Markdown basics
Markdown has been made a markup language of choice by many different platforms including the one I use often: Github, Atlassian Jira, Stack Exchange. The language was designed to be readable as-is, without looking like it's been marked up with tags or formatting instructions (unlike HTML). Since its initial development in 2004 by John Gruber’s there have been number of efforts attempting to standarise it. John's own Perl script converting Markdown into HTML has been used as the initial definition for Markdown but since it has number of ambiguous definitions causing issues, many different standards of the language emerged. The differences are mainly around more advanced features thought and the base is rather common and this is what I'm going to concentrate on here. Also there is an inititiative called CommonMark (commonmark.org) describing itself as a strongly specified, highly compatible implementation of Markdown, with many popular individuals involved that standarises the language.
1. Headings
There are two different ways of creating headings, with # symbol where number of instances corresponds to
H1
# H1
<h1 id="h1">H1</h1>
H2
## H2
<h2 id="h2">H2</h2>
H6
###### H6
<h6 id="h6">H6</h6>
H1
H1
======
<h1 id="h1">H1</h1>
H2
H2
------
<h2 id="h2">H2</h2>
2. Text Attributes
Paragraphs are just lines.
Paragraphs are just lines.
<p>Paragraphs are just lines.</p>
Emphasis, aka italics, with asterisks or underscores.
Emphasis, aka italics, with *asterisks* or _underscores_.
<p>Emphasis, aka italics, with <em>asterisks</em> or <em>underscores</em>.
Strong emphasis, aka bold, with asterisks or underscores.
Strong emphasis, aka bold, with **asterisks** or __underscores__.
Strong emphasis, aka bold, with <strong>asterisks</strong> or <strong>underscores</strong>.
Combined emphasis with asterisks and underscores.
Combined emphasis with **asterisks and _underscores_**.
Combined emphasis with <strong>asterisks and <em>underscores</em></strong>.
Italics mixed with underscore one_two_three_four vs one_twothreefour.
Italics mixed with underscore one_two_three_four vs one_two*three*four.
Italics mixed with underscore one_two_three_four vs one_two<em>three</em>four.
Strikethrough uses two tildes. Mistaken text.
Strikethrough uses two tildes. ~~Mistaken text.~~
Strikethrough uses two tildes. <del>Mistaken text.</del>
Monospace uses backticks. monospace example.
Monospace uses backticks. `monospace` example.
Monospace uses backticks. <code>monospace</code> example.
3. Quotes
Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.
> Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.
<blockquote>
<p>Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.</p>
</blockquote>
4. Horizontal lines
Three or more hyphens, asterisks or underscores
---
***
___
<hr>
5. Links
This is a link example inside of a paragraph Visit sigman.pl now!.
This is a link example inside of a paragraph [Visit sigman.pl now!](https://sigman.pl).
This is a link example inside of a paragraph <a href="https://sigman.pl">Visit sigman.pl now!</a>.
or just in the text like that http://sigman.pl.
or just in the text like that <http://sigman.pl>.
or just in the text like that <a href="http://sigman.pl">http://sigman.pl</a>.
To create anchor links place an anchor <a name="lesson1"></a> where you want to link to and refer to it on the same page by [lesson one](#lesson1). Markdown headers are also anchors: ## lesson1
6. Images
<img src="http://blog.sigman.pl/images/sigman.pl.png" alt="sigman logo alt" title="Sigman Logo Title">
7. Lists
Unordered list:
- one
- two
- three
* one
* two
* three
<ul>
<li>one</li>
<li>two</li>
<li>three</li>
</ul>
Ordered list:
- one
- two
- three
1. one
2. two
3. three
<ol>
<li>one</li>
<li>two</li>
<li>three</li>
</ol>
Mixed:
- one
- two
- item1
- item2
- three
1. one
2. two
* item1
* item2
3. three
<ol>
<li>one</li>
<li>two
<ul>
<li>item1</li>
<li>item2</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>three</li>
</ol>
8. Tables
Colons under the head row can be used to text-align columns.
| Left-Aligned | Center Aligned | Right Aligned |
|---|---|---|
| col 3 is | some wordy text | $1600 |
| col 2 is | centered | $12 |
| zebra stripes | are neat | $1 |
| Left-Aligned | Center Aligned | Right Aligned |
| :------------ |:---------------:| -----:|
| col 3 is | some wordy text | $1600 |
| col 2 is | centered | $12 |
| zebra stripes | are neat | $1 |
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align:left">Left-Aligned</th>
<th style="text-align:center">Center Aligned</th>
<th style="text-align:right">Right Aligned</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:left">col 3 is</td>
<td style="text-align:center">some wordy text</td>
<td style="text-align:right">$1600</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:left">col 2 is</td>
<td style="text-align:center">centered</td>
<td style="text-align:right">$12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:left">zebra stripes</td>
<td style="text-align:center">are neat</td>
<td style="text-align:right">$1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
9. Code syntax
Use single backticks for inline code (previous monospace example) or three backticks as the first and last line around the code. Optionally specify the language name.
alert('hello world');
`` `javascript
alert('hello world');
`` `
<pre>alert('hello world');</pre>
10. Escaping
To escape special character, like in example if you want to have a list with a dash as a first character:
* - (dash): regular file
You would get an unexpected result:
- (dash): regular file
By escaping with backslash:
* \- (dash): regular file
We can avoid this:
- - (dash): regular file
Read more:
- Markdown cheatsheet: https://github.com/adam-p/markdown-here/wiki/Markdown-Cheatsheet
- Github Markdown: https://guides.github.com/features/mastering-markdown/