What is Markdown?
Markdown is a lightweight formatting syntax that allows you to write in plain text using any text editor, yet still produce richly formatted documents. It was created to easily convert plain text into HTML for the web, but it has since become the standard for writing everything from README files to technical documentation and even books.
Markdown ensures that your formatting is portable. If you’ve ever spent hours fixing broken indentation in a Word document after emailing it to a colleague, you’ll appreciate the stability of Markdown. It looks the same everywhere.
While you can edit functions in any text editor (like Notepad or TextEdit), specialized editors like VS Code, Typora, or iA Writer make the experience even better.
Markdown Cheat Sheet
Here is a quick guide to the most common formatting syntax.
1. Paragraphs & Line Breaks
Writing a paragraph is as simple as typing text. To create a new paragraph, leave a blank line between blocks of text.
If you want a hard line break (without a new paragraph gap),
simply add two spaces at the end of the line,
and hit enter.
2. Emphasis
- Bold: Wrap text in double asterisks:
**bold**→ bold - Italic: Wrap text in single asterisks or underscores:
*italic*→ italic or_italic_→ italic - Strikethrough: Wrap text in double tildes:
~~scratch this~~→scratch this
3. Links
Links are written [Text](URL).
[Google](https://www.google.com)
Output: Google
4. Blockquotes
Use the greater-than symbol > to create a blockquote.
> "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."
Output:
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
5. Lists
Unordered List: Use -, *, or +
- Milk
- Eggs
- Bread
Ordered List: Use numbers followed by a period.
1. Wake up
2. Code
3. Sleep
6. Headings
Use hash marks # to denote headings. One hash is H1, two is H2, and so on.
# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
7. Images
Images are almost identical to links, but with an exclamation mark ! at the start.
8. Code Blocks
To display code, wrap it in backticks.
- Inline code: Use single backticks:
`code` - Code block: Use three backticks ` ``` ` to create a block.
Resources
When typing an extended quote, just put the “greater than” sign before the paragraph.
> "I have dipped into books of aesthetics, but I had an uncomfortable feeling that I was reading
the works of astronomers who had never looked at the stars. They were writing about poetry
as if poetry were a task, and not what it really is, a passion, and a joy."
“I have dipped into books of aesthetics, but I had an uncomfortable feeling that I was reading the works of astronomers who had never looked at the stars. They were writing about poetry as if poetry were a task, and not what it really is, a passion, and a joy.”
Lists
- Using Lists is Easy
- Just use a dash with a space before each line
- Using Lists is Easy
Headings
# The largest heading
## The second largest heading
…
###### The 6th largest heading
Images
Images are just like links, but they have an exclamation point in front of them (and of course the link should be to where the image is!). The text between the brackets becomes the title, but it’s not required.
Resources
If you’re editing content in a Jekyll-based site, you can use the prose editor, if your site is configured for it. If you want more advanced formatting, check out the original Markdown site, or the Github Markdown page.