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Extended Markdown Syntax

Master advanced Markdown features that extend beyond the basic syntax. These features provide more power and flexibility for complex documents.

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Tables

Create structured data tables with alignment options and formatting.

Basic Table

Markdown
| Syntax      | Description |
| ----------- | ----------- |
| Header      | Title       |
| Paragraph   | Text        |
Preview
SyntaxDescription
HeaderTitle
ParagraphText

Use pipes (|) to separate columns and hyphens (-) to create headers.

Alignment

Markdown
| Left align | Center align | Right align |
| :---       |    :----:    |        ---: |
| This       | This         | This        |
| column     | column       | column      |
| is         | is           | is          |
| left       | center       | right       |
| aligned    | aligned      | aligned     |
Preview
Left alignCenter alignRight align
ThisThisThis
columncolumncolumn
isisis
leftcenterright
alignedalignedaligned

Use colons (:) to align columns left, center, or right.

Table with Formatting

Markdown
| Command | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `git status` | List all *new or modified* files |
| `git diff` | Show file differences that **haven't been** staged |
Preview
CommandDescription
git statusList all new or modified files
git diffShow file differences that haven't been staged

You can use formatting like bold, italic, and code within table cells.

Tips & Best Practices

  • Tables must have a header row with separator row below
  • Pipes at the beginning and end of rows are optional
  • Column width is automatically adjusted
  • Use HTML for complex table structures

Fenced Code Blocks

Create code blocks with syntax highlighting and language specification.

Basic Code Block

Markdown
```
function greet() {
    console.log("Hello World!");
}
```
Preview
function greet() {
    console.log("Hello World!");
}

Use three backticks to create a code block.

With Language Specification

Markdown
```javascript
const user = {
    name: 'John',
    age: 30,
    greet() {
        console.log(`Hello, I'm ${this.name}`);
    }
};
```
Preview
const user = {
    name: 'John',
    age: 30,
    greet() {
        console.log(`Hello, I'm ${this.name}`);
    }
};

Specify the language after the opening backticks for syntax highlighting.

Multiple Languages

Markdown
```python
def factorial(n):
    if n <= 1:
        return 1
    return n * factorial(n - 1)

print(factorial(5))
```

```css
.highlight {
    background-color: yellow;
    padding: 10px;
    border-radius: 5px;
}
```
Preview
def factorial(n):
    if n <= 1:
        return 1
    return n * factorial(n - 1)

print(factorial(5))

.highlight {
    background-color: yellow;
    padding: 10px;
    border-radius: 5px;
}

Different languages will have appropriate syntax highlighting.

Tips & Best Practices

  • Most Markdown processors support 100+ languages
  • Common languages: javascript, python, css, html, bash, json
  • Use "text" or no language for plain text
  • Some processors support line numbers and highlighting

Footnotes

Add footnotes to your documents for additional information or citations.

Basic Footnotes

Markdown
Here's a sentence with a footnote. [^1]

[^1]: This is the footnote.
Preview

Here's a sentence with a footnote. 1

Footnotes

  1. This is the footnote. ↩

Use [^identifier] in text and [^identifier]: content for the footnote.

Multiple Footnotes

Markdown
Here's a sentence with a footnote. [^1]

Another sentence with a different footnote. [^note]

[^1]: This is the first footnote.
[^note]: This is the second footnote with a longer description.
Preview

Here's a sentence with a footnote. 1

Another sentence with a different footnote. 2

Footnotes

  1. This is the first footnote. ↩

  2. This is the second footnote with a longer description. ↩

Footnote identifiers can be numbers or words.

Tips & Best Practices

  • Footnotes are automatically numbered in order
  • Footnote content can be placed anywhere in the document
  • Links are automatically created between text and footnotes
  • Not all Markdown processors support footnotes

Strikethrough

Strike through text to show deletions or corrections.

Basic Strikethrough

Markdown
~~The world is flat.~~ We now know that the world is round.
Preview

The world is flat. We now know that the world is round.

Use two tildes (~) on each side of the text to strike through.

Combined with Other Formatting

Markdown
You can combine ~~strikethrough~~ with **bold** and *italic* text.
Preview

You can combine strikethrough with bold and italic text.

Strikethrough can be combined with other text formatting.

Tips & Best Practices

  • Useful for showing edits and corrections
  • Great for todo lists to show completed items
  • Part of GitHub Flavored Markdown
  • Not supported by all Markdown processors

Task Lists

Create interactive checkbox lists for todos and task tracking.

Basic Task List

Markdown
- [x] Write the press release
- [ ] Update the website
- [ ] Contact the media
Preview
  • Write the press release
  • Update the website
  • Contact the media

Use - [ ] for unchecked and - [x] for checked items.

Nested Task Lists

Markdown
- [x] Complete project setup
  - [x] Create repository
  - [x] Set up CI/CD
  - [ ] Deploy to production
- [ ] Write documentation
  - [x] API documentation
  - [ ] User guide
  - [ ] Installation guide
Preview
  • Complete project setup
    • Create repository
    • Set up CI/CD
    • Deploy to production
  • Write documentation
    • API documentation
    • User guide
    • Installation guide

You can nest task lists by indenting with spaces.

Tips & Best Practices

  • Great for project planning and tracking
  • Supported in GitHub, GitLab, and many other platforms
  • Can be made interactive in supported environments
  • Use any character inside brackets for custom states

Definition Lists

Create definition lists for terms and their explanations.

Basic Definition List

Markdown
First Term
: This is the definition of the first term.

Second Term
: This is one definition of the second term.
: This is another definition of the second term.
Preview

First Term : This is the definition of the first term.

Second Term : This is one definition of the second term. : This is another definition of the second term.

Use a colon (:) followed by a space to create definitions.

Tips & Best Practices

  • Great for glossaries and terminology
  • Not widely supported across all Markdown processors
  • Consider using bold text and paragraphs as an alternative

Highlight

Highlight text to draw attention to important information.

Basic Highlight

Markdown
I need to highlight these ==very important words==.
Preview

I need to highlight these ==very important words==.

Use two equal signs (==) on each side to highlight text.

Tips & Best Practices

  • Useful for marking important information
  • Not supported by all Markdown processors
  • Consider using **bold** as a more compatible alternative

Subscript & Superscript

Create subscript and superscript text for mathematical and scientific notation.

Subscript and Superscript

Markdown
H~2~O

X^2^ + Y^2^ = Z^2^
Preview

H2O

X^2^ + Y^2^ = Z^2^

Use ~ for subscript and ^ for superscript (where supported).

HTML Alternative

Markdown
H<sub>2</sub>O

X<sup>2</sup> + Y<sup>2</sup> = Z<sup>2</sup>
Preview

H<sub>2</sub>O

X<sup>2</sup> + Y<sup>2</sup> = Z<sup>2</sup>

Use HTML tags for better compatibility across processors.

Tips & Best Practices

  • HTML tags are more widely supported
  • Useful for mathematical formulas and chemical equations
  • Not all Markdown processors support ~ and ^ syntax
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