This is a text-only version of the following page on https://raymii.org:
---
Title : Introduction to Markdown
Author : Remy van Elst
Date : 12-06-2011
URL : https://raymii.org/s/tutorials/Markdown_Introduction_Tutorial_Overview.html
Format : Markdown/HTML
---
Markdown is a lightweight markup language. In this article I'll introduce you to
Markdown, give a few examples and an overview of markdown-related software.
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#### What is a lightweight markup language?
A lightweight markup language is a markup language with a easy and simple syntax, designed to be easy for a human to enter with a simple text editor, and easy to read in its raw form.
Lightweight markup languages are used in applications where people might be expected to read the document source as well as the rendered output. For instance, a person downloading a software library might prefer to read the documentation in a text editor rather than a browser.
Another application is for entry in web-based publishing, such as weblogs and wikis, where the input interface is a simple text box. The server software converts the input to a common document markup language like HTML or XHTML.
[Wikipedia Article][2]
#### What is Markdown?
From the creator of markdown:
Markdown is a text-to-HTML conversion tool for web writers. Markdown allows you to write using an easy-to-read, easy-to-write plain text format, then convert it to structurally valid XHTML (or HTML). [DaringFireball.net][2]
MarkDown lets you write for the web, using simple syntax which is understandable
even if it is not converted to HTML.
#### Advantages of markdown
* Write articles and texts faster than in HTML
* Easy to read when not converted
* Very fast to learn
* HTML can be embedded very easy
* A lot of applications compatible with it
#### Disadvantages of markdown
* No Table support (some dialects have it, but the standard does not).
* No text colour options (you need to use html for that)
* Some dialects support more options than others.
* Targeted at web style markup
#### Applications & Websites
There are a lot of sites that support and use markdown. I will also mention a
few editors with markdown support.
Altough every text editor is a markdown editor, these applications have extra
features like live preview or a handy button bar.
[Official Markdown Page][3]
##### Websites that support markdown as a markup language
* [StackOverFlow][4]
* [Tumblr][5]
* [Posterous][21]
* Wordpress has plugins
* Dokuwiki & Mediawiki have plugins
##### Online markdown editors
* [Markdownr][6]
* [Dingus][4]
* [John Combe's editor][7]
* [CTRLSHIFT][8]
* [online markdown editor by werner robitza][9]
* [Backpager][10]
* [MarkItUp][11]
* [Hashify][12]
##### Offline Markdown editors
This is a list sorted by Operating System
###### MAC OS X
* [Marked][13]
* [MarkMyWords][14]
* [ByWord][15]
* [Mou][16]
###### Windows
* [Markdownpad][17]
* [WriteMonkey][18]
* [Sublimetext][19]
###### Linux
* [ReText][20]
* Any of the online editors
#### Examples
Below I'll give some examples, both HTML and Markdown code.
##### Headers
In Markdown:
# This is an H1
## This is an H2
###### This is an H6
In HTML:
<h1>This is an H1</h1>
<h2>This is an H2</h2>
<h6>This is an H6</h2>
##### Unordered Lists
In Markdown:
* unordered list
* item 2
- Dashes
* or stars
+ or Plusses
* also subitems
- in sublists
* Doesn't matter, all lists
In HTML:
<ul>
<li>unordered list </li>
<li>item 2</li>
<li>Dashes</li>
<li>or stars</li>
<li>or Plusses</li>
<ul>
<li> also subitems</li>
<li> in sublists</li>
</ul>
<li>Doesn't matter, all lists</li>
</ul>
##### Ordered Lists
In Markdown:
1. Item 1
2. Item 2
1. Item 3
3. Item 4
1. Subitem 1
2. Subitem 2
4. Item 5
In HTML:
<ol>
<li>Item 1<br>
</li>
<li>Item 2<br>
</li>
<li>Item 3<br>
</li>
<li>Item 4<br>
<ol>
<li>Subitem 1</li>
<li>Subitem 2</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Item 5</li>
</ol>
##### Blockquotes
In Markdown:
> blockquote. Lalalalalala
> second line of blockquote
> and third line
In HTML:
<blockquote>
<p>blockquote. Lalalalalala<br>
second line of blockquote<br>
and third line</p>
</blockquote>
##### Horizontal Lines
In Markdown:
---
- - - -
****************************
In HTML:
<hr />
<hr />
<hr />
##### Links
In Markdown:
[link name](http://example.org)
[link name 2][id]
(elsewhere on the page)
[id]: http://address.ext "title of the link"
In HTML:
<a href="httpx://linkaddres.ext">link name</a><br>
<a href="httpx://address.ext" title="title of the link">link name 2</a>
[1]: https://www.digitalocean.com/?refcode=7435ae6b8212
[2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightweight_markup_language (Wikipedia article about Markup Languages)
[3]: http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/ (Official Markdown Page)
[4]: http://stackoverflow.com/ (Stackoverflow)
[5]: https://www.tumblr.com/ (Tumblr)
[6]: http://markdownr.com/ (Markdownr)
[7]: http://joncom.be/experiments/markdown-editor/edit/ (John Combe's editor)
[8]: http://www.ctrlshift.net/project/markdowneditor/ (CTRLSHIFT.net)
[9]: http://homepage.univie.ac.at/werner.robitza/markdown/ (another one)
[10]: http://backpager.amasan.co.uk/ (Backpager)
[11]: http://markitup.jaysalvat.com/home/ (MarkItUp)
[12]: http://hashify.me/ (Hashify)
[13]: http://markedapp.com/ (Marked)
[14]: http://www.xelaton.com/ (MarkMyWords)
[15]: http://bywordapp.com/ (ByWord)
[16]: http://mouapp.com/ (Mou)
[17]: http://markdownpad.com/ (MarkDownPad)
[18]: http://writemonkey.com/index.php (WriteMonkey)
[19]: http://www.sublimetext.com/ (Sublimetext)
[20]: http://sourceforge.net/p/retext/home/ReText/ (ReText)
---
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