Ultimate Guide to Markdown

This article offers a quick cheatsheet of basic Markdown syntax that can be used in Hugo content files.

Over the years I have found writing content in Markdown or reStructureText is way more time efficent as compared to writing html. WYSIWYG editors will help reduce the complexity of this task but they can result in not so good looking web pages.

Markdown is a better way to write HTML, without all the complexities and ugliness that usually accompanies it.

Some benefits that can be attributed to Markdown are:

1. Markdown is simple to learn, with minimal extra characters, so it’s also quicker to write content.
2. Less chance of errors when writing in Markdown.
3. Produces valid XHTML output.
4. Keeps the content and the visual display separate, so you cannot mess up the look of your site.
5. Write in any text editor or Markdown application you like.
6. 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!

Headings

Headings from h2 through h6 are constructed with a # for each level:

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## h2 Heading
### h3 Heading
#### h4 Heading
##### h5 Heading
###### h6 Heading

The HTML looks like this:

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<h2>h2 Heading</h2>
<h3>h3 Heading</h3>
<h4>h4 Heading</h4>
<h5>h5 Heading</h5>
<h6>h6 Heading</h6>

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### A Great Heading {#custom-id}

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<h3 id="custom-id">A Great Heading</h3>

Alternate Syntax

Alternatively, on the line below the text, add any number of == characters for heading level 1 or – characters for heading level 2.

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h1 Heading
==========
h2 Heading
----------

The HTML looks like this:

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<h1>Heading level 1</h1>
<h2>Heading level 2</h2>

Best Practices

Markdown applications don’t agree on how to handle missing blank lines between a heading and the surrounding paragraphs. For compatibility, separate paragraphs and headings with one or more blank lines.

Paragraphs

To create paragraphs, use a blank line to separate one or more lines of text.

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I really like using Markdown.

I think I'll use it to format all of my documents from now on.

The HTML looks like this:

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<p>I really like using Markdown.</p>

<p>I think I'll use it to format all of my documents from now on.</p>

The rendered output looks like this:

I really like using Markdown.

I think I’ll use it to format all of my documents from now on.

Best Practices

Don’t indent paragraphs with spaces or tabs.

Line Breaks

To create a line break (<br>), end a line with two or more spaces, and then type return.

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This is the first line.  
And this is the second line.

The HTML looks like this:

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<p>This is the first line.<br>
And this is the second line.</p>

The rendered output looks like this:

This is the first line.
And this is the second line.

Best Practices

You can use two or more spaces (referred to as “trailing whitespace”) for line breaks in nearly every Markdown application, but it’s controversial. It’s hard to see trailing whitespace in an editor, and many people accidentally or intentionally put two spaces after every sentence. For this reason, you may want to use something other than trailing whitespace for line breaks. Fortunately, there is another option supported by nearly every Markdown application: the <br> HTML tag.

For compatibility, use trailing white space or the <br> HTML tag at the end of the line.

There are two other options I don’t recommend using. CommonMark and a few other lightweight markup languages let you type a backslash () at the end of the line, but not all Markdown applications support this, so it isn’t a great option from a compatibility perspective. And at least a couple lightweight markup languages don’t require anything at the end of the line — just type return and they’ll create a line break.

Comment

Comments should be HTML compatible.

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<!--
This is a comment
-->

Comment below should NOT be seen:

Horizontal Rules

The HTML <hr> element is for creating a “thematic break” between paragraph-level elements. In Markdown, you can create a <hr> with any of the following:

• ___: three consecutive underscores
• ---: three consecutive dashes
• ***: three consecutive asterisks

The rendered output looks like this:

Best Practices

Body Copy

Body copy written as normal, plain text will be wrapped with <p></p> tags in the rendered HTML.

So this body copy:

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, graecis denique ei vel, at duo primis mandamus. Et legere ocurreret pri,
animal tacimates complectitur ad cum. Cu eum inermis inimicus efficiendi. Labore officiis his ex,
soluta officiis concludaturque ei qui, vide sensibus vim ad.

The HTML looks like this:

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<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, graecis denique ei vel, at duo primis mandamus. Et legere ocurreret pri, animal tacimates complectitur ad cum. Cu eum inermis inimicus efficiendi. Labore officiis his ex, soluta officiis concludaturque ei qui, vide sensibus vim ad.</p>

A line break can be done with one blank line.

Inline HTML

If you need a certain HTML tag (with a class) you can simply use HTML:

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Paragraph in Markdown.

