Markdown and Writing Tools Guide
Markdown is a lightweight markup language used for technical documentation, blog posts, and README files. This guide covers Markdown syntax and writing tools.
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What is Markdown?
Markdown is a lightweight markup language created by John Gruber in 2004. It creates formatted text using plain text. Can be converted to HTML.
Advantages: Easy to learn, readable (even source code is readable), platform-independent, compatible with version control (Git).
Use cases: GitHub README, blog posts, technical documentation, note-taking (Obsidian, Notion), email (some clients).
Basic Markdown syntax
Headings: # H1, ## H2, ### H3. Emphasis: **bold**, *italic*, ~~strikethrough~~. Lists: - bullet or 1. numbered. Link: [text](url). Image: .
Code: `inline code` or ```code block```. Quote: > quoted text. Horizontal rule: ---. Table: | header | header |.
Advanced: Task lists (- [ ] / - [x]), footnotes, definition lists, HTML embedding.
Markdown editors
VS Code: Built-in Markdown preview, extensions (Markdown All in One, Markdown Preview Enhanced).
Obsidian: Note-taking + Markdown. Bidirectional links, graph view.
Typora: WYSIWYG Markdown editor. Real-time preview.
StackEdit: Browser-based Markdown editor. Google Drive integration.
Practical tips
1. Use consistent formatting. Use heading levels (H1-H6) consistently.
2. Short paragraphs. 3-5 sentences ideal. Long paragraphs are hard to read.
3. Use lists. Bullet and numbered lists improve readability.
4. Specify language in code blocks. ```python, ```javascript etc. For syntax highlighting.
5. Optimize images. Image size cannot be controlled in Markdown; resize beforehand.
Utilgo text tools
Utilgo offers Markdown preview, word counter, case converter, and more text tools. All run in the browser.