--- title: "Markdown - Wikipedia" author: "Contributors to Wikimedia projects" published: 2005-08-09 source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown date: 2026-11-05T01:28:41.340Z --- | | This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources.Find sources: "Markdown" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR () (Learn how and when to remove this message) | | --- | --- | **Markdown**[\[9\]](#cite_note-philosophy-9) is a [lightweight markup language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightweight_markup_language "Lightweight markup language") for creating [formatted text](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formatted_text "Formatted text") using a [plain-text editor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_editor "Text editor"). [John Gruber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gruber "John Gruber") created Markdown in 2004 as an easy-to-read [markup language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markup_language "Markup language").[\[9\]](#cite_note-philosophy-9) Markdown is widely used for [blogging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog "Blog"), [instant messaging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_messaging "Instant messaging"), and [large language models](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_language_models "Large language models"),[\[10\]](#cite_note-llm-markdown-10) and also used elsewhere in [online forums](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_forums "Online forums"), [collaborative software](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_software "Collaborative software"), [note-taking software](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Note-taking_software "Note-taking software"), [documentation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentation "Documentation") pages, and [README files](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/README "README"). The initial description of Markdown[\[11\]](#cite_note-11) contained ambiguities and raised unanswered questions, causing implementations to both intentionally and accidentally diverge from the original version. This was addressed in 2014 when long-standing Markdown contributors released [CommonMark](#CommonMark), an unambiguous specification and test suite for Markdown.[\[12\]](#cite_note-FutureOfMarkdown-12) ## History Markdown was inspired by pre-existing [conventions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_\(norm\) "Convention (norm)") for marking up [plain text](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_text "Plain text") in [email](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email "Email") and [usenet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet "Usenet") posts,[\[13\]](#cite_note-ArsTechnica2014-13) such as the earlier markup languages [setext](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setext "Setext") (c. 1992), [Textile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_\(markup_language\) "Textile (markup language)") (c. 2002), and [reStructuredText](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReStructuredText "ReStructuredText") (c. 2002).[\[9\]](#cite_note-philosophy-9) In 2002, [Aaron Swartz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz "Aaron Swartz") created [atx](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atx_\(markup_language\) "Atx (markup language)") and referred to it as "the true structured text format". Gruber created the Markdown language in 2004 with Swartz as his "sounding board".[\[14\]](#cite_note-Gruber-14) The goal of the language was to enable people "to write using an easy-to-read and easy-to-write plain text format, optionally convert it to structurally valid [XHTML](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XHTML "XHTML") (or [HTML](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML "HTML"))".[\[5\]](#cite_note-md-5) Another key design goal was *readability*, that the language be readable as-is, without looking like it has been marked up with tags or formatting instructions,[\[9\]](#cite_note-philosophy-9) unlike text formatted with "heavier" [markup languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markup_language "Markup language"), such as [Rich Text Format](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Text_Format "Rich Text Format") (RTF), HTML, or even [wikitext](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikitext "Wikitext"), each of which have obvious in-line tags and formatting instructions which can make the text more difficult for humans to read. Gruber wrote a [Perl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perl "Perl") script, `Markdown.pl`, which converts marked-up text input to valid, [well-formed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well-formed_document "Well-formed document") XHTML or HTML, encoding angle brackets (`<`, `>`) and [ampersands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampersand "Ampersand") (`&`), which would be misinterpreted as special characters in those languages. It can take the role of a standalone script, a plugin for [Blosxom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blosxom "Blosxom") or [Movable Type](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movable_Type "Movable Type"), or of a text filter for [BBEdit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBEdit "BBEdit").