This article offers a sample of basic Markdown syntax that can be used to power this site.
ℹ️ Note
This article is a shameful copy of the great Grav original page.
Why Markdown?
Let’s face it: Writing content for the Web is tiresome. WYSIWYG editors help alleviate this task, but they generally result in horrible code, or worse yet, ugly web pages.
Markdown is a better way to write HTML, without all the complexities and ugliness that usually accompanies it.
Some of the key benefits are:
- Markdown is simple to learn, with minimal extra characters, so it’s also quicker to write content.
- Less chance of errors when writing in Markdown.
- Produces valid XHTML output.
- Keeps the content and the visual display separate, so you cannot mess up the look of your site.
- Write in any text editor or Markdown application you like.
- Markdown is a joy to use!
John Gruber, the author of Markdown, puts it like this:
The overriding design goal for Markdown’s formatting syntax is to make it as readable as possible. The idea is that a Markdown-formatted document should be publishable as-is, as plain text, without looking like it’s been marked up with tags or formatting instructions. While Markdown’s syntax has been influenced by several existing text-to-HTML filters, the single biggest source of inspiration for Markdown’s syntax is the format of plain text email.
— John Gruber
Without further delay, let us go over the main elements of Markdown and what the resulting HTML looks like!
ℹ️ Note
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Headings
Headings from h2 through h6 are constructed with a # for each level:
## h2 Heading
### h3 Heading
#### h4 Heading
##### h5 Heading
###### h6 HeadingThe HTML looks like this:
<h2>h2 Heading</h2>
<h3>h3 Heading</h3>
<h4>h4 Heading</h4>
<h5>h5 Heading</h5>
<h6>h6 Heading</h6>ℹ️ Note
To add a custom heading ID, enclose the custom ID in curly braces on the same line as the heading:
### A Great Heading {#custom-id}The HTML looks like this:
<h3 id="custom-id">A Great Heading</h3>