Would be really nice if you could highlight text and then hit a key shortcut and that would bracket the text within the syntax for the shortcut.
So for example, I highlight "italics". Then I hit "cmd + i" which is my shortcut for producing "##". However, since a text is highlighted, the text is immediately set within, e.g., "##italics##"
This would make the process of incorporating text within syntax easier.
Ulysses already has that feature :) Go to the Ulysses Preferences > Paragraph Styles/Inline Styles/Markers. In the last column, you can set a shortcut for the Style/Marker. Simply double-click the column and enter the shortcut. For instance, the "Link" Inline Style should already have the shortcut Cmd-Alt-0.