[\[5\]](#cite_note-md-5) ## Rise and divergence As Markdown's popularity grew rapidly, many Markdown [implementations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implementation "Implementation") appeared, driven mostly by the need for additional features such as [tables](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_\(information\) "Table (information)"), [footnotes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Note_\(typography\) "Note (typography)"), definition lists,[\[note 1\]](#cite_note-17) and Markdown inside HTML blocks. The behavior of some of these diverged from the reference implementation, as Markdown was only characterised by an informal [specification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specification_\(technical_standard\) "Specification (technical standard)")[\[17\]](#cite_note-18) and a [Perl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perl "Perl") implementation for conversion to HTML. At the same time, a number of ambiguities in the informal specification had attracted attention.[\[18\]](#cite_note-gfm_on_github-why_spec-19) These issues spurred the creation of tools such as Babelmark[\[19\]](#cite_note-babelmark-2-20)[\[20\]](#cite_note-babelmark-3-21) to compare the output of various implementations,[\[21\]](#cite_note-22) and an effort by some developers of Markdown [parsers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsing "Parsing") for standardization. However, Gruber has argued that complete standardization would be a mistake: "Different sites (and people) have different needs. No one syntax would make all happy."[\[22\]](#cite_note-23) Gruber avoided using curly braces in Markdown to unofficially reserve them for implementation-specific extensions.[\[23\]](#cite_note-curlyBraces-24) ## CommonMark ### Standardization In 2012, a group of people, including [Jeff Atwood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Atwood "Jeff Atwood") and [John MacFarlane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_MacFarlane_\(philosopher\) "John MacFarlane (philosopher)"), launched what Atwood characterised as a standardization effort.[\[12\]](#cite_note-FutureOfMarkdown-12) A community website now aims to "document various tools and resources available to document authors and developers, as well as implementors of the various Markdown implementations".[\[26\]](#cite_note-27) ### Name In September 2014, Gruber objected to the usage of "Markdown" in the name of this effort and it was rebranded as "CommonMark".[\[13\]](#cite_note-ArsTechnica2014-13)[\[27\]](#cite_note-28)[\[28\]](#cite_note-29) CommonMark.org published several versions of a specification, reference implementation, test suite, and "\[plans\] to announce a finalized 1.0 spec and test suite in 2019".[\[29\]](#cite_note-commonmark.org-30) A finalized 1.0 spec has not been released, as major issues still remain unsolved.[\[30\]](#cite_note-31) ### Adoption Nonetheless, several websites and projects have adopted CommonMark, including [Codeberg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codeberg "Codeberg"), [Discourse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_\(software\) "Discourse (software)"), [GitHub](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GitHub "GitHub"), [GitLab](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GitLab "GitLab"), [Reddit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit "Reddit"), [Qt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qt_\(software\) "Qt (software)"), [Stack Exchange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_Exchange "Stack Exchange") ([Stack Overflow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_Overflow "Stack Overflow")), and [Swift](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_\(programming_language\) "Swift (programming language)"). In March 2016, two relevant informational Internet [RFCs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Request_for_Comments "Request for Comments") were published: - RFC [7763](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7763) – "The text/markdown Media Type,"[\[2\]](#cite_note-rfc7763-2) *Informational.* Introduces [MIME](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIME "MIME") type `text/markdown`. - RFC [7764](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7764) – "Guidance on Markdown: Design Philosophies, Stability Strategies, and Select Registrations,"[\[7\]](#cite_note-rfc7764-7) *Informational.* Discusses and registers the variants [MultiMarkdown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MultiMarkdown "MultiMarkdown"), [GitHub Flavored Markdown](#GFM) (GFM), [Pandoc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandoc "Pandoc"), and Markdown Extra (among others).