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Below is a complete, practical Markdown reference written in Markdown itself. You can copy-paste this directly into any .md file to experiment with the syntax.
# 📘 Complete Markdown Reference Markdown is a lightweight markup language for formatting text using plain characters. This guide shows all common features with examples you can copy & use. --- ## 1. Headings ```markdown # H1 – Title ## H2 – Section ### H3 – Subsection #### H4 ##### H5 ###### H6 ``` Result: # H1 – Title ## H2 – Section ### H3 – Subsection #### H4 ##### H5 ###### H6 --- ## 2. Emphasis ```markdown Italic or Italic Bold or Bold ***Bold + Italic*** Strikethrough ``` *Italic* **Bold** ***Bold + Italic*** Strikethrough --- ## 3. Paragraphs & Line Breaks Leave a blank line between paragraphs. To force a line break, end a line with two spaces like this. --- ## 4. Lists ### Unordered ```markdown - Item one - Item two - Nested item - Another Star also works + Plus also works ``` - Item one - Item two - Nested item - Another Star also works + Plus also works ### Ordered ```markdown 1. First 2. Second 3. Third ``` 1. First 2. Second 3. Third ### Task Lists ```markdown - [x] Done task - [ ] Todo task ``` - [x] Done task - [ ] Todo task --- ## 5. Links ```markdown [OpenAI](https://openai.com) Automatic: <https://example.com> Reference style: [Google][1] [1]: https://google.com ``` --- ## 6. Images ```markdown  Image with title:  ``` --- ## 7. Blockquotes ```markdown > This is a quote > Multi-line quote > > Another paragraph in quote ``` > This is a quote > Multi-line quote > > Another paragraph in quote --- ## 8. Code ### Inline code ```markdown Use the `printf()` function. ``` Use the `printf()` function. ### Code blocks ````markdown ```python def hello(): print("Hello world") ```
def hello(): print("Hello world")
9. Horizontal Rule
--- *** ___
10. Tables
| Name | Age | City | |------|----:|--------| | Ana | 24 | NY | | Ben | 30 | LA | | Cara | 28 | Austin |
NameAgeCityAna24NYBen30LACara28Austin
Alignment:
:--- left
---: right
:---: center
11. Footnotes (GitHub / extended)
Here is a statement with a footnote.[^1] [^1]: This is the footnote text.
12. Definition Lists (some flavors)
Term : Definition of the term
13. HTML Inside Markdown
You can mix raw HTML:
<b>Bold via HTML</b> <div style="color:red">Red text</div>
14. Escaping Characters
Use backslash:
\*Not italic\* \# Not a heading
15. Emoji (GitHub style)
:smile: :rocket: :fire:
😄 🚀 🔥
16. Collapsible Section (HTML)
<details> <summary>Click to open</summary> Hidden text here! </details>
17. Diagrams (Mermaid – supported in many tools)
```mermaid graph LR A --> B B --> C ```
18. Comments
<!-- This is not visible -->
19. Keyboard Keys
Press <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>C</kbd>
20. Advanced: Anchors
[Jump to tables](#10-tables)
Best Practices
Use one # per page for the main title
Keep line length < 80–100 chars
Prefer - for lists
Use fenced code blocks with language tags
Tables are great for structured data
Common Flavors
CommonMark – basic standard
GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) – tables, tasks, strikethrough
Pandoc Markdown – academic features
Obsidian/Notion – extended wiki style
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