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Markdown in these blogs

Posted by: Brenton LeMesurier | 2012/08/13 | No Comment |

I think that I overlooked describing another optional feature in these blogs: using Jonathan Gruber’s markdown notation instead of HTML or the WYSIWIG “Visual” composing options.

Why Markdown?

  • For those of us who like the control of a markup language (HTML, LaTeX etc.) rather than a “What You See is Approximately What You Will Get” method (as with common word processing software and the Visual interface to WordPress), MarkDown allows that with a far more concise notation that HTML.
  • The notation is also readable itself, before processing into final displayed form. This is because it is mostly based on conventions already used in email and some blogs to indicate formatting in a plain typed text.

Warning: editing later can cause problems.

Sometimes, editing a post after publishing it does not work right: for example, list formatting can get messed up a bit. So it is best to get it right the first time, or to fix errors by creating a new replacement post and deleting the original.

A Few Markdown Features (Aside: this is a level three heading)

Note: I will post next the raw input file that produces this post. Here is a list of the basics.

  1. Enumerated lists like this one. Note that errors in the numbering get fixed!
  2. Non-enumerated lists as in the previous section, Why Markdown?
  3. Section headings, like “A Few Markdown Features”
  4. Text that is emphasized and so probably appears in italics (using either underscores or stars)
  5. Text that is strongly emphasized and so probably appears in boldface (double the underscores or stars)
  6. Block quotes, using the common “>” notation from email. This is illustrated next.
  7. Links, like the one above from the text “Jonathan Gruber’s markdown” to his page about it.
  8. Simple links where the text that appears is the address for the link can be done as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown

Block quoting (Aside: this is a level four heading)

Some of the text so far, quoted, with the list as a quote within the quote:

I think that I overlooked describing another optional feature in these blogs: using Jonathan Gruber’s markdown notation instead of HTML or the WYSIWIG “Visual” composing options.

Why Markdown?

  • For those of us who like the control of a markup language (HTML, LaTeX etc.) rather than a “What You See is Approximately What You Will Get” method (as with common word processing software and the Visual interface to WordPress), MarkDown allows that with a far more concise notation that HTML.
  • The notation is also readable itself, before processing into final displayed form. This is because it is mostly based on conventions already used in email and some blogs to indicate formatting in a plain typed text.

How to use Markdown at this site

  1. To enable Markdown (one time only): when logged in, go to the item at left for Plugins, find Markdown on Save, and select Activate
  2. To use Markdown when composing a post: toggle the “M down-arrow” icon just to the left of “Publish” near the top-right.

Note that even if you have activated the Markdown plug-in, you have the option of using Markdown or not on each individual post.

The raw Markdown input for the above

I think that I overlooked describing another optional feature in these blogs: using
[Jonathan Gruber's markdown](http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/)
notation instead of HTML or the WYSIWIG "Visual" composing options.

### Why Markdown?

- For those of us who like the control of a markup language (HTML, LaTeX etc.) rather than a "What You See is Approximately What You Will Get" method (as with common word processing software and the Visual interface to WordPress), MarkDown allows that with a far more concise notation that HTML.
- The notation is also readable itself, before processing into final displayed form. This is because it is mostly based on conventions already used in email and some blogs to indicate formatting in a plain typed text.

**Warning: editing later can cause problems.**

Sometimes, editing a post after publishing it does not work right: for example, list formatting can get messed up a bit. So it is best to get it right the first time, or to fix errors by creating a new replacement post and deleting the original.

### A Few Markdown Features (Aside: this is a level three heading)

Note: I will post next the raw input file that produces this post. Here is a list of the basics.

3. Enumerated lists like this one. Note that errors in the numbering get fixed!
2. Non-enumerated lists as in the previous section, __Why Markdown?__
1. Section headings, like "A Few Markdown Features"
5. Text that is *emphasized* and so probably appears _in italics_ (using either underscores or stars)
5. Text that is **strongly emphasized** and so probably appears __in boldface__ (double the underscores or stars)
1. Block quotes, using the common ">" notation from email. This is illustrated next.
1. Links, like the one above from the text "Jonathan Gruber's markdown" to his page about it.
1. Simple links where the text that appears is the address for the link can be done as 

#### Block quoting (Aside: this is a level four heading)
Some of the text so far, quoted, with the list as a quote within the quote:

>I think that I overlooked describing another optional feature in these blogs: using [Jonathan Gruber's markdown](http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/) notation instead of HTML or the WYSIWIG "Visual" composing options.

>### Why Markdown?

>>- For those of us who like the control of a markup language (HTML, LaTeX etc.) rather than a "What You See is Approximately What You Will Get" method (as with common word processing software and the Visual interface to WordPress), MarkDown allows that with a far more concise notation that HTML.
>>- The notation is also readable itself, before processing into final displayed form. This is because it is mostly based on conventions already used in email and some blogs to indicate formatting in a plain typed text.

### How to use Markdown at this site

1. To enable Markdown (one time only): when logged in, go to the item at left for Plugins, find _Markdown on Save_, and select *Activate*
2. To use Markdown when composing a post: find and check the box for "This post is formatted with Markdown", at the top-right.

Note that even if you have activated the Markdown plug-in, you have the option of using Markdown or not on each individual post.
under: wordpress blog usage

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