[\[31\]](#cite_note-IANA-32) ## Variants Websites including [Bitbucket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitbucket "Bitbucket"), [Diaspora](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora_\(social_network\) "Diaspora (social network)"), [Discord](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discord "Discord"),[\[32\]](#cite_note-33) [GitHub](#GFM),[\[33\]](#cite_note-gfm_on_github-34) [OpenStreetMap](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenStreetMap "OpenStreetMap"), [Reddit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit "Reddit"),[\[34\]](#cite_note-35) [SourceForge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SourceForge "SourceForge")[\[35\]](#cite_note-36) and [Stack Exchange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_Exchange "Stack Exchange")[\[36\]](#cite_note-37) use variants of Markdown to make discussions between users easier. Depending on implementation, basic inline [HTML tags](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML_tag "HTML tag") may be supported.[\[37\]](#cite_note-38) Italic text may be implemented by `_underscores_` or `*single-asterisks*`.[\[38\]](#cite_note-italic-39) Many platforms implement spoiler formatting that hides text until hovered, clicked or tapped. The most common markup is ||spoiler|| used by Discord[\[39\]](#cite_note-40), Telegram[\[40\]](#cite_note-41)[\[41\]](#cite_note-42), various Matrix clients[\[42\]](#cite_note-43), now defunct Guilded[\[43\]](#cite_note-44), a forum called Flarum[\[44\]](#cite_note-45), a NodeBB plugin[\[45\]](#cite_note-46), the imageboard engine JSChan[\[46\]](#cite_note-47) and possibly more. ### GitHub Flavored Markdown [GitHub](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GitHub "GitHub") had been using its own variant of Markdown since as early as 2009,[\[47\]](#cite_note-48) which added support for additional formatting such as tables and nesting [block content](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML_element#Block_elements "HTML element") inside list elements, as well as GitHub-specific features such as auto-linking references to commits, issues, usernames, etc. In 2017, GitHub released a formal specification of its [GitHub Flavored Markdown](https://github.github.com/gfm/) (GFM) that is based on [CommonMark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CommonMark "CommonMark").[\[33\]](#cite_note-gfm_on_github-34) It is a [strict superset](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superset "Superset") of CommonMark, following its specification exactly except for tables, [strikethrough](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strikethrough "Strikethrough"), [autolinks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_hyperlinking "Automatic hyperlinking") and task lists, which GFM adds as extensions.[\[48\]](#cite_note-49) Accordingly, GitHub also changed the parser used on their sites, which required that some documents be changed. For instance, GFM now requires that the [hash symbol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_sign "Number sign") that creates a heading be separated from the heading text by a space character. ### Markdown Extra Markdown Extra is a [lightweight markup language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightweight_markup_language "Lightweight markup language") based on Markdown implemented in [PHP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHP "PHP") (originally), [Python](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_\(programming_language\) "Python (programming language)") and [Ruby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_\(programming_language\) "Ruby (programming language)").[\[49\]](#cite_note-fortin-2018-50) It adds the following features that are not available with regular Markdown: - Markdown markup inside [HTML](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML "HTML") blocks - Elements with id/class attribute - "Fenced code blocks" that span multiple lines of code - Tables[\[49\]](#cite_note-fortin-2018-50) - Definition lists - Footnotes - Abbreviations Markdown Extra is supported in some [content management systems](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system "Content management system") such as [Drupal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drupal "Drupal"),[\[50\]](#cite_note-51) [Grav (CMS)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grav_\(CMS\) "Grav (CMS)"), [Textpattern CMS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textpattern "Textpattern")[\[51\]](#cite_note-52) and [TYPO3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TYPO3 "TYPO3").[\[52\]](#cite_note-53) ## Examples | Text using Markdown syntax | Corresponding HTML produced by a Markdown processor | Text viewed in a browser | | --- | --- | --- | | Heading \======= Sub-heading ----------- # Alternative heading ## Alternative sub-heading Paragraphs are separated by a blank line. Two spaces at the end of a line produce a line break. |

