TWR

Introduction to Markdown

· Faith

Markdown is a lightweight markup language that can be used to format plaintext text documents. It was created by John Gruber in 2004, it is now one of the world’s most popular markup languages.

Markdown is not the same as using a WYSIWYG editor. To format words in an application like Microsoft Word, you click buttons, and the changes are immediately visible. Markdown does not work like that. When you create a Markdown-formatted file, you use Markdown syntax to indicate which words and phrases should be formatted differently.

Benefits of using markdown

  • Markdown works on any platform. Markdown-formatted text can be created on any device running any operating system.
  • Markdown is timeless. Even if the application you’re using stops working in the future, you’ll be able to read your Markdown-formatted text with a text editing app.
  • Markdown can be used for just about anything. Websites, documents, notes, books, presentations, email messages, and technical documentation are all created with it.

How to create a markdown file

  • Use a text editor or a dedicated Markdown application to create a Markdown file. The file’s extension should be.md or.markdown.
  • In a Markdown editor, open the Markdown file.
  • Convert the Markdown file to an HTML document using the Markdown application.
  • View the HTML file in a web browser or convert it to another file format, such as PDF, using the Markdown application.

Syntax for Markdown

The syntaxes listed below can be used in writing markdown and are remarkably similar to those used in HTML.

For headings, use:

  • Heading level 1 (’# Heading level 1')

  • Heading level 2 (’## Heading level 2')

  • Heading level 3 (’### Heading level 3')

  • Heading level 4 (’#### Heading level 4')

  • Heading level 5 (’##### Heading level 5')
  • Heading level 6 (’###### Heading level 1')

For ordered list, use:

  1. First item (1. First item)
  2. Second item
  3. Third item
  4. Fourth item

For unordered list, use:

  • First item (- first item)
  • Second item
  • Third item
  • Fourth item

or

  • First item
  • Second item
  • Third item
  • Fourth item

For images, use: (Maldives Beach)

Maldives Beach

For links, use: (Markdown Tutorial)

A link example

Resources