A Guide to Editing .md Files

Markdown (.md) is a lightweight markup language with plain text formatting syntax. It’s designed to be easily readable and writable by humans, then converted into structurally valid HTML. Whether you’re writing documentation, a blog post, or notes, mastering the core elements of Markdown editing will significantly streamline your workflow.

Basic Text Formatting

Markdown uses simple characters to apply styles to text.

• Bold: To make text bold, wrap it in double asterisks or double underscores: **bold text** or __bold text__.

• Italics: To make text italic, wrap it in single asterisks or single underscores: *italic text* or _italic text_.
• Strikethrough: To apply strikethrough, which visually crosses out text, wrap it in double tildes: ~~strikethrough text~~.

Markdown Syntax	Output
**Bold Text**	Bold Text
_Italics Text_	Italics Text
~~Strikethrough Text~~	Strikethrough Text

Understanding Heading Levels

Headings are crucial for structuring your document and improving readability. Markdown uses the hash symbol (#) to denote headings. The number of hash symbols determines the heading level, from H1 (largest and most important) down to H6 (smallest).

H1 - The Main Title

Use a single hash symbol for the main title of your document. There should typically only be one H1 per file.

# This is an H1 Heading

H2 - Major Sections

Use two hash symbols for the main sections of your article.

## This is an H2 Heading

H3 and Below - Subsections

Continue adding hash symbols for deeper levels of organization. Markdown supports up to H6.

### This is an H3 Heading #### This is an H4 Heading

Tip: Always place a space between the hash symbols and the heading text for correct rendering.

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Lists and Links

Creating Lists

Lists help organize information clearly. Markdown supports both ordered and unordered lists.

• Unordered Lists: Use an asterisk (*), a plus sign (+), or a hyphen (-) followed by a space.

  * Item One * Item Two * Nested Item

• Ordered Lists: Use a number followed by a period (.) and a space. The specific number doesn’t matter; Markdown will automatically increment the list (though starting at 1. is a common convention).

  1. First Step 2. Second Step 3. Third Step

Inserting Links

To create a hyperlink, wrap the link text in square brackets ([]) and the URL in parentheses (()) immediately following it.

[Google Homepage](https://www.google.com)

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Quoting and Code

Blockquotes

To indicate a passage of text as a blockquote (often used for quotes or emphasized text), use the greater than sign (>) at the beginning of the line.

> This is text that is quoted. > It can span multiple lines.

Inline Code and Code Blocks

Markdown is frequently used for technical documentation, so it has excellent support for displaying code.

• Inline Code: Use single backticks (`) to highlight a short piece of code or a command within a paragraph.

  Use the \print()` function to display output.`

• Code Blocks: For larger blocks of code, use **triple backticks (```) ** on the lines before and after the code. You can also specify the programming language immediately after the opening backticks for syntax highlighting (a feature called “fenced code blocks”).

```python
def greet():
	print("Hello, Markdown!")
```

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Summary of Essential Syntax

Feature	Markdown Syntax
Heading 1 (H1)	# Main Title
Heading 3 (H3)	### Subsection
Bold	**text**
Italics	_text_
Strikethrough	~~text~~
Link	[Text](URL)
Unordered List Item	* Item
Blockquote	> Quoted Text
Inline Code	`code`

By using these simple, intuitive conventions, you can create clean, well-structured, and easily portable documents. Happy editing!