Heading

Sub-heading

Alternative heading

Alternative sub-heading

Paragraphs are separated by a blank line.

Two spaces at the end of a line
produce a line break.

| HeadingSub-headingAlternative headingAlternative sub-headingParagraphs are separated by a blank line.Two spaces at the end of a lineproduce a line break. | | Text attributes *italic*, **bold**, `monospace`. Horizontal rule: --- |

Text attributes italic, bold, monospace.

Horizontal rule:

| Text attributes italic, bold, monospace.Horizontal rule: | | Bullet lists nested within numbered list: 1. fruits * apple * banana 2. vegetables - carrot - broccoli |

Bullet lists nested within numbered list:

  1. fruits
  2. vegetables
| Bullet lists nested within numbered list:fruitsapplebananavegetablescarrotbroccoli | | A [link](http://example.com). ![Image](Icon-pictures.png "icon") > Markdown uses email-style characters for blockquoting. > > Multiple paragraphs need to be prepended individually. Most inline HTML tags are supported. |

A link.

Image

Markdown uses email-style characters for blockquoting.

Multiple paragraphs need to be prepended individually.

Most inline HTML tags are supported.

| A link.Markdown uses email-style characters for blockquoting.Multiple paragraphs need to be prepended individually.Most inline HTML tags are supported. | ## Implementations Implementations of Markdown are available for over a dozen [programming languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_language "Programming language"); in addition, many [applications](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_software "Application software"), platforms and [frameworks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_framework "Software framework") support Markdown.[\[53\]](#cite_note-54) For example, Markdown [plugins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_\(computing\) "Plug-in (computing)") exist for every major [blogging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog "Blog") platform.[\[13\]](#cite_note-ArsTechnica2014-13) While Markdown is a minimal markup language and is read and edited with a normal [text editor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_editor "Text editor"), there are specially designed editors that preview the files with styles, which are available for all major platforms. Many general-purpose text and [code editors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source-code_editor "Source-code editor") have [syntax highlighting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntax_highlighting "Syntax highlighting") plugins for Markdown built into them or available as optional download. Editors may feature a side-by-side preview window or render the code directly in a [WYSIWYG](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WYSIWYG "WYSIWYG") fashion. Some Markdown editors display an inline preview as users edit Markdown source. Popular examples include [Typora](https://typora.io/), [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/), and [Marble](https://marble.md/). ## See also - [Comparison of document markup languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_document_markup_languages "Comparison of document markup languages") - [Comparison of documentation generators](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_documentation_generators "Comparison of documentation generators") - [Comparison of wiki software](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wiki_software "Comparison of wiki software") - [Lightweight markup language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightweight_markup_language "Lightweight markup language") - [List of markup languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_markup_languages "List of markup languages") - [List of text editors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_text_editors "List of text editors") - [Wiki markup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki_markup "Wiki markup") ## Explanatory notes 1. Technically HTML description lists ## References 1. Gruber, John (8 January 2014). ["The Markdown File Extension"](https://daringfireball.net/linked/2014/01/08/markdown-extension). The Daring Fireball Company, LLC. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200712120733/https://daringfireball.net/linked/2014/01/08/markdown-extension) from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2022. Too late now, I suppose, but the only file extension I would endorse is ".markdown", for the same reason offered by Hilton Lipschitz: *We no longer live in a 8.3 world, so we should be using the most descriptive file extensions. It's sad that all our operating systems rely on this stupid convention instead of the better creator code or a metadata model, but great that they now support longer file extensions.* 2. S. Leonard (March 2016). [*The text/markdown Media Type*](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7763). [Internet Engineering Task Force](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Engineering_Task_Force "Internet Engineering Task Force"). [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_\(identifier\) "Doi (identifier)"):[10.17487/RFC7763](https://doi.org/10.17487%2FRFC7763). [ISSN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISSN_\(identifier\) "ISSN (identifier)") [2070-1721](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/2070-1721). [RFC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFC_\(identifier\) "RFC (identifier)") [7763](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7763). *Informational.* 3. [Swartz, Aaron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz "Aaron Swartz") (19 March 2004). ["Markdown"](http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/001189). *Aaron Swartz: The Weblog*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20171224200232/http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/001189) from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2013. 