Write Markdown

Head to the Demo editor to practice some Markdown basics.

Alternatively, try using one of the web-based Markdown editors Dillinger or StackEdit. However, by default both do not join lines of a paragraph correctly (unless exported as a PDF).

Basics

Academic documents are usually organized using Headers and Paragraphs, which correspond to semantic structure elements even though it is mostly intuitive.

Headers can be added in two ways, traditional setext-style or newer ATX-style. Be sure to include a blank line above and below a header.

Setext-style

Header One
==========

Header Two
----------

Header One

Header Two

Setext style headers are intuitive, however, ATX style provides more control and are much more commonly used. ATX headers range from level one to six, with one being the most important.

ATX-style

# Header One

## Header Two

### Header Three

Header One

Header Two

Header Three

Paragraphs don’t require any special markup. For example:

Any text with no empty lines between will be joined into a paragraph.
Leave an empty line between headings and paragraphs.

Since there is an empty line above, 
this will start a new paragraph.
This gives you the option to write a paragraph all on one line 
(like a word processor),
or to put each sentence on its own line.
Splitting the sentences can make editing and version control easier. 

Any text with no empty lines between will be joined into a paragraph. Leave an empty line between headings and paragraphs.

Since there is an empty line above, this will start a new paragraph. This gives you the option to write a paragraph all on one line (like a word processor), or to put each sentence on its own line. Splitting the sentences can make editing and version control easier.

A bullet list is created using *, +, or -, followed by a space. Put each list item on a new line. A numbered list is created using a number + ., followed by a space. The items will be automatically renumbered correctly in outputs. Both kinds of lists can be nested by tabbing in a level.

- dog
- cat
- muffin

dog
cat
muffin

dog
cat
muffin
other thing

dog
cat
muffin
other thing

1. dog
    - bark
    - wag
2. cat
    - meow
6. muffin
    - yum

dog
- bark
- wag
cat
- meow
muffin
- yum

Although Markdown is simple, it is important to remember that white space, blank lines, and tabs matter. If you are getting unexpected results when rendering, check your white space. For example, leaving two spaces at the end of a line will insert a <br> break.

Inline Elements

Markdown	HTML
`Emphasis` or `_emphasis_`	Emphasis or emphasis
`Strong` or `__strong__`	Strong or strong
`inline [hyperlink](https://www.google.com)`	inline hyperlink
`image ![alt text](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Markdown-mark.svg/208px-Markdown-mark.svg.png)`	image
`footnote.[^1]`	footnote.¹

[^1]: example footnote definition.

Block Elements

Here are some more things to try:

Code can be highlighted inline with `backticks`.
Or make a code block opening with three backticks alone on a line 
and close with three more on a line. 
Add the language name next to the top backticks for highlighting.

## Horizontal rule

-------------

> Block quote.
> Continuing the quote.

## Tables

| column1 | column2 | column3 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| value | value | value |
| value | value | value |

example footnote definition. ↩