<div class="class">
    This is <b>HTML</b>
</div>

Paragraph in Markdown.

Emphasis

Bold

For emphasizing a snippet of text with a heavier font-weight.

The following snippet of text is rendered as bold text.

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**rendered as bold text**
__rendered as bold text__
rendered as **bold** text

The HTML looks like this:

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<strong>rendered as bold text</strong>
rendered as <strong>bold</strong> text

Best Practices

Markdown applications don’t agree on how to handle underscores in the middle of a word. For compatibility, use asterisks to bold the middle of a word for emphasis.

Italics

For emphasizing a snippet of text with italics.

The following snippet of text is rendered as italicized text.

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*rendered as italicized text*
_rendered as italicized text_
rendered as *italicized* text

The HTML looks like this:

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<em>rendered as italicized text</em>
rendered as <em>italicized</em> text

Best Practices

Markdown applications don’t agree on how to handle underscores in the middle of a word. For compatibility, use asterisks to italicize the middle of a word for emphasis.

Strikethrough

In GFMGitHub flavored Markdown you can do strikethroughs. You can strikethrough words by putting a horizontal line through the center of them. The result looks like this. This feature allows you to indicate that certain words are a mistake not meant for inclusion in the document. To strikethrough words, use two tilde symbols (~~) before and after the words.

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~~Strike through this text.~~

The rendered output looks like this:

Strike through this text.

The HTML looks like this:

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<del>Strike through this text.</del>

Combination

Bold, italics, and strikethrough can be used in combination.

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***bold and italics***
~~**strikethrough and bold**~~
~~*strikethrough and italics*~~
~~***bold, italics and strikethrough***~~

The rendered output looks like this:

bold and italics

strikethrough and bold

strikethrough and italics

bold, italics and strikethrough

The HTML looks like this:

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<em><strong>bold and italics</strong></em>
<del><strong>strikethrough and bold</strong></del>
<del><em>strikethrough and italics</em></del>
<del><em><strong>bold, italics and strikethrough</strong></em></del>

Blockquotes

For quoting blocks of content from another source within your document.

Add > before any text you want to quote:

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> **Fusion Drive** combines a hard drive with a flash storage (solid-state drive) and presents it as a single logical volume with the space of both drives combined.

The rendered output looks like this:

Fusion Drive combines a hard drive with a flash storage (solid-state drive) and presents it as a single logical volume with the space of both drives combined.

The HTML looks like this:

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<blockquote>
  <p>
    <strong>Fusion Drive</strong> combines a hard drive with a flash storage (solid-state drive) and presents it as a single logical volume with the space of both drives combined.
  </p>
</blockquote>

Blockquotes with Multiple Paragraphs

Blockquotes can contain multiple paragraphs. Add a > on the blank lines between the paragraphs.

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> Dorothy followed her through many of the beautiful rooms in her castle.
>
> The Witch bade her clean the pots and kettles and sweep the floor and keep the fire fed with wood.

The rendered output looks like this:

Dorothy followed her through many of the beautiful rooms in her castle.

The Witch bade her clean the pots and kettles and sweep the floor and keep the fire fed with wood.

Nested Blockquotes

Blockquotes can be nested. Add a » in front of the paragraph you want to nest.

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> Donec massa lacus, ultricies a ullamcorper in, fermentum sed augue.
Nunc augue augue, aliquam non hendrerit ac, commodo vel nisi.
>> Sed adipiscing elit vitae augue consectetur a gravida nunc vehicula. Donec auctor
odio non est accumsan facilisis. Aliquam id turpis in dolor tincidunt mollis ac eu diam.

The rendered output looks like this:

Donec massa lacus, ultricies a ullamcorper in, fermentum sed augue. Nunc augue augue, aliquam non hendrerit ac, commodo vel nisi.

Sed adipiscing elit vitae augue consectetur a gravida nunc vehicula. Donec auctor odio non est accumsan facilisis. Aliquam id turpis in dolor tincidunt mollis ac eu diam.

Blockquotes with Other Elements

Blockquotes can contain other Markdown formatted elements. Not all elements can be used — you’ll need to experiment to see which ones work.

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> **The quarterly results look great!**
>
> - Revenue was off the chart.
> - Profits were higher than ever.
>
>  *Everything* is going according to **plan**.

The rendered output looks like this:

The quarterly results look great!

• Revenue was off the chart.
• Profits were higher than ever.

