cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/2255242

Hey everyone, I figured that some new users might not know that comments and posts have a formatting standard called Markdown.
In simple terms, Markdown is a (semi)universal language that uses formatting symbols to give a certain style to a portion of text.
This quick guide can help you to write in a way that’s more appealing and easy to read.

FORMATTING SYNTAX EXAMPLE
New line put two spaces at the end of the line you want to break Line__
New paragraph return two times at the end of the paragraf Line↵↵
Horizontal rule between each paragraph put three “-” or “*” ***
Bold put your text between two “**” or “__” **Bold** or __Bold__
Italic put your text between two “*” or “_” *Italic* or _Italic_
Subscript put your text between two “~” ~Subscript~
Superscript put your text between two “^” ^Superscript^
Inline code put your text between two “`” `sudo rm -rf /`
Headings and Titles put one or more “#” at the beginning of the line # Headings for level 1, ## Headings for level 2…
Blockquotes put “>” at the beginning of the line > Blockquote
Links put the the text between [ ] and the link between ( ) [Links]( https://piped.video/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ )
Images Images like links but you put “!” before the first square bracket ![Images]( https://lemmy.ml/pictrs/image/fa6d9660-4f1f-4e90-ac73-b897216db6f3.png?format=webp&thumbnail=96 )

You can also do unordered lists using “-” at the beginning of each line:

- Salt
- Potatoes
- Beans

will become

  • Salt
  • Potatoes
  • Beans

Or ordered list by putting “1.” at the beginning of each line:

1. Salt
2. Potatoes
3. Beans

will become

  1. Salt
  2. Potatoes
  3. Beans

You can save other users from spoilers by encasing a paragraph between a section that starts with “::: spoiler” + the title of the spoiler and ends with “:::”. The spoiler will be hidden inside a menu and you’ll be able to see it if you click on it

::: spoiler warning! spoiler!
the butler did it
:::

will become

warning! spoiler!

the butler did it

In the end you can also format big code blocks by putting “```” at the beginning and at the end of each paragraph

```
println(“Hello World!”)
```

will become

    println("Hello World!")

Last but not least remember that you can always use break formatting syntax by putting “\” in front of a character:
so if I want “^” in my text without having the rest of the paragraph in superscript, I’m simply going to write “\^”

Now go and have fun!