Markdown: Basics ================

Getting the Gist of Markdown's Formatting Syntax ------------------------------------------------ This page offers a brief overview of what it's like to use Markdown. The [syntax page] [s] provides complete, detailed documentation for every feature, but Markdown should be very easy to pick up simply by looking at a few examples of it in action. The examples on this page are written in a before/after style, showing example syntax and the HTML output produced by Markdown. It's also helpful to simply try Markdown out; the [Dingus] [d] is a web application that allows you type your own Markdown-formatted text and translate it to XHTML. **Note:** This document is itself written using Markdown; you can [see the source for it by adding '.text' to the URL] [src]. [s]: /projects/markdown/syntax "Markdown Syntax" [d]: /projects/markdown/dingus "Markdown Dingus" [src]: /projects/markdown/basics.text ## Paragraphs, Headers, Blockquotes ## A paragraph is simply one or more consecutive lines of text, separated by one or more blank lines. (A blank line is any line that looks like a blank line -- a line containing nothing but spaces or tabs is considered blank.) Normal paragraphs should not be indented with spaces or tabs. Markdown offers two styles of headers: *Setext* and *atx*. Setext-style headers for `

` and `

` are created by "underlining" with equal signs (`=`) and hyphens (`-`), respectively. To create an atx-style header, you put 1-6 hash marks (`#`) at the beginning of the line -- the number of hashes equals the resulting HTML header level. Blockquotes are indicated using email-style '`>`' angle brackets. Markdown: A First Level Header ==================== A Second Level Header --------------------- Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. This is just a regular paragraph. The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog's back. ### Header 3 > This is a blockquote. > > This is the second paragraph in the blockquote. > > ## This is an H2 in a blockquote Output:

A First Level Header

A Second Level Header

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. This is just a regular paragraph.

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog's back.

Header 3

This is a blockquote.

This is the second paragraph in the blockquote.

This is an H2 in a blockquote

### Phrase Emphasis ### Markdown uses asterisks and underscores to indicate spans of emphasis. Markdown: Some of these words *are emphasized*. Some of these words _are emphasized also_. Use two asterisks for **strong emphasis**. Or, if you prefer, __use two underscores instead__. Output:

Some of these words are emphasized. Some of these words are emphasized also.

Use two asterisks for strong emphasis. Or, if you prefer, use two underscores instead.

## Lists ## Unordered (bulleted) lists use asterisks, pluses, and hyphens (`*`, `+`, and `-`) as list markers. These three markers are interchangable; this: * Candy. * Gum. * Booze. this: + Candy. + Gum. + Booze. and this: - Candy. - Gum. - Booze. all produce the same output:

Candy.
Gum.
Booze.

Ordered (numbered) lists use regular numbers, followed by periods, as list markers: 1. Red 2. Green 3. Blue Output:

Red
Green
Blue

If you put blank lines between items, you'll get `

` tags for the list item text. You can create multi-paragraph list items by indenting the paragraphs by 4 spaces or 1 tab: * A list item. With multiple paragraphs. * Another item in the list. Output:

A list item.

With multiple paragraphs.
Another item in the list.

### Links ### Markdown supports two styles for creating links: *inline* and *reference*. With both styles, you use square brackets to delimit the text you want to turn into a link. Inline-style links use parentheses immediately after the link text. For example: This is an [example link](http://example.com/). Output:

This is an example link.

Optionally, you may include a title attribute in the parentheses: This is an [example link](http://example.com/ "With a Title"). Output:

This is an example link.

Reference-style links allow you to refer to your links by names, which you define elsewhere in your document: I get 10 times more traffic from [Google][1] than from [Yahoo][2] or [MSN][3]. [1]: http://google.com/ "Google" [2]: http://search.yahoo.com/ "Yahoo Search" [3]: http://search.msn.com/ "MSN Search" Output:

I get 10 times more traffic from Google than from Yahoo or MSN.

The title attribute is optional. Link names may contain letters, numbers and spaces, but are *not* case sensitive: I start my morning with a cup of coffee and [The New York Times][NY Times]. [ny times]: http://www.nytimes.com/ Output:

I start my morning with a cup of coffee and The New York Times.

### Images ### Image syntax is very much like link syntax. Inline (titles are optional): ![alt text](/path/to/img.jpg "Title") Reference-style: ![alt text][id] [id]: /path/to/img.jpg "Title" Both of the above examples produce the same output:

### Code ### In a regular paragraph, you can create code span by wrapping text in backtick quotes. Any ampersands (`&`) and angle brackets (`<` or `>`) will automatically be translated into HTML entities. This makes it easy to use Markdown to write about HTML example code: I strongly recommend against using any `` tags. I wish SmartyPants used named entities like `—` instead of decimal-encoded entites like `—`. Output:

I strongly recommend against using any <blink> tags.

I wish SmartyPants used named entities like — instead of decimal-encoded entites like —.

To specify an entire block of pre-formatted code, indent every line of the block by 4 spaces or 1 tab. Just like with code spans, `&`, `<`, and `>` characters will be escaped automatically. Markdown: If you want your page to validate under XHTML 1.0 Strict, you've got to put paragraph tags in your blockquotes:

For example.

Output:

If you want your page to validate under XHTML 1.0 Strict, you've got to put paragraph tags in your blockquotes:

<blockquote>
        <p>For example.</p>
    </blockquote>