Everything is going according to plan.

Lists

Unordered

A list of items in which the order of the items does not explicitly matter.

You may use any of the following symbols to denote bullets for each list item:

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* valid bullet
- valid bullet
+ valid bullet

For example:

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* Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
* Consectetur adipiscing elit
* Integer molestie lorem at massa
* Facilisis in pretium nisl aliquet
* Nulla volutpat aliquam velit
  * Phasellus iaculis neque
  * Purus sodales ultricies
  * Vestibulum laoreet porttitor sem
  * Ac tristique libero volutpat at
* Faucibus porta lacus fringilla vel
* Aenean sit amet erat nunc
* Eget porttitor lorem

The rendered output looks like this:

• Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
• Consectetur adipiscing elit
• Integer molestie lorem at massa
• Facilisis in pretium nisl aliquet
• Nulla volutpat aliquam velit
  • Phasellus iaculis neque
  • Purus sodales ultricies
  • Vestibulum laoreet porttitor sem
  • Ac tristique libero volutpat at
• Faucibus porta lacus fringilla vel
• Aenean sit amet erat nunc
• Eget porttitor lorem

The HTML looks like this:

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<ul>
  <li>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet</li>
  <li>Consectetur adipiscing elit</li>
  <li>Integer molestie lorem at massa</li>
  <li>Facilisis in pretium nisl aliquet</li>
  <li>Nulla volutpat aliquam velit
    <ul>
      <li>Phasellus iaculis neque</li>
      <li>Purus sodales ultricies</li>
      <li>Vestibulum laoreet porttitor sem</li>
      <li>Ac tristique libero volutpat at</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>Faucibus porta lacus fringilla vel</li>
  <li>Aenean sit amet erat nunc</li>
  <li>Eget porttitor lorem</li>
</ul>

Ordered

A list of items in which the order of items does explicitly matter.

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1. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
2. Consectetur adipiscing elit
3. Integer molestie lorem at massa
4. Facilisis in pretium nisl aliquet
5. Nulla volutpat aliquam velit
6. Faucibus porta lacus fringilla vel
7. Aenean sit amet erat nunc
8. Eget porttitor lorem

The rendered output looks like this:

1. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
2. Consectetur adipiscing elit
3. Integer molestie lorem at massa
4. Facilisis in pretium nisl aliquet
5. Nulla volutpat aliquam velit
6. Faucibus porta lacus fringilla vel
7. Aenean sit amet erat nunc
8. Eget porttitor lorem

The HTML looks like this:

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<ol>
  <li>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet</li>
  <li>Consectetur adipiscing elit</li>
  <li>Integer molestie lorem at massa</li>
  <li>Facilisis in pretium nisl aliquet</li>
  <li>Nulla volutpat aliquam velit</li>
  <li>Faucibus porta lacus fringilla vel</li>
  <li>Aenean sit amet erat nunc</li>
  <li>Eget porttitor lorem</li>
</ol>

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1. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
1. Consectetur adipiscing elit
1. Integer molestie lorem at massa
1. Facilisis in pretium nisl aliquet
1. Nulla volutpat aliquam velit
1. Faucibus porta lacus fringilla vel
1. Aenean sit amet erat nunc
1. Eget porttitor lorem

Task Lists

Task lists allow you to create a list of items with checkboxes. To create a task list, add dashes (-) and brackets with a space ([ ]) before task list items. To select a checkbox, add an x in between the brackets ([x]).

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

The rendered output looks like this:

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

Definition Lists

Some Markdown processors allow you to create definition lists of terms and their corresponding definitions. To create a definition list, type the term on the first line. On the next line, type a colon followed by a space and the definition.

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First Term
: This is the definition of the first term.

Second Term
: This is one definition of the second term.
: This is another definition of the second term.

The HTML looks like this:

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<dl>
  <dt>First Term</dt>
  <dd>This is the definition of the first term.</dd>
  <dt>Second Term</dt>
  <dd>This is one definition of the second term. </dd>
  <dd>This is another definition of the second term.</dd>
</dl>

The rendered output looks like this:

First Term

This is the definition of the first term.

Second Term

This is one definition of the second term.

This is another definition of the second term.

Adding Elements in Lists

To add another element in a list while preserving the continuity of the list, indent the element four spaces or one tab, as shown in the following examples.

Paragraphs

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* This is the first list item.
* Here's the second list item.

  I need to add another paragraph below the second list item.

