What is Markdown?

Markdown is a plain text formatting syntax for writers. It allows you to quickly write structured content for the web, and have it seamlessly converted to clean, structured HTML.

Markdown is widely used for formatting readme files, writing messages in online discussion forums, and creating rich text using a plain text editor. Its simplicity and readability make it a popular choice for developers, writers, and content creators.

Basic Markdown Formatting

Headings

Headings are created by adding one to six # symbols before your heading text. The number of # symbols corresponds to the level of the heading.

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
#### Heading 4
##### Heading 5
###### Heading 6

Text

You can format text to be italic, bold, or bold-italic using asterisks (*) or underscores (_).

*italic* or _italic_
**bold**
***bold-italic***

To add a link: wrap the text which you want to be linked in square brackets, followed by the URL to be linked to in parenthesis.

[text](URL)

Example: Refresh

Images

Markdown images have exactly the same formatting as a link, except they’re prefixed with a !. This time, the text in brackets is the alt text - or the descriptive text for the image.

![ImageTitle](ImageUrl)

Lists

Unordered Lists

For a bullet list, just prefix each line with a *, -, or +. You can also create nested lists; just indent a line with 4 spaces and it will be nested under the line above.

* Main
* Main
    * Sub
* Main

Example:

• Feature
• Feature
  • Components
• Feature

Ordered Lists

Ordered lists are created by prefixing each line with a number followed by a period.

1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item
    1. Indented item
    2. Indented item
4. Fourth item

Example:

1. Step 1
2. Step 2
3. Step 3
   1. Sub-step 1
   2. Sub-step 2
4. Step 4

Quotes

Blockquotes are created by prefixing the line with a > symbol.

> Your quotes go here.

Example:

I drink and I know things!
-Tyrion

Code

Inline code can be created by wrapping text in backticks (`).

This is `inline code`.

For code blocks, wrap the code in triple backticks ( ```) or indent each line with 4 spaces.

```
function helloWorld() {
    console.log("Hello, world!");
}
```

Example:

function helloWorld() {
    console.log("Hello, world!");
}

Horizontal Rules

Horizontal rules can be created by using three or more hyphens (-), asterisks (*), or underscores (_).

---

Example:

Tables

Tables can be created using pipes (|) and hyphens (-).

| Header 1 | Header 2 | Header 3 |
|----------|----------|----------|
| Row 1    | Data     | Data     |
| Row 2    | Data     | Data     |

Example:

Syntax	Description
Header	Title
Paragraph	Text

Task Lists

Task lists can be created using - [ ] for unchecked items and - [x] for checked items.

- [x] Completed task
- [ ] Incomplete task

Example:

• Write the press release
• Update the website
• Contact the media

Escaping Characters

If you need to display a character that is used for formatting in Markdown, you can escape it using a backslash (\).

\*This is not italic\*

Example: *This is not italic*

Inline HTML

If you need more control over your content, you can use inline HTML within your Markdown.

<p style="color:red;">This is a red paragraph.</p>

Example:

This is a red paragraph.

Footnotes

Footnotes can be added using the following syntax:

Here is a footnote reference,[^1] and another.[^2]

[^1]: This is the first footnote.
[^2]: This is the second footnote.

Example: Here is a footnote reference,¹ and another.²

Strikethrough

Strikethrough text can be created using two tildes (~~).

~~This text is strikethrough.~~

Example: This text is strikethrough.

Emojis

You can add emojis by using the appropriate shortcode.

:smile: :heart: :rocket:

Example: :smile: :heart: :rocket:

Advanced Formatting

Definition Lists

Some Markdown processors support definition lists.

Term 1
: Definition 1

Term 2
: Definition 2

Example: Term 1 : Definition 1

Term 2 : Definition 2

Abbreviations

Some Markdown processors support abbreviations.

*[HTML]: HyperText Markup Language
*[CSS]: Cascading Style Sheets

The HTML specification is maintained by the W3C.

Example: *[HTML]: HyperText Markup Language *[CSS]: Cascading Style Sheets

The HTML specification is maintained by the W3C.

Superscript and Subscript

Some Markdown processors support superscript and subscript.

H~2~O and 2^10^

Example: H2O and 2^10^

May or may not get updated, Come back to check!

This is my ultimate guide to Markdown readme. Feel free to contribute and add more content to this guide!

Footnotes

1. This is the first footnote. ↩

2. This is the second footnote. ↩