Markdown Specification

Last updated 14th September 2022

Overview

• What is Markdown
• Headings
• Paragraphs
• Bold, Italic and Strikethrough
• Links and Images
• Lists
• Learn more about Markdown

What is Markdown

Markdown is a lightweight markup language for creating formatted text.

It uses a human readable syntax to format text which can be easily converted into rich HTML.

In this crash course we'll only cover the absolute basics which one might need to create a beautiful job ad on Keyboard Jobs.

Headings

Use the hash sign (#) to start a heading. One hash (#) is the main heading. Two hash signs represent a heading of second order, three hash signs represent a heading of third order and so forth. You can use anything from one to six hash signs to compound a heading.

Markdown:

# Heading 1

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

## Heading 2

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

### Heading 3

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Result:

Paragraphs

Paragraphs are automatically created when a sentence ends with two line breaks.

Example:

This is the first paragraph.
It continues here because there was only one line break after the first sentence.

This is the beginning of the second paragraph.

Result:

Bold, Italic and Strikethrough

Surround text with a star (*) to make it cursive (italic).

Apply a double star (**) around text and it will become bold.

If you want to strike through text then wrap it with double tildes(~~).

Example:

Roses are *red*.

Violets are **blue**.

Cashews are ~~fruit~~ nuts,

And so are you.

Result:

Links and Images

A web link can be formatted by first providing the display text wrapped in square brackets ([]), followed by the URL wrapped in regular brackets (()).

Example:

Keyboard Jobs is a [job board for software developers](https://keyboardjobs.com). You should go and check it out!

Result:

Images are formatted in a very similar way. The syntax is as following:

![Alternative text here](URL to the image goes here).

Example:

![Keyboard Jobs Logo](https://keyboardjobs.com/images/logo.svg)

Result:

Lists

One can create unordered lists using the dash sign (-):

- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3

... or alternatively using stars works as well:

* Item 1
* Item 2
* Item 3

Both options will render an unordered list:

Ordered lists are just as straightforward to create:

1. First
2. Second
3. Third

Result:

Learn more about Markdown

For more information you can visit the GitHub Flavored Markdown Spec.