* And here's the third list item.

• This is the first list item.

• Here’s the second list item.

  I need to add another paragraph below the second list item.

• And here’s the third list item.

Blockquotes

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* This is the first list item.
* Here's the second list item.

  > A blockquote would look great below the second list item.

* And here's the third list item.

The rendered output looks like this:

• This is the first list item.

• Here’s the second list item.

  A blockquote would look great below the second list item.

• And here’s the third list item.

Code

Inline Code

Wrap inline snippets of code with backticks `.

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In this example, `<section></section>` should be wrapped as **code**.

The rendered output looks like this:

In this example, <section></section> should be wrapped as code.

The HTML looks like this:

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<p>
  In this example, <code>&lt;section&gt;&lt;/section&gt;</code> should be wrapped with <strong>code</strong>.
</p>

Indented Code

Or indent several lines of code by at least four spaces, as in:

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    // Some comments
    line 1 of code
    line 2 of code
    line 3 of code

The rendered output looks like this:

// Some comments
line 1 of code
line 2 of code
line 3 of code

The HTML looks like this:

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<pre>
  <code>
    // Some comments
    line 1 of code
    line 2 of code
    line 3 of code
  </code>
</pre>

Block Fenced Code

Use “fences” ``` to block in multiple lines of code with a language attribute.

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```markdown
Sample text here...
```

The HTML looks like this:

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<pre language-html>
  <code>Sample text here...</code>
</pre>

Syntax Highlighting

GFMGitHub Flavored Markdown also supports syntax highlighting.

To activate it, simply add the file extension of the language you want to use directly after the first code “fence”, ```js, and syntax highlighting will automatically be applied in the rendered HTML.

For example, to apply syntax highlighting to JavaScript code:

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```js
grunt.initConfig({
  assemble: {
    options: {
      assets: 'docs/assets',
      data: 'src/data/*.{json,yml}',
      helpers: 'src/custom-helpers.js',
      partials: ['src/partials/**/*.{hbs,md}']
    },
    pages: {
      options: {
        layout: 'default.hbs'
      },
      files: {
        './': ['src/templates/pages/index.hbs']
      }
    }
  }
};
```

The rendered output looks like this:

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grunt.initConfig({
  assemble: {
    options: {
      assets: 'docs/assets',
      data: 'src/data/*.{json,yml}',
      helpers: 'src/custom-helpers.js',
      partials: ['src/partials/**/*.{hbs,md}']
    },
    pages: {
      options: {
        layout: 'default.hbs'
      },
      files: {
        './': ['src/templates/pages/index.hbs']
      }
    }
  }
};

Tables

Tables are created by adding pipes as dividers between each cell, and by adding a line of dashes (also separated by bars) beneath the header. Note that the pipes do not need to be vertically aligned.

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| Option | Description |
| ------ | ----------- |
| data   | path to data files to supply the data that will be passed into templates. |
| engine | engine to be used for processing templates. Handlebars is the default. |
| ext    | extension to be used for dest files. |

The rendered output looks like this:

The HTML looks like this:

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<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Option</th>
      <th>Description</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>data</td>
      <td>path to data files to supply the data that will be passed into templates.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>engine</td>
      <td>engine to be used for processing templates. Handlebars is the default.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>ext</td>
      <td>extension to be used for dest files.</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

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| Option | Description |
|:------:| -----------:|
| data   | path to data files to supply the data that will be passed into templates. |
| engine | engine to be used for processing templates. Handlebars is the default. |
| ext    | extension to be used for dest files. |

Formatting Text in Tables

You can format the text within tables. For example, you can add links, code (words or phrases in backticks (`) only, not code blocks and emphasis.

You can’t add headings, blockquotes, lists, horizontal rules, images, or HTML tags.

Escaping Pipe Characters in Tables

You can display a pipe (|) character in a table by using its HTML character code (&#124;).

Links

Basic Link

To quickly turn a URL or email address into a link, enclose it in angle brackets. To create a link, enclose the link text in brackets (e.g., [Duck Duck Go]) and then follow it immediately with the URL in parentheses (e.g., (https://duckduckgo.com)).

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<https://assemble.io>
<contact@revolunet.com>
[Assemble](https://assemble.io)

The rendered output looks like this (hover over the link, there is no tooltip):

https://assemble.io

contact@revolunet.com

Assemble

The HTML looks like this:

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<a href="https://assemble.io">https://assemble.io</a>
<a href="mailto:contact@revolunet.com">contact@revolunet.com</a>
<a href="https://assemble.io">Assemble</a>

Add a Title

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[Upstage](https://github.com/upstage/ "Visit Upstage!")

