# Markdown Basics

What will be helpful is to [download the source text file](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/qw3rc7bm2w474q5/markdown-source.txt) of this page. It's a simple txt file with markdown semantic the formatting you see on this page.

Markdown is the format used for [Pubwriter](http://www.pubwriter.com) and [AuthorDock](http://www.authordock.com).

Here's a good tutorial:
<http://markdowntutorial.com/>

Some quick tips:

Section breaks (lines to distinguish sections):

it's 3 asterisks in a row:

***

Paragraph formatting 

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
(you can go up to 6 headings if you really need to!)

***
Character formatting

*ITALIC*  
or  
_ITALIC_

**BOLD**

***BOLD+ITALIC***

~~strikethrough~~

***

## Alignment


To center text (only available in PubWriter), you need to place `<center>` above the text you want to center and `</center>` below the text you want centered.

Like this:

<center>
**THIS IS CENTERED**
</center>


Bulleted Lists:

* Item 1
* Item 2
  * Item 2a
  * Item 2b

 ***

Numbered Lists

1. Item 1
2. Item 2
3. Item 3
   * Item 3a
   * Item 3b

***
Quotes (aka comment boxes, callouts):

### 3 Levels


> Quote 1

TEXT

>> Quote 2

TEXT

>>> Quote 3

`PLAIN TEXT`

***

### Hidden text

One of the cooler tricks you can do with markdown, is wrap any text with < > - for example <text>  will hide the word 'text' when it gets converted to markdown.

<this text is hidden when it gets converted to markdown>

This is helpful for comments to the author you want hidden from the reader.

***

Paragraph formatting note:  
If you want to do a 'soft break' - you need to add two spaces at the end of the line. 

***

## Images

In order to insert an image, it has to first exist online and be linkable. Sites like Imgur makes this pretty  simple, but you can also use dropbox and flickr.

**(IF you do use dropbox (recommended), then put all your images in the PUBLIC folder so you get the correct dl.dropboxusercontent.com link.**

Basically, you type the following syntax:

`![](image url)`

![](http://selfpublish.org/pix/authordock.jpg)

You can link an image as well:

`[![](image url)](hyperlink)`

[![](http://selfpublish.org/pix/authordock.jpg)](http://www.authordock.com)

**END**

## Here's some more helpful tutorials on using Markdown:

<https://michelf.ca/projects/php-markdown/concepts/>

<https://dayone.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/200265094-Markdown-Guide>

<http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/29/markdown-primer/>

<http://brettterpstra.com/why-markdown-a-two-minute-explanation/>

<http://mijingo.com/products/screencasts/basics-of-markdown/>

<https://dayone.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/200145825-What-is-Markdown->

## Here's a downloadable Markdown handbook:

<https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/lk1kx8tfy3hjqtm/markdown-guide.pdf>