting Creole to MS rebuilds the file in MS's own model rather than re-encoding it, so everything MS can represent comes through exactly and anything it cannot has to be dropped. Expect the words to come through exactly and the page breaks to move.
Is it safe to convert Creole files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts Creole files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What Creole to MS actually does to the file#
Converting Creole to MS runs on Pandoc, downloads 65.8 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, rebuilds the file in the target's own model, keeps selectable text and page layout.
| Engine | Pandoc |
|---|---|
| Conversion path | One step: Creole → MS |
| Downloaded to your browser | 65.8 MB, once, then cached by your browser |
| Quality | Rebuilt in the target's model |
| You get back | One file |
| Where it runs | In a background worker, so the page stays responsive |
What survives the conversion
| What is in the file | This conversion | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Selectable text | Kept | Carried through into the converted file. |
| Page layout | Kept | Carried through into the converted file. |
What is a Creole file?#
A CREOLE file holds Creole markup, a wiki syntax finalized as version 1.0 in 2007 by representatives of major wiki engines meeting at a WikiSym workshop, meant to give MediaWiki, PmWiki, TWiki and others one common syntax that content could move between.
Use Creole for wiki content meant to move between different wiki engines without a full rewrite.
Convert Creole to Markdown when the content is leaving wiki software altogether, since almost nothing outside a wiki engine reads Creole.
What is an MS file?#
An MS file is a troff document marked up with the ms macro package, one of the original Unix macro sets for typesetting papers, letters and reports through groff or troff.
Use the ms macros to produce a document on a minimal Unix system where a full TeX install isn't available or wanted.
Convert ms output to PDF or HTML when the reader needs a normal document instead of a file that has to run through troff first.
Creole to MS questions people ask#
What is Creole markup?
Creole is a wiki markup language finalized in 2007 by developers from several wiki engines who met at a WikiSym workshop the year before, with the explicit goal of giving different wikis one common syntax so content could move between them instead of being rewritten each time.
Which wikis use Creole?
Bitbucket used Creole 1.0 as its default wiki markup, and Moodle still offers it as an option for writing content. Most other wiki engines, including MediaWiki itself, kept their own native syntax rather than switching to Creole.
Why didn't Creole replace every wiki's own syntax?
Creole was designed as a common subset that intentionally left out features like templates, so any wiki with an established base of content in its native syntax had little reason to migrate. Development also froze after the 2007 1.0 release to let existing engines catch up, which limited how far it could evolve to compete with what wikis already had.
What is an .ms file?
An .ms file is plain text written with the ms macro package for troff, one of the original Unix formatters for papers and reports. It's read by feeding it to groff or troff rather than opening it in a document viewer.