The rendered output looks like this (hover over the link, there should be a tooltip):

Upstage

The HTML looks like this:

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<a href="https://github.com/upstage/" title="Visit Upstage!">Upstage</a>

Named Anchors

Named anchors enable you to jump to the specified anchor point on the same page. For example, each of these chapters:

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## Table of Contents
  * [Chapter 1](#chapter-1)
  * [Chapter 2](#chapter-2)
  * [Chapter 3](#chapter-3)

will jump to these sections:

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## Chapter 1 <a id="chapter-1"></a>
Content for chapter one.

## Chapter 2 <a id="chapter-2"></a>
Content for chapter one.

## Chapter 3 <a id="chapter-3"></a>
Content for chapter one.

Formatting Links

To emphasize links, add asterisks before and after the brackets and parentheses. To denote links as code, add backticks in the brackets.

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I love supporting the **[EFF](https://eff.org)**.
This is the *[Markdown Guide](https://www.markdownguide.org)*.
See the section on [`code`](#code).
The rendered output looks like this:

I love supporting the EFF.

This is the Markdown Guide.

See the section on code.

The rendered output looks like this:

Automatic URL Linking

Many Markdown processors automatically turn URLs into links. That means if you type http://www.example.com, your Markdown processor will automatically turn it into a link even though you haven’t used brackets.

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http://www.example.com

The rendered output looks like this:

http://www.example.com

Disabling Automatic URL Linking

If you don’t want a URL to be automatically linked, you can remove the link by denoting the URL as code with backticks.

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`http://www.example.com`

The rendered output looks like this:

http://www.example.com

Best Practices

Markdown applications don’t agree on how to handle spaces in the middle of a URL. For compatibility, try to URL encode any spaces with %20.

Images

Images have a similar syntax to links but include a preceding exclamation point.

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![Minion](https://octodex.github.com/images/ironcat.jpg)

or:

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![Alt text](https://octodex.github.com/images/xtocat.jpg "The X-tocat")

Like links, images also have a footnote style syntax:

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![Alt text][id]

With a reference later in the document defining the URL location:

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[id]: https://octodex.github.com/images/dojocat.jpg  "The Dojocat"

Who knew there was a way to do gifs as well.

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![Daftpunktocat-Guy](https://octodex.github.com/images/daftpunktocat-guy.gif "The Daftpunktocat Guy")

Emoji

There are two ways to add emoji to Markdown files: copy and paste the emoji into your Markdown-formatted text, or type emoji shortcodes.

Copying and Pasting Emoji

In most cases, you can simply copy an emoji from a source like Emojipedia and paste it into your document. Many Markdown applications will automatically display the emoji in the Markdown-formatted text. The HTML and PDF files you export from your Markdown application should display the emoji.

Using Emoji Shortcodes

Some Markdown applications allow you to insert emoji by typing emoji shortcodes. These begin and end with a colon and include the name of an emoji.

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Gone camping! ⛺ Be back soon.

That is so funny! 😂

The rendered output looks like this:

Gone camping! ⛺ Be back soon.

That is so funny! 😂

Footnotes

Footnotes allow you to add notes and references without cluttering the body of the document. When you create a footnote, a superscript number with a link appears where you added the footnote reference. Readers can click the link to jump to the content of the footnote at the bottom of the page.

To create a footnote reference, add a caret and an identifier inside brackets ([^1]). Identifiers can be numbers or words, but they can’t contain spaces or tabs. Identifiers only correlate the footnote reference with the footnote itself — in the output, footnotes are numbered sequentially.

Add the footnote using another caret and number inside brackets with a colon and text ([^1]: My footnote.). You don’t have to put footnotes at the end of the document. You can put them anywhere except inside other elements like lists, block quotes, and tables.

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This is a digital footnote[^1].
This is a footnote with "label"[^label] and here's a longer one.[^bignote]

[^1]: This is a digital footnote
[^label]: This is a footnote with "label"

[^bignote]: Here's one with multiple paragraphs and code.

    Indent paragraphs to include them in the footnote.

    `{ my code }`

    Add as many paragraphs as you like.

The rendered output looks like this:

This is a digital footnote¹. This is a footnote with “label”² and here’s a longer one.³