The Ultimate Markdown Guide

Welcome to your complete guide to Markdown. Markdown is a lightweight markup language with plain-text-formatting syntax. It’s designed so that it can be converted to HTML and many other formats using a tool by the same name. It is often used to format readme files, for writing messages in online discussion forums, and to create rich text using a plain text editor.

Why Use Markdown?

• Simplicity: The syntax is easy to learn and read, focusing on writing rather than complex formatting buttons.
• Portability: As plain text, Markdown files can be opened by virtually any text editor on any device.
• Flexibility: It can be converted into a wide range of formats, including HTML, PDF, and more.
• Platform Support: Widely used on platforms like GitHub, Reddit, Trello, and right here at MarkMind AI!

Basic Syntax

These are the fundamental elements you'll use most often.

Headings

To create a heading, add hash marks (#) in front of a word or phrase. The number of hash marks determines the level of the heading.

# Heading 1

## Heading 2

### Heading 3

Paragraphs & Line Breaks

To create paragraphs, use a blank line to separate one or more lines of text. For a simple line break (a <br> tag in HTML), end a line with two or more spaces, then press Enter.

First paragraph.

Second paragraph.

First line.  
Second line.

Emphasis

You can add emphasis to text by making it bold, italic, or both.

**Bold text** or __Bold text__

*Italic text* or _Italic text_

***Bold and Italic***

~~Strikethrough~~

Blockquotes

To create a blockquote, add a > in front of a paragraph.

> This is a blockquote.

Lists

You can organize items into ordered and unordered lists.

- First item
- Second item
  - Nested item

1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item

Code

To denote a word or phrase as code, enclose it in backticks (`).

Use `console.log()` to print.

Horizontal Rules

To create a horizontal rule, use three or more asterisks (***), dashes (---), or underscores (___) on a line by themselves.

---

Links

To create a link, enclose the link text in brackets followed immediately by the URL in parentheses.

[MarkMind AI](https://www.markmind.dev/)

Images

The syntax for images is similar to links, but with a preceding exclamation mark. Enclose the alt text in brackets, followed by the image URL in parentheses.

![Tux, the Linux mascot](/favicon.ico)

Extended Syntax

These elements extend the basic syntax to include features like tables, fenced code blocks, and more.

Tables

To add a table, use three or more hyphens (---) to create each column’s header, and use pipes (|) to separate each column.

| Syntax | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Header | Title |
| Paragraph | Text |

Fenced Code Blocks

Create fenced code blocks by placing triple backticks ``` before and after the code block. You can add an optional language identifier to enable syntax highlighting in many renderers.

```javascript
console.log('Hello, Markdown!');
```

console.log('Hello, Markdown!');

Task Lists

Task lists allow you to create a list of items with checkboxes.

- [x] Write the press release
- [ ] Update the website
- [ ] Contact the media

Escaping Characters

To display a literal character that would otherwise be used for formatting, add a backslash (\) in front of it.

\\*Without the backslash, this would be a bullet point.\\*