4. [Gruber, John](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gruber "John Gruber"). ["Markdown"](https://web.archive.org/web/20040311230924/https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/index.text). *[Daring Fireball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daring_Fireball "Daring Fireball")*. Archived from [the original](https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/index.text) on 11 March 2004. Retrieved 20 August 2022. 5. Markdown 1.0.1 readme source code ["Daring Fireball – Markdown"](https://web.archive.org/web/20040402182332/http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/). 17 December 2004. Archived from [the original](http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/) on 2 April 2004. 6. ["Markdown: License"](http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/license). Daring Fireball. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200218183533/https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/license) from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2014. 7. S. Leonard (March 2016). [*Guidance on Markdown: Design Philosophies, Stability Strategies, and Select Registrations*](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7764). [Internet Engineering Task Force](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Engineering_Task_Force "Internet Engineering Task Force"). [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_\(identifier\) "Doi (identifier)"):[10.17487/RFC7764](https://doi.org/10.17487%2FRFC7764). [ISSN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISSN_\(identifier\) "ISSN (identifier)") [2070-1721](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/2070-1721). [RFC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFC_\(identifier\) "RFC (identifier)") [7764](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7764). *Informational.* 8. ["RMarkdown Reference site"](https://rmarkdown.rstudio.com/). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200303054734/https://rmarkdown.rstudio.com/) from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2019. 9. Markdown Syntax ["Daring Fireball – Markdown – Syntax"](https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax#philosophy). 13 June 2013. "Readability, however, is emphasized above all else. A Markdown-formatted document should be publishable as-is, as plain text, without looking like it's been marked up with tags or formatting instructions. While Markdown's syntax has been influenced by several existing text-to-HTML filters — including Setext, atx, Textile, reStructuredText, Grutatext[\[15\]](#cite_note-grutatext-15), and EtText[\[16\]](#cite_note-ettext-16) — the single biggest source of inspiration for Markdown's syntax is the format of plain text email." 10. Dillet, Romain (6 March 2025). ["Mistral adds a new API that turns any PDF document into an AI-ready Markdown file"](https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/06/mistrals-new-ocr-api-turns-any-pdf-document-into-an-ai-ready-markdown-file/). *TechCrunch*. Retrieved 7 September 2025. 11. ["Daring Fireball: Introducing Markdown"](https://daringfireball.net/2004/03/introducing_markdown). *daringfireball.net*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200920182442/https://daringfireball.net/2004/03/introducing_markdown) from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020. 12. Atwood, Jeff (25 October 2012). ["The Future of Markdown"](https://blog.codinghorror.com/the-future-of-markdown/). CodingHorror.com. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140211233513/http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/10/the-future-of-markdown.html) from the original on 11 February 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014. 13. Gilbertson, Scott (5 October 2014). ["Markdown throwdown: What happens when FOSS software gets corporate backing?"](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/10/markdown-throwdown-what-happens-when-foss-software-gets-corporate-backing/). *[Ars Technica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ars_Technica "Ars Technica")*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20201114231130/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/10/markdown-throwdown-what-happens-when-foss-software-gets-corporate-backing/) from the original on 14 November 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2017. [CommonMark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CommonMark "CommonMark") fork could end up better for users... but original creators seem to disagree. 14. @gruber (12 June 2016). ["I should write about it, but it's painful. More or less: Aaron was my sounding board, my muse"](https://twitter.com/gruber/status/741989829173510145) ([Tweet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweet_\(social_media\) "Tweet (social media)")) – via [Twitter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter "Twitter"). 15. ["Un naufragio personal: The Grutatxt markup"](https://web.archive.org/web/20220630230546/https://triptico.com/docs/grutatxt_markup.html). *triptico.com*. Archived from [the original](https://triptico.com/docs/grutatxt_markup.html) on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022. 16. ["EtText: Documentation: Using EtText"](http://ettext.taint.org/doc/ettext.html). *ettext.taint.org*. Retrieved 30 June 2022. 17. ["Markdown Syntax Documentation"](https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax). Daring Fireball. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190909051956/https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax) from the original on 9 September 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2018. 18. ["GitHub Flavored Markdown Spec – Why is a spec needed?"](https://github.github.com/gfm/#why-is-a-spec-needed-). *github.github.com*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200203204734/https://github.github.com/gfm/#why-is-a-spec-needed-) from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2018. 