Resources
What is Markdown?
Markdown is a way of writing formatted text using ordinary characters. You type **bold**
or # A heading, and a Markdown app shows it as bold text or a heading. The file itself
stays plain text, readable in any editor on any computer, now and in twenty years.
Where it came from
John Gruber created Markdown in 2004, with Aaron Swartz, as a way to write for the web without typing HTML.
The idea was that a Markdown document should read naturally even before it is formatted: a line of
# looks like a heading, a - at the start of a line looks like a list item, and
*emphasis* looks emphasised.
Since then it has become the everyday format of developers and writers. README files on GitHub, notes in
apps like Marknote and Obsidian, documentation sites, chat apps and forums all use it.
Why people write in Markdown
- It is plain text. No proprietary file format, nothing to convert, and every tool can open it.
- Your hands stay on the keyboard. Formatting is a character or two, not a trip to a toolbar.
- It lasts. A
.md file written today will open in any text editor in decades to come.
- It works with version control. Changes show up line by line in git, so notes and documents can be reviewed like code.
- It converts to anything. The same file can become a web page, a PDF or a slide deck.
The basic syntax
Most of what you need fits in one table. The left column is what you type; the right is what you get.
| Element |
You type |
You get |
|---|
| Headings |
# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3 |
Heading 1 Heading 2 Heading 3 |
|---|
| Bold and italic |
**bold**, *italic* and ***both*** |
bold, italic and both |
|---|
| Strikethrough |
~~no longer true~~ |
no longer true
|
|---|
| Bulleted list |
- Milk
- Bread
- Wholemeal |
|
|---|
| Numbered list |
1. Open Marknote
2. Pick a folder
3. Start writing |
- Open Marknote
- Pick a folder
- Start writing
|
|---|
| Task list |
- [x] Draft
- [ ] Review |
|
|---|
| Link |
[Marknote](https://marknote.md) |
Marknote |
|---|
| Image |
 |
the image, with its alt text |
|---|
| Quote |
> Plain text lasts. |
Plain text lasts. |
|---|
| Inline code |
Run `git status` first |
Run git status first |
|---|
| Code block |
```python
print("hello")
``` |
print("hello") |
|---|
| Table |
| Plan | Price |
| :--- | ----: |
| Free | £0 | |
|
|---|
| Horizontal rule |
--- |
|
|---|
Flavours of Markdown
The original description left some cases open, so apps filled the gaps in slightly different ways. Two
standards now settle most of them:
- CommonMark is a precise specification of the core syntax, so the same text formats the same way everywhere.
- GitHub Flavored Markdown builds on CommonMark with tables, task lists, strikethrough and automatic links.
Beyond those, apps add their own extensions. In Marknote you can also write maths with LaTeX
($E = mc^2$), draw diagrams with Mermaid, and link notes together with wiki-links such as
[[Meeting notes]], while the files stay ordinary Markdown.
Getting started
You don't need to learn it all at once. Headings, bold, lists and links cover most everyday writing, and the
rest comes as you need it. Try the syntax above in the playground, build a table
with the table generator, or keep the
keyboard shortcuts handy once you're writing in Marknote.
Write Markdown with a live preview
Marknote is a free Markdown editor for Windows: tabs, a live preview with maths and diagrams, and notes
that link to each other. Your notes stay plain .md files.
