Nodes

Markdown

3 min read

Markdown is a lightweight markup language used to display content on the web in a simple way. It’s the most popular markup language because it’s the easiest to get started with.

Markdown has different “flavours” or implementations that are slightly different in syntax. Obsidian notes are based on Markdown and are saved as .md files.

Almost every web site we use regularly is written at least partially in some form of HTML. The problem is that HTML looks like this— not exactly the most friendly for reading OR writing.

The format called Markdown was created as a more readable and writable alternative to HTML, but it isn’t a direct replacement. Instead, it’s kind of like another layer entirely: you write in something that looks pretty much like human prose, with minimal marks that format the text in some way.

At some point, Markdown is rendered: this is what’s happening when you switch from source mode to Live Preview in Obsidian. This is also what’s happening when you blog— all the major blogging platforms take Markdown text and convert it into HTML. So HTML is better for displaying formatted text online, but Markdown is better when you’re writing and reading in plain, unformatted text.

Headings 

# This is heading 1
## This is heading 2
### This is heading 3

Looks like this:

This is heading 1 

This is heading 2 

This is heading 3 

[[Readme]]

Link to note but with link text 

[[Readme|This is the readme.]]
[Kavin Thangavel](https://thekavin.com)
[[content/index|index]]
[[Readme#^f21c74|^f21c74]]

Embed note or part of notes 

Same as the previous five, but add a ! at the start like:

![[Readme#^f21c74|^f21c74]]

What’s here? 

  • Obsidiancontains information on different features and how to use them.
  • Obsidian Plugins goes through every single core plugin.

There’s more to come, but you’re welcome to poke around now!

Formatting text 

Bold text 

**super** important

Looks like this:

super important

Italicize text 

*a little* important

Looks like this:

a little important

Strikethrough text 

~~not important~~

Looks like this:

not important

Highlight text 

==Remember this==

Looks like this:

Remember this

Add block quote 

> Live long and prosper.

Looks like this:

Live long and prosper.

Embed image in vault 

![[notebook.png]]

Looks like this:

notebook.png

Add horizontal rule 

---

Looks like this:

List items (bulleted) 

- Item 1
- Item 2

Looks like this:

  • Item 1
  • Item 2

List items (numbered) 

1. Item 1
2. Item 2

Looks like this:

  1. Item 1
  2. Item 2

Add a checklist 

- [ ] Process notes
- [X] Finish book

Looks like this:

  • Process notes
  • Finish book

Add in-line code 

Command: `git push`

Looks like this:

Command: git push

Add callout 

> [!NOTE] Note
> 
> This is a note.

Looks like this:

Note

this is a note

Add code block 

print('Hello world')

Looks like this:

print('Hello world')

Add a comment 

You can create a comment that spans over multiple lines:

Add a footnote 

... as Ahrens says. [^ahrens]
[^ahrens]: Ahrens, S.(2022).

Looks like this:

… as Ahrens says. [1]

Graph View

Backlinks