Markdown was designed as a lightweight markup language that could be quickly converted to other formats (such as HTML). The advantage is that it’s simpler and quicker to get basic information formatted and shared. Below I’ve compiled a short cheat sheet.
Headers
# H1
## H2
##### H5
Horizontal Rule
Three or more hyphens, asterisks, or underscores.
---
or
___
Lists
For lists you just use simple numbering or asterisks to assemble a list. It should be noted that the actual numbers in an ordered list does not actually matter. The list items will be automatically numbered. For unordered lists the number is replaced with an asterisk, a minus, or a plus sign. For tiered list items a space must precede the number or asterisk. In the code below this is shown with periods.
1. First ordered list item.
2. Second ordered list item.
..* Unordered sub-list.
Emphasis
Ephasis such as italics can be done using single asterisks or underscores. Strong emphasis such as bold can be done with double asteriskcs or underscores. Strikethroughs require double tildes.
Emphasis, aka italics, with *asterisks* or _underscores_.
Strong emphasis, aka bold, with **asterisks** or __underscores__.
Combined emphasis with **asterisks and _underscores_**.
Strikethrough uses two tildes. ~~Scratch this.~~
Links
[link text](https://www.google.com)
[link text](https://www.google.com "This is the link title")
Images
Tables
Tables in Markdown are not part of the official spec but are part of GFM and Markdown Here supports them. The pipe character is used to separate columns in a table. If you take note to the colons in the second row in the example below, they designate the alignment of the text within the collumns.
| Header 1 | Header 2 | Header 3 |
| -------- | :--------: | --------: |
| First col | Sec col | Third col |
| Header 1 | Header 2 | Header 3 |
|---|---|---|
| First col | Sec col | Third col |