Markdown

Markdown is two things: (1) A plain text formatting syntax; and (2) a software tool, written in Perl, that converts the plain text formatting to XHTML or pure HTML.

Overview

The markdown web site shows how the markdown needs to be written and how to attach it to various tools. This format can also be read and converted by Pandoc. It is also possible to write a collaborative document using markdown by using https://www.penflip.com/. Markdown is similar to another markup language called Textile but generally easier to read.

Example

A First Level Header
====================

A Second Level Header
---------------------

Now is the time for all good men to come to
the aid of their country. This is just a
regular paragraph.

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy
dog's back.

### Header 3

> This is a blockquote.
> 
> This is the second paragraph in the blockquote.
>
> ## This is an H2 in a blockquote 

It will produce:

 <h1>A First Level Header</h1>
 
 <h2>A Second Level Header</h2>
 
 <p>Now is the time for all good men to come to
 the aid of their country. This is just a
 regular paragraph.</p>
 
 <p>The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy
 dog's back.</p>
 
 <h3>Header 3</h3>
 
 <blockquote>
    <p>This is a blockquote.</p>

    <p>This is the second paragraph in the blockquote.</p>

    <h2>This is an H2 in a blockquote</h2>
 </blockquote>

For more information

• http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/ The main software download site.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown