Markdown Syntax Guide

Headings

Headings in Markdown are created using the # symbol. The number of # symbols you use determines the level of the heading. For example, using # creates the largest heading, while ###### creates the smallest. You can structure your document with various levels of headings to organize content effectively.

Example:
# Heading 1 is the largest heading, while ## Heading 2 creates a slightly smaller heading. Similarly, ### Heading 3 and #### Heading 4 follow this pattern.

Bold and Italic Text

To emphasize text, Markdown offers options for both bold and italic formatting. You can make text bold by wrapping it in two asterisks (**) or two underscores (__). For italic text, wrap the text in a single asterisk (*) or underscore (_). For both bold and italic text, use three asterisks or underscores to combine the two.

Example:
**Bold Text** will make the text bold, and *Italic Text* will make the text italic. To combine both, use ***Bold and Italic Text***.

Lists

There are two types of lists in Markdown: unordered and ordered. For unordered lists, use asterisks (*), hyphens (-), or plus signs (+). For ordered lists, simply use numbers followed by a period (1.). Nested lists can be created by adding spaces in front of subitems.

Example:
Unordered list: * Item 1, - Item 2, + Item 3 creates a list with bullet points.
Ordered list: 1. First item, 2. Second item will produce a numbered list.

Links

To add links in Markdown, wrap the link text in square brackets ([]), followed by the URL in parentheses (()). This creates a clickable hyperlink. If you want to add an external link, simply provide the URL within the parentheses.

Example:
[Google](https://www.google.com) creates a link to Google's website.

Images

Images are embedded similarly to links but with an exclamation mark (!) before the square brackets. After the exclamation mark, the syntax remains the same as a link with the image source URL in parentheses.

Example:
![Image Alt Text](https://example.com/image.jpg) will display an image with the alt text "Image Alt Text."

Blockquotes

Blockquotes are used for quoting text or highlighting important information. To create a blockquote, add a greater-than symbol (>) before the text.

Example:
> This is a blockquote will display the text as a blockquote.

Horizontal Line

To create a horizontal line (also known as a "horizontal rule"), use three hyphens (---), three asterisks (***), or three underscores (___). This is often used to visually separate sections of content.

Example:
--- will create a horizontal line.

Escaping Characters

If you need to display special characters like #, *, or [] without them being interpreted as Markdown syntax, you can escape them using a backslash (\).

Example:
\# will display as a literal hash symbol, and \* will display an asterisk.

With these basic Markdown syntax rules, you can structure and format your documents effectively. Whether you're writing content for the web, creating documentation, or organizing notes, Markdown is a versatile and easy-to-use tool.