## Markdown mode

Markdown: Basics ================ <ul id="ProjectSubmenu"> <li><a href="/projects/markdown/" title="Markdown Project Page">Main</a></li> <li><a class="selected" title="Markdown Basics">Basics</a></li> <li><a href="/projects/markdown/syntax" title="Markdown Syntax Documentation">Syntax</a></li> <li><a href="/projects/markdown/license" title="Pricing and License Information">License</a></li> <li><a href="/projects/markdown/dingus" title="Online Markdown Web Form">Dingus</a></li> </ul> 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 role 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 `<h1>` and `<h2>` 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: <h1>A First Level Header</h1> <h2>A Second Level Header</h2> <p>Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. This is just a regular paragraph.</p> <p>The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog's back.</p> <h3>Header 3</h3> <blockquote> <p>This is a blockquote.</p> <p>This is the second paragraph in the blockquote.</p> <h2>This is an H2 in a blockquote</h2> </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: <p>Some of these words <em>are emphasized</em>. Some of these words <em>are emphasized also</em>.</p> <p>Use two asterisks for <strong>strong emphasis</strong>. Or, if you prefer, <strong>use two underscores instead</strong>.</p> ## 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: <ul> <li>Candy.</li> <li>Gum.</li> <li>Booze.</li> </ul> Ordered (numbered) lists use regular numbers, followed by periods, as list markers: 1. Red 2. Green 3. Blue Output: <ol> <li>Red</li> <li>Green</li> <li>Blue</li> </ol> If you put blank lines between items, you'll get `<p>` 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: <ul> <li><p>A list item.</p> <p>With multiple paragraphs.</p></li> <li><p>Another item in the list.</p></li> </ul> ### 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: <p>This is an <a href="http://example.com/"> example link</a>.</p> Optionally, you may include a title attribute in the parentheses: This is an [example link](http://example.com/ "With a Title"). Output: <p>This is an <a href="http://example.com/" title="With a Title"> example link</a>.</p> 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: <p>I get 10 times more traffic from <a href="http://google.com/" title="Google">Google</a> than from <a href="http://search.yahoo.com/" title="Yahoo Search">Yahoo</a> or <a href="http://search.msn.com/" title="MSN Search">MSN</a>.</p> 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: <p>I start my morning with a cup of coffee and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/">The New York Times</a>.</p> ### 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: <img src="/path/to/img.jpg" alt="alt text" title="Title" /> ### 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 `<blink>` tags. I wish SmartyPants used named entities like `&mdash;` instead of decimal-encoded entites like `&#8212;`. Output: <p>I strongly recommend against using any <code>&lt;blink&gt;</code> tags.</p> <p>I wish SmartyPants used named entities like <code>&amp;mdash;</code> instead of decimal-encoded entites like <code>&amp;#8212;</code>.</p> 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: <blockquote> <p>For example.</p> </blockquote> Output: <p>If you want your page to validate under XHTML 1.0 Strict, you've got to put paragraph tags in your blockquotes:</p> <pre><code>&lt;blockquote&gt; &lt;p&gt;For example.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt; </code></pre>

You might want to use the Github-Flavored Markdown mode instead, which adds support for fenced code blocks and a few other things.

Optionally depends on the XML mode for properly highlighted inline XML blocks.

MIME types defined: `text/x-markdown`.

Parsing/Highlighting Tests: normal, verbose.