---
title: Markdown Reference Guide
author: Kirstie Martinka
description: A list of common keyboard shortcuts for various programs.
published: 2025-7-16
---
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## Markdown Reference Guide
Here is a reference guide to using and creating Markdown files.
Here are a few references that I have been using since the beginning of my programming journey:
1. Markdown Guide: https://www.markdownguide.org/basic-syntax/
1. Markdown Guide - Cheatsheet: https://www.markdownguide.org/cheat-sheet/
1. Common Markdown Types: https://commonmark.org/help/
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### Headings
When writing the syntax for headers,
it is best practice to leave a space between the number sign (#) and the heading name.
A blank line both before and after the header should also be used.
```html
# Heading Level 1
OR:
Heading Level 1
===============
## Heading Level 2
OR:
Heading Level 2
---------------
### Heading Level 3
#### Heading Level 4
##### Heading Level 5
###### Heading Level 6
```
-----
### Paragraphs
When writing the syntax for paragraphs,
a blank line is used to separate one (or multiple) lines of text.
It is a best practice to **not** indent or tab a paragraph when writing in markdown.
```html
This is a paragraph in markdown. One could say this is this first paragraph in this example.
To make a new paragraph, this is how it would look in markdown. And it could keep going on and on...
```
-----
### Line Breaks
When writing the syntax for a line break,
there are two options:
1. At the end of the text where the line break is being placed, enter two empty spaces. The second line of text after the line break should be entered one line down.
This is also known as "trailing whitespace".
1. At the end of the text where the line break is being placed, enter ```
```. The second line of text after the line break should be entered one line down.
For best practice, using the ```
``` HTML tag may be more useful, as it is hard to notice the trailing whitespace when viewing in an editor.
```html
This is the sentence before the line break.
This is the sentence after the line break, using trailing whitespace.
This is the sentence before the line break.
This is the sentence after the line break, using the
HTML tag.
```
-----
### Bold Text
When writing the syntax to bold text,
it is best practice to use two asterisks, following both before and after the selection of text.
```html
unbold example
**bold example**
To create **bold text**, you just need to wrap it in a double asterisk!
```
-----
### Italic Text
When writing the syntax to italicize text,
it is best practice to use one asterisk, following both before and after the selection of text.
```html
unitalicized example
*italicized example*
To create *italicized text*, you just need to wrap it in asterisks!
```
-----
### Bold and Italic Text
When writing the syntax to both bold and italicize text,
it is best practicce to use three asterisks, following both before and after the selection of text.
```html
unbold and unitalicized example
***bold and italicized example***
To create both ***bold and italicized text***, you just need to wrap it in a triple asterisk!
```
-----
### Lists
#### Ordered Lists:
When writing the syntax to create an ordered list,
it is best practice to start the first item with the number "1" and proceed in numerical order,
following each number by a period.
The numbers are not required to be listed in numerical order,
with another common option being all the numbers being listed under "1".
It is also best practice to leave a space between the number/period and the text.
```html
1. First Item
2. Second Item
3. Third Item
1. First Item
1. Second Item
1. Third Item
```
#### Unordered Lists:
When writing the syntax to create an unordered list,
it is best practice to add a dash (-) in front of each
-----
### Blockquotes
When writing the syntax to create a blockquote,
add a > in front of a paragraph.
When a blockquote is to contain multiple paragraphs,
a > should be added in front of each paragraph,
as well as the blank lines separating each paragraph.
When a blockquote is to contain a nested blockquote,
a >> should be added in front of the paragraph to be nested.
A blockquote can contain other Markdown elements,
and best practices for all elements (as detailed in other sections) should be followed.
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##### [Return to the Beginning](#markdown-reference-guide)
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