Markdown: basics of the language explained

The Markdown markup language is used for various purposes, including on websites like Reddit. Since Markdown is easy to understand, usually the basics are already enough for most functions. Reddit is probably the best-known Markdown use for ordinary Internet users.

With Markdown you can easily change the appearance of text content.

Markdown: basics for simple text content

Markdown finds various uses, such as in readme files or web-based tools. Besides Reddit, Markdown is also used in Slack or Trello. You can already do a lot with the basics, which is why they are sufficient in most cases.

• For italic content, bracket the text area with asterisks "*".
• For bold characters, it is two asterisks ("**").
• Bold and italic are consequently three asterisks "***" each before and after the content.
• Create unordered lists with an asterisk "*" before the content.
• Headings are marked with hash "#". One hash is equivalent to H1, two hashes ("##") to H2. With each additional "#" you add another level.
• Citations are introduced with ">".
• Hyperlinks work according to the following format: [linktext](URL). For example, if you want to link to google.com with the text "click here", it will look like this in Markdown: [click here](https://www.google.de).
• If you want to insert a newline, end a line with two or more spaces and press the "Return" key.

Marking up text content with Markdown is surprisingly quick with just a little practice.