Markdown Syntax Quick Reference

Markdown is a lightweight markup language, originally created by John Gruber and Aaron Swartz allowing people “to write using an easy-to-read, easy-to-write plain text format, then convert it to structurally valid XHTML (or HTML)”.
- Wikipedia

Block elements

Paragraphs and line breaks

A paragraph is one or more consecutive lines, separated by blank line. To insert a <br />, end a line with two or more spaces.

Headers

Setext-style

Markdown:

This is an H1
=============
This is an H2
-------------

HTML:

<h1>This is an H1</h1>
<h2>This is an H2</h2>

Atx-style

Markdown:

# This is an H1
## This is an H2
### This is an H3
#### This is an H4
##### This is an H5
###### This is an H6

HTML:

<h1>This is an H1</h1>
<h2>This is an H2</h2>
<h3>This is an H3</h3>
<h4>This is an H4</h4>
<h5>This is an H5</h5>
<h6>This is an H6</h6>

Blockquotes

Markdown:

> ## This is a header.
> 
> 1.   This is the first list item.
> 2.   This is the second list item.
> 
> Here's some example code:
> 
>     return shell_exec("echo $input | $markdown_script");
>
> This is the first level of quoting.
>
> > This is nested blockquote.
>
> Back to the first level.

HTML:

<blockquote>
  <h2>This is a header.</h2>
<ol>
<li>This is the first list item.</li>
<li>This is the second list item.</li>
</ol>
<p>Here's some example code:</p>
<pre><code>return shell_exec("echo $input | $markdown_script");
</code></pre>
<p>This is the first level of quoting.</p>
<blockquote>
  <p>This is nested blockquote.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Back to the first level.</p>
</blockquote>

Lists

Unordered lists use asterisks *, pluses +, or hyphens -

Markdown:

*   Red
*   Green
*   Blue

HTML:

<ul>
<li>Red</li>
<li>Green</li>
<li>Blue</li>
</ul>

Ordered lists

Markdown:

1.  Bird
2.  McHale
3.  Parish

HTML:

<ol>
<li>Bird</li>
<li>McHale</li>
<li>Parish</li>
</ol>

Code blocks

To produce a code block, indent every line of the block by at least 4 spaces or 1 tab.

Markdown:

    tell application "Foo"
        beep
    end tell

HTML:

<pre><code>tell application "Foo"
    beep
end tell
</code></pre>

Horizontal rules

Markdown:

* * *
***
*****
- - -
__________________________________

HTML:

<hr />
<hr />
<hr />
<hr />

Span elements

inline-style

Markdown:

This is [an example](http://example.com/ "Title") inline link.

[This link](http://example.net/) has no title attribute.

HTML:

<p>This is <a href="http://example.com/" title="Title">an example</a> inline link.</p>
<p><a href="http://example.net/">This link</a> has no title attribute.</p>

reference-style

Markdown:

This is [an example][id] reference-style link.
[id]: http://example.com/  "Optional Title Here"

HTML:

<p>This is <a href="http://example.com/" title="Optional Title Here">an example</a> reference-style link.</p>

Markdown:

Visit [Daring Fireball][] for more information.
[Daring Fireball]: http://daringfireball.net/

HTML:

<p>Visit <a href="http://daringfireball.net/">Daring Fireball</a> for more information.</p>

Emphasis

Markdown:

*single asterisks*
_single underscores_
**double asterisks**
__double underscores__

HTML:

<p><em>single asterisks</em></p>
<p><em>single underscores</em></p>
<p><strong>double asterisks</strong></p>
<p><strong>double underscores</strong></p>

Code

Markdown:

Use the `printf()` function.

HTML:

<p>Use the <code>printf()</code> function.</p>

Images

inline-style

Markdown:

![Alt text](/path/to/img.jpg "Optional title")

HTML:

<p><img src="/path/to/img.jpg" alt="Alt text" title="Optional title" /></p>

reference-style

Markdown:

![Alt text](/path/to/img.jpg)

![Alt text](/path/to/img.jpg "Optional title")

HTML:

<p><img src="/path/to/img.jpg" alt="Alt text" title="" /></p>

<p><img src="/path/to/img.jpg" alt="Alt text" title="Optional title" /></p>

Miscellaneous

Markdown:

<http://example.com/>

HTML:

<p><a href="http://example.com/">http://example.com/</a></p>

Backslash escapes

The following characters could be escaped:

\   backslash
`   backtick
*   asterisk
_   underscore
{}  curly braces
[]  square brackets
()  parentheses
#   hash mark
+   plus sign
-   minus sign (hyphen)
.   dot
!   exclamation mark

Markdown:

\*literal asterisks\*

HTML:

<p>*literal asterisks*</p>

References

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