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Simplify Writing with Markdown

21 Sep 2015

It occurred to me recently that I use markdown to simplify most of my writing/publishing workflows, so I thought it would be a good idea to share a quick tutorial for others who might be interested.

Markdown


Before I begin though, a quick introduction…

What is markdown?

Markdown is a plain text markup format created by John Gruber.

Markdown converts easily to formatted HTML which makes it a great tool for writing and publishing.

In addition to the original version, there are several markdown variations. Examples include:

What are the benefits of markdown?

  • It’s easy to learn
  • Significantly speeds up writing/publishing workflows
  • Can be created, edited and stored on a variety of platforms and devices because it’s just plain text
  • Is a supported format on an increasing number of writing tools and services

Markdown workflow examples?

I use markdown to:

I plan to share some of my favorite writing/publishing workflow details in upcoming posts.


Now for the tutorial…

In the interest of time, I’ll only be highlighting markdown elements I use most frequently:

  • Paragraph
  • Text Emphasis
  • Headings
  • Blockquote
  • List
  • Horizontal Rule
  • Link
  • Image
  • Table
  • Code



Paragraph

  • Begin markdown paragraph text at the left margin.

  • Separate paragraphs from other markdown elements (including other paragraphs) with one or more blank lines.

  • Lines of text within a paragraph are continuous. To separate lines within the same paragraph, add two space characters to the end of the previous line.




Text Emphasis

  • Markdown text emphasis can be inserted inline and does not need to begin at the left margin.

  • Create emphasis by surrounding text with special symbols.

  • To display text as Bold, surround text in:
    • two consecutive asterisks **
    • two consecutive underscores __
  • To display text as Italics, surround text in:
    • a single asterisk *
    • a single underscore _
  • To display text in Bold Italics, surround text in:
    • three consecutive asterisks ***
    • three consecutive underscores ___
  • To display text as Strikethrough, surround text in:
    • two consecutive tildas ~~




Headings

  • There are six levels of headings possible in markdown.

  • Begin markdown headings at the left margin.

  • Create a heading by entering the # symbol followed by a space character and the heading text.

  • Enter the number of # symbols per heading level.




Blockquote

  • Begin markdown blockquotes at the left margin.

  • Create a blockquote by entering a > symbol followed by a space character and the blockquote text.

  • Blockquotes can also be nested by entering consecutive > symbols.




List

Markdown supplies both Ordered and Unordered lists.

  • Ordered List:

    • Begin a markdown list item at the left margin.

    • Enter the list item number followed by a . symbol followed by a space character and the item text.

    • Each list item can also be numbered with 1.and the correct list number will be displayed.

    • Lists can be nested by including a two space character indention.

  • Unordered List:

    • Begin a markdown list item at the left margin.

    • Type a *, - or + symbol followed by a space character and the item text.

    • Lists can be nested by including a two space character indention.




Horizontal Rule

  • Begin a markdown horizontal rule at the left margin.

  • Create a horizontal rule (line break) by entering:

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




  • Markdown links can be inserted inline and do not need to begin at the left margin.

  • Add links by entering link text enclosed in [] symbols followed by the full link url enclosed in () symbols.

    • Example: [Link Text](http://someurl)

    • Example with link title: [Link Text](http://someurl "Link Title")




Image

  • Markdown images can be inserted inline and do not need to begin at the left margin.

  • Add images by entering a ! symbol followed by the image alt text enclosed in [] symbols followed by the full url of the image enclosed in () symbols.

    • Example: ![Image Alt Text](http://someimageurl)




Table

  • Begin a markdown table at the left margin.

  • Tables can be created by adding pipe dividers (| symbol) between each table cell.

    • Table Header vs Table Body - separate the table header row from table body rows by adding a row of cells containing dashes

    • Text Alignment Within Table Column - include colon : symbols within the dash row to define left-aligned, right-aligned, or center-aligned text in table body cells

    • Inline Markdown - table cell text can include inline markdown such as Links and Text Empahsis (see corresponding elements above)




Code

  • Code snippets can be included in markdown.
    • Inline Code - wrap inline code with backtick ` symbols
    • Indented Code - indent code blocks with 4 space characters
    • Fenced Code Blocks - wrap code with backtick ``` symbols to create a multi-line block of code


Posted with : markdown

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