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Guide

How to Write in Markdown

Markdown is a lightweight syntax for adding formatting to plain text. You write plain characters and they render as headings, bold text, lists, links, and more. It's the standard format for README files, technical documentation, notes, and blogs. This guide covers every element you'll actually use.

Headings

Use # signs to create headings. One # is an <h1>, two is <h2>, and so on up to six levels. Leave a space between the # and your text.

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
#### Heading 4

Bold and Italic

Wrap text in double asterisks ** for bold, single asterisks * for italic, and triple *** for bold-italic. Underscores _ work the same way.

**bold text**
*italic text*
***bold and italic***
__also bold__
_also italic_

Paragraphs and Line Breaks

Separate paragraphs with a blank line. A single newline inside a paragraph doesn't create a break — you need two newlines. To force a line break within a paragraph, end a line with two spaces or a backslash.

First paragraph.

Second paragraph after a blank line.

Line one.  
Line two (two trailing spaces above).

Links

Links use the pattern [link text](URL). Add an optional title in quotes after the URL.

[Visit Knowdust](https://knowdust.com)
[With title](https://knowdust.com "Markdown notes")

Images

Images are just links with a ! prefix. The text in brackets becomes the alt attribute.

![Alt text](/path/to/image.png)
![Logo](https://knowdust.com/logo.png "KnowDust")

Unordered Lists

Use -, *, or + followed by a space. Indent by two or four spaces to create nested lists.

- First item
- Second item
  - Nested item
  - Another nested
- Third item

Ordered Lists

Use numbers followed by a period. The actual numbers don't have to be sequential — the renderer counts for you.

1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item

1. This also
1. works fine
1. with 1. 1. 1.

Inline Code and Code Blocks

Wrap inline code in single backticks. For multi-line code blocks, use triple backticks (```) and optionally specify the language for syntax highlighting.

Use `npm install` to install dependencies.

```javascript
function greet(name) {
  return `Hello, ${name}!`;
}
```

Blockquotes

Prefix lines with > to create a blockquote. You can nest blockquotes by adding more > signs.

> This is a blockquote.
> It can span multiple lines.

> Outer quote
>> Nested quote

Horizontal Rules

Three or more hyphens, asterisks, or underscores on their own line create a horizontal rule.

---
***
___

Tables

Tables use pipes | to separate columns and hyphens --- to separate the header row. Colons in the divider row control alignment.

| Name    | Age | City       |
|---------|-----|------------|
| Alice   | 30  | New York   |
| Bob     | 25  | London     |

| Left | Center | Right |
|:-----|:------:|------:|
| L    |   C    |     R |

Escaping Characters

Use a backslash \ before a markdown character to render it literally without formatting.

\*This is not italic\*
\# This is not a heading

Practice in a real markdown workspace

Knowdust is a markdown-first note app with built-in git history. Every save is a commit — edit fearlessly.

Start free

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