Markdown Syntax

Gurusabarish | Apr 17, 2025 min read
Markdown Syntax

Paragraph

Markdown is a lightweight markup language widely used to format text using a plain-text editor. It’s simple, easy to learn, and allows writers to create rich text content such as headings, lists, links, images, and code blocks without needing complex tools. Markdown is especially popular among developers, writers, and technical bloggers because of its clean syntax and compatibility with many content management systems.

Originally created by John Gruber, Markdown is often used in platforms like GitHub, Reddit, and static site generators like Hugo and Jekyll. Its main advantage lies in readability—Markdown-formatted files can be read as-is without rendering, making collaboration and documentation seamless across teams.

Blockquote

A blockquote in Markdown is used to highlight and format quoted text, typically from another source or to emphasize a key statement. It’s created by placing a greater-than symbol (>) at the beginning of a line. Blockquotes can span multiple lines and can be nested for layered quoting. This feature is especially useful in documentation, articles, or notes where citing or spotlighting important content is essential, offering both visual distinction and semantic clarity in the rendered output.

Blockquote without attribution

Blockquotes are used to highlight a section of text, such as a quote, note, or important information.
You can include Markdown formatting like bold, italic, or even lists inside them.
They help emphasize content and make it stand out visually.

Blockquote with attribution

Don’t communicate by sharing memory, share memory by communicating.

— Rob Pike1

Tables

Tables aren’t part of the core Markdown spec, but Hugo supports supports them out-of-the-box.

NameAge
Bob27
Alice23

Inline Markdown within tables

Inline   Markdown   In   Table
italicsboldstrikethrough   code

Code Blocks

Code block with backticks

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <title>Example HTML5 Document</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <p>Test</p>
  </body>
</html>

Code block indented with four spaces

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <title>Example HTML5 Document</title>
</head>
<body>
  <p>Test</p>
</body>
</html>

Code block with Hugo’s internal highlight shortcode

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <title>Example HTML5 Document</title>
</head>
<body>
  <p>Test</p>
</body>
</html>

List Types

Ordered List

  1. First item
  2. Second item
  3. Third item

Unordered List

  • List item
  • Another item
  • And another item

Nested list

  • Item
    1. First Sub-item
    2. Second Sub-item

Headings

The following HTML <h1>—<h6> elements represent six levels of section headings. <h1> is the highest section level while <h6> is the lowest.

H1

H2

H3

H4

H5
H6

Other Elements — abbr, sub, sup, kbd, mark

GIF is a bitmap image format.

H2O

Xn + Yn = Zn

Press CTRL+ALT+Delete to end the session.

Most salamanders are nocturnal, and hunt for insects, worms, and other small creatures.

Summury

FeatureSyntax ExampleDescription
Heading# Heading 1 to ###### Heading 6Creates headings from h1 to h6
Bold**bold text** or __bold text__Makes the text bold
Italic*italic text* or _italic text_Makes the text italic
Strikethrough~~strikethrough~~Shows text with a line through it
Blockquote> This is a quoteIndents text as a quote
Ordered List1. Item oneNumbered list
Unordered List- Item or * ItemBulleted list
Inline Code`code`Shows inline code
Code Block
python<br>print("Hello")<br>
Code block with optional syntax highlighting
Link[Link text](https://example.com)Creates a hyperlink
Image![Alt text](image-url.jpg)Embeds an image
Horizontal Rule--- or ***Creates a horizontal line
Table`Head
Task List- [x] Task done / - [ ] Task not doneTo-do checkboxes
Footnote[^1] and [^1]: Footnote contentAdds footnotes with references
Emoji😄Renders emoji (if enabled)
HTML<div>Text</div>Raw HTML can be embedded
Escape Character\*escaped\*Escapes Markdown formatting characters

  1. The above quote is excerpted from Rob Pike’s talk during Gopherfest, November 18, 2015. ↩︎