19. ["Babelmark 2 – Compare markdown implementations"](http://johnmacfarlane.net/babelmark2/). Johnmacfarlane.net. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170718113552/http://johnmacfarlane.net/babelmark2/) from the original on 18 July 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2014. 20. ["Babelmark 3 – Compare Markdown Implementations"](https://babelmark.github.io/). github.io. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20201112043521/https://babelmark.github.io/) from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2017. 21. ["Babelmark 2 – FAQ"](http://johnmacfarlane.net/babelmark2/faq.html). Johnmacfarlane.net. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170728115918/http://johnmacfarlane.net/babelmark2/faq.html) from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2014. 22. [Gruber, John \[@gruber\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gruber "John Gruber") (4 September 2014). ["@tobie @espadrine @comex @wycats Because different sites (and people) have different needs. No one syntax would make all happy"](https://twitter.com/gruber/status/507670720886091776) ([Tweet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweet_\(social_media\) "Tweet (social media)")) – via [Twitter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter "Twitter"). 23. Gruber, John (19 May 2022). ["Markdoc"](https://daringfireball.net/linked/2022/05/19/markdoc). *Daring Fireball*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220519202920/https://daringfireball.net/linked/2022/05/19/markdoc) from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022. I love their syntax extensions — very true to the spirit of Markdown. They use curly braces for their extensions; I'm not sure I ever made this clear, publicly, but I avoided using curly braces in Markdown itself — even though they are very tempting characters — to unofficially reserve them for implementation-specific extensions. Markdoc's extensive use of curly braces for its syntax is exactly the sort of thing I was thinking about. 24. ["UTI of a CommonMark document"](https://talk.commonmark.org/t/uti-of-a-commonmark-document/2406). 12 April 2017. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20181122140119/https://talk.commonmark.org/t/uti-of-a-commonmark-document/2406) from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2017. 25. ["CommonMark specification"](http://spec.commonmark.org/). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170807052756/http://spec.commonmark.org/) from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017. 26. ["Markdown Community Page"](https://markdown.github.io/). GitHub. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20201026161924/http://markdown.github.io/) from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2014. 27. ["Standard Markdown is now Common Markdown"](http://blog.codinghorror.com/standard-markdown-is-now-common-markdown/). Jeff Atwood. 4 September 2014. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20141009181014/http://blog.codinghorror.com/standard-markdown-is-now-common-markdown/) from the original on 9 October 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014. 28. ["Standard Markdown Becomes Common Markdown then CommonMark"](https://www.infoq.com/news/2014/09/markdown-commonmark). *InfoQ*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200930150521/https://www.infoq.com/news/2014/09/markdown-commonmark/) from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2014. 29. ["CommonMark"](http://commonmark.org/). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160412211434/http://commonmark.org/) from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2018. The current version of the CommonMark spec is complete, and quite robust after a year of public feedback … but not quite final. With your help, we plan to announce a finalized 1.0 spec and test suite in 2019. 30. ["Issues we MUST resolve before 1.0 release \[6 remaining\]"](https://talk.commonmark.org/t/issues-we-must-resolve-before-1-0-release-6-remaining/1287). *CommonMark Discussion*. 26 July 2015. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210414032229/https://talk.commonmark.org/t/issues-we-must-resolve-before-1-0-release-6-remaining/1287) from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2020. 31. ["Markdown Variants"](https://www.iana.org/assignments/markdown-variants/markdown-variants.xhtml). [IANA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Assigned_Numbers_Authority "Internet Assigned Numbers Authority"). 28 March 2016. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20201027005128/https://www.iana.org/assignments/markdown-variants/markdown-variants.xhtml) from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2016. 32. ["Markdown Text 101 (Chat Formatting: Bold, Italic, Underline)"](https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/210298617-Markdown-Text-101-Chat-Formatting-Bold-Italic-Underline). *Discord*. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 7 February 2025. 33. ["GitHub Flavored Markdown Spec"](https://github.github.com/gfm/). GitHub. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200203204734/https://github.github.com/gfm/) from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020. 34. ["Reddit markdown primer. Or, how do you do all that fancy formatting in your comments, anyway?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/6ewgt/reddit_markdown_primer_or_how_do_you_do_all_that/). Reddit. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190611185827/https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/6ewgt/reddit_markdown_primer_or_how_do_you_do_all_that/) from the original on 11 June 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2013. 35. ["SourceForge: Markdown Syntax Guide"](https://sourceforge.net/p/forge/documentation/markdown_syntax/). [SourceForge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SourceForge "SourceForge"). