Markdown Cheat Sheet
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This Markdown cheat sheet provides a quick overview of all the Markdown syntax elements. It can’t cover every edge case, so if you need more information about any of these elements, refer to the reference guides for basic syntax and extended syntax.
Basic Syntax
These are the elements outlined in John Gruber’s original design document. All Markdown applications support these elements.
Heading
H1
H2
H3
Bold
bold text
Italic
italicized text
Blockquote
blockquote
Ordered List
- First item
- Second item
- Third item
Unordered List
- First item
- Second item
- Third item
Code
code
Line Break
Use \\ at the end of a line — NCM's line break, inherited from JSPWiki.
line one<br>
line two
Two trailing spaces also work, the standard Markdown way. \\ is preferred because it is visible in the source and survives editors that strip trailing whitespace.
\\\ (three) forces a break and clears floated images, for text that should start below a picture rather than beside it.
Writing <br> directly is refused when you save. It is embedded HTML, and NCM has its own line break — keeping page source in one language means it renders the same everywhere and cannot carry anything unexpected.
Horizontal Rule
Link
Image
Extended Syntax
These elements extend the basic syntax by adding additional features. Not all Markdown applications support these elements.
Table
| Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
| Header | Title |
| Paragraph | Text |
Fenced Code Block
{
"firstName": "John",
"lastName": "Smith",
"age": 25
}
Footnote
Here's a sentence with a footnote. [1]
[1]: This is the footnote.
Heading ID
My Great Heading {#custom-id}
Definition List
term
: definition
Strikethrough
The world is flat.
Task List
- x Write the press release
- Update the website
- Contact the media
Emoji
That is so funny! 😂
(See also Copying and Pasting Emoji)
Highlight
I need to highlight these ==very important words==.
Subscript
H2O
Superscript
X2