Markdown Cheat Sheet
Markdown is a lightweight syntax for formatting plain text that is easy to read and write. Applivery supports Markdown in publications and text fields to enrich your content without needing to write HTML.
This page is a quick reference for the most commonly used Markdown elements. For the full specification, see John Gruber's original spec and the GitHub-flavored Markdown guide.
Basic Syntax
These are the core elements supported by all Markdown applications.
Headings
Use # symbols to define headings. The number of # symbols corresponds to the heading level (1–6).
# H1
## H2
### H3
#### H4
##### H5
###### H6
Emphasis
Italic text with *asterisks* or _underscores_.
Bold text with **asterisks** or __underscores__.
Combined bold and italic with **asterisks and _underscores_**.
Strikethrough with two tildes: ~~strikethrough~~.
Renders as:
Italic text with asterisks or underscores.
Bold text with asterisks or underscores.
Combined bold and italic with asterisks and underscores.
Strikethrough with two tildes: strikethrough.
Horizontal Rules
Any of the following produce a horizontal divider line:
___
---
***
Lists
Ordered list:
1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item
Unordered list — asterisks, hyphens, and plus signs all work:
* Item using asterisk
- Item using hyphen
+ Item using plus
Nested list:
1. First ordered item
2. Second ordered item
- Unordered sub-item
- Another sub-item
3. Third ordered item
1. Ordered sub-item
Actual numbers in ordered lists don't matter — Markdown will render them sequentially regardless of what numbers you use. 1. 1. 1. renders as 1. 2. 3.
Links
[Link text](https://www.example.com)
[Link text with tooltip](https://www.example.com "Tooltip text")
Bare URLs are also automatically converted to links in most Markdown renderers:
https://www.example.com
<https://www.example.com>
Images


The alt text is displayed if the image fails to load and is also used by screen readers.
Code
Inline code — wrap text in single backticks:
Use the `code` tag for inline snippets.
Code blocks — wrap with triple backticks. Optionally specify a language for syntax highlighting:
```javascript
const greeting = "Hello, world!";
console.log(greeting);
```
```python
greeting = "Hello, world!"
print(greeting)
```
```
No language specified — no syntax highlighting applied.
```
Renders as:
const greeting = "Hello, world!";
console.log(greeting);
greeting = "Hello, world!"
print(greeting)
No language specified — no syntax highlighting applied.
Blockquotes
Use > to create blockquotes. Blockquotes can be nested and can contain other Markdown elements.
> This is a blockquote.
> This line is part of the same quote.
> You can use *italic* and **bold** inside a blockquote.
> First level
>> Nested blockquote
Renders as:
This is a blockquote.
This line is part of the same quote.
You can use italic and bold inside a blockquote.
First level
Nested blockquote
Extended Syntax
These elements extend the basic syntax and are supported by most modern Markdown renderers, including GitHub-flavored Markdown.
Tables
Use pipes | and hyphens - to create tables. The second row defines alignment using colons:
| Left-aligned | Center-aligned | Right-aligned |
|:---|:---:|---:|
| Cell | Cell | Cell |
| Cell | Cell | Cell |
Renders as:
Left-aligned | Center-aligned | Right-aligned |
|---|---|---|
Cell | Cell | Cell |
Cell | Cell | Cell |
Task Lists
- [x] Completed task
- [ ] Incomplete task
- [ ] Another incomplete task
Renders as:
Completed task
Incomplete task
Another incomplete task
Footnotes
Here is a sentence with a footnote.[^1]
[^1]: This is the footnote content.
Escaping Characters
To display a character that would otherwise be interpreted as Markdown formatting, prefix it with a backslash \:
\*This text is not italicized\*
\# This is not a heading
Characters that can be escaped: \ * _ { } [ ] ( ) # + - . !
Quick Reference
Element | Syntax |
|---|---|
Heading 1 |
|
Heading 2 |
|
Bold |
|
Italic |
|
Bold + Italic |
|
Strikethrough |
|
Inline code |
|
Code block |
|
Blockquote |
|
Ordered list |
|
Unordered list |
|
Link |
|
Image |
|
Horizontal rule |
|
Table |
|
Task list |
|
Escape character |
|