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190613130356/https://sourceforge.net/p/forge/documentation/markdown_syntax/) from the original on 13 June 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2013. 36. ["Markdown Editing Help"](https://stackoverflow.com/editing-help). StackOverflow.com. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140328061854/http://stackoverflow.com/editing-help) from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014. 37. ["Markdown Syntax Documentation"](https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax#html). *daringfireball.net*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190909051956/https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax#html) from the original on 9 September 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2021. 38. ["Basic Syntax: Italic"](https://www.markdownguide.org/basic-syntax/#italic). *The Markdown Guide*. Matt Cone. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220326234942/https://www.markdownguide.org/basic-syntax/#italic) from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022. To italicize text, add one asterisk or underscore before and after a word or phrase. To italicize the middle of a word for emphasis, add one asterisk without spaces around the letters. 39. ["Spoiler Tags!"](https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022320632-Spoiler-Tags). *Discord*. 30 January 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2026. 40. ["Telegram Text Formatting Options: A Complete Guide by Umnico"](https://umnico.com/blog/telegram-text-formatting/). *umnico.com*. 16 December 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2026. 41. ["GitHub - AndyRightNow/telegram-markdown-v2: Transform your markdown to be ready and compatible for Telegram's MarkdownV2 parse mode"](https://github.com/AndyRightNow/telegram-markdown-v2). *GitHub*. Retrieved 2 June 2026. 42. Suomalainen, Aminda. ["Spoilers on Matrix protocol"](https://aminda.eu/n/matrixspoilers.html). *Aminda Suomalainen*. Retrieved 2 June 2026. 43. ["Using Markdowns"](https://web.archive.org/web/20251124052456/https://support.guilded.gg/hc/en-us/articles/360039352653-Using-Markdowns). *Guilded*. 1 July 2025. Archived from [the original](https://support.guilded.gg/hc/en-us/articles/360039352653-Using-Markdowns) on 24 November 2025. Retrieved 2 June 2026. 44. ["Markdown spoilers - Flarum Community"](https://discuss.flarum.org/d/20817-markdown-spoilers). *discuss.flarum.org*. Retrieved 2 June 2026. 45. ["nodebb-plugin-extended-markdown - npm"](https://www.npmjs.com/package/nodebb-plugin-extended-markdown). 46. ["lib/post/markdown/markdown.js · master · Thomas Lynch / jschan · GitLab"](https://gitgud.io/fatchan/jschan/-/blob/master/lib/post/markdown/markdown.js). *GitLab*. Retrieved 3 June 2026. 47. [Tom Preston-Werner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Preston-Werner "Tom Preston-Werner"). ["GitHub Flavored Markdown Examples"](https://github.com/mojombo/github-flavored-markdown/issues/1). *GitHub*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210513154115/https://github.com/mojombo/github-flavored-markdown/issues/1) from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021. 48. ["A formal spec for GitHub Flavored Markdown"](https://githubengineering.com/a-formal-spec-for-github-markdown/). *GitHub Engineering*. 14 March 2017. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200203205138/https://githubengineering.com/a-formal-spec-for-github-markdown/) from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2017. 49. Fortin, Michel (2018). ["PHP Markdown Extra"](https://michelf.ca/projects/php-markdown/extra). *Michel Fortin website*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210117015819/https://michelf.ca/projects/php-markdown/extra/) from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2018. 50. ["Markdown editor for BUEditor"](https://drupal.org/project/markdowneditor). 4 December 2008. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200917172201/https://www.drupal.org/project/markdowneditor) from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2017. 51. ["Plugin: wet\_textfilter\_markdown"](https://plugins.textpattern.com/plugins/wet_textfilter_markdown). *Textpattern CMS plugins*. 27 April 2025. 52. ["Markdown for TYPO3 (markdown\_content)"](https://extensions.typo3.org/extension/markdown_content/). *extensions.typo3.org*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210201205749/https://extensions.typo3.org/extension/markdown_content/) from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2019. 53. ["W3C Community Page of Markdown Implementations"](https://www.w3.org/community/markdown/wiki/MarkdownImplementations). *W3C Markdown Wiki*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200917231621/https://www.w3.org/community/markdown/wiki/MarkdownImplementations) from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2016. ## Further reading - Wilburn, Gene (12 January 2022). [*Markdown for Writers*](https://books.apple.com/jp/book/markdown-for-writers-2nd-ed-rev/id1604646441) (2nd, revised ed.). Gene Wilburn. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_\(identifier\) "ISBN (identifier)") [978-1-895934-15-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-895934-15-1 "Special:BookSources/978-1-895934-15-1"). ## External links - [Official website](https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/) for original John Gruber markup - ["Docling"](https://docling.ai). *docling.ai*., converts messy documents — PDFs, Office files, HTML, images and audio — to structured Markdown - ["Datalab Playground"](https://www.datalab.to/playground/documents/new). *www.datalab.to*., conversion tool - "[Ultimate Markdown Editor](https://www.pilandrome.com/editor/MarkdownEditor)" an online open source version of the high end markdown editor which supports comments and export to docx format.