Markdown Cheat Sheet
Quickly enhance your markup skills with this comprehensive cheat sheet. Learn text formatting, lists, headings, links, tables, breaks, and text block formats in Markdown.
Markup languages, such as Markdown, are widely popular for their simplicity and readability. They are a favorite choice of software programmers and developers for creating formatted text using a plain text editor. These languages are commonly used on various platforms like GitHub, Jekyll, and documentation sites to format content quickly and efficiently. This cheat sheet will provide users with a quick reference guide for common markup actions.
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Text Formatting
| Action | Description | Example Snippet |
|---|---|---|
| Italics | Formats text in italics | *italic text* or _italic text_ |
| Bold | Formats text in bold | **bold text** or __bold text__ |
| Bold-italic | Formats text in bold and italics | ***bold italic text*** or ___bold italic text___ |
| Code | Formats text as inline code | `code text` |
| Strike through | Formats text with a strikethrough | ~~strike through text~~ |
| LaTeX equation | Formats text as a LaTeX equation | $$E = mc^2$$ |
Lists
| Action | Description | Example Snippet |
|---|---|---|
| Unordered lists | Creates a bullet-point list | - item or * item or + item |
| Ordered lists | Creates a numbered list | 1. item |
| Checklist | Creates a checklist | - [ ] item or - [x] checked item |
| Nesting lists | Creates nested lists with indentation | - item - sub-item |
Headings
| Action | Description | Example Snippet |
|---|---|---|
| Levels of headings | Creates headings of different levels | # Heading ## Heading 2 ### Heading 3 |
Links
| Action | Description | Example Snippet |
|---|---|---|
| Hyperlinks | Creates a hyperlink | [link text](http://example.com) |
| Reference style hyperlinks | Uses references for links | [link text][1] [1]: http://example.com |
| Alt text links | Adds alt text to hyperlinks | [](http://example.com) |
| Footnotes | Creates footnotes | Here is a footnote.[^1] [^1]: Footnote text |
Tables
| Action | Description | Example Snippet |
|---|---|---|
| Basic table | Creates a simple table | | Column 1 | Column 2 | | -------- | -------- | | Text | Text | |
| Alignment in columns | Aligns text in columns using colons | | Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | |:-------:|:-------:|--------| | Centered | Centered | Left | |
Example: Creating a Table in Markdown with Column Alignments
Here is an example of creating a table with different alignments for each column:
Left-Aligned Column: Use a colon : on the left of the hyphens.
Center-Aligned Column: Use colons : on both sides of the hyphens.
Right-Aligned Column: Use a colon : on the right of the hyphens.
| Left-Aligned | Center-Aligned | Right-Aligned |
| :----------- |:--------------:| -------------:|
| This | is | an |
| aligned | text | example |
| example | table | right |This will render as:
| Left-Aligned | Center-Aligned | Right-Aligned |
|---|---|---|
| This | is | an |
| aligned | text | example |
| example | table | right |
Breaks
| Action | Description | Example Snippet |
|---|---|---|
| Horizontal rule | Creates a horizontal rule | --- or *** or ___ |
| Line break | Inserts a line break | Line 1<br>Line 2 |
| Blank lines | Inserts blank lines | Line 1\n\nLine 2 |
Text Block Formats
| Action | Description | Example Snippet |
|---|---|---|
| Quotes | Formats text as a block quote | > This is a quote |
| Code block | Formats text as a code block | ``` code block ``` |
| Highlight syntax | Highlights syntax within a code block | ```python print("Hello, World!") ``` |
Markup languages provide a clean and easy way to format text, making them perfect for various applications like documentation, note-taking, and web content creation. This cheat sheet offers a quick reference to help you efficiently format your content with common markup actions.
Further Web Development Resources:
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