Markdown ======== Download -------- [Markdown 1.0b1][dl] -- 19 KB, 9 March 2004 [dl]: http://daringfireball.net/projects/downloads/Markdown_1.0b1.zip Introduction ------------ Markdown is a text-to-HTML conversion tool for web writers. Markdown allows you to write using an easy-to-read, easy-to-write plain text format, then convert it to structurally valid XHTML (or HTML). Thus, "Markdown" is two things: a plain text formatting syntax, and a software tool, written in Perl, that converts the plain text markup to HTML. See the [Syntax] [s] page for details pertaining to Markdown's formatting syntax. You can try it out, right now, using the online [dingus][d]. [s]: /projects/markdown/syntax [d]: /projects/markdown/dingus The overriding design goal for Markdown's formatting syntax is to make it as readable as possible. The idea is that a Markdown-formatted document should be publishable as-is, as plain text, without looking like it's been marked up with tags or formatting instructions. While Markdown's syntax has been influenced by several existing text-to-HTML filters -- including [Setext] [1], [Textile] [2], [reStructuredText] [3], and [Grutatext] [4] -- the single biggest source of inspiration for Markdown's syntax is the format of plain text email. [1]: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/mirror/setext.html [2]: http://textism.com/tools/textile/ [3]: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/rst.html [4]: http://www.triptico.com/software/grutatxt.html For an example, you can see the [Markdown source for this page] [src] (along with every other page in the Markdown project section) by adding '.text' to the URL. [src]: /projects/markdown/index.text Markdown works both as a [Movable Type] [mt] plug-in and as a standalone Perl script -- which means it can also be used as a text filter in [BBEdit] [bb] (or any other application that supports filters written in Perl). When used as a Movable Type plug-in, Markdown offers (optional) automatic integration with [SmartyPants] [sp]. [mt]: http://movabletype.org/ [bb]: http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/index.shtml [sp]: /projects/smartypants/ Markdown is free for personal use, and costs $50 per domain for commercial use. The code is open source, licensed under the GPL. See the [Pricing and License] [pl] page for more information. [pl]: /projects/markdown/license What Exactly Do I Mean by 'Beta'? --------------------------------- Markdown 1.0b1 should be solid enough for production use. It's been tested by a handful of users during development, and I've been using it at Daring Fireball for every post I've written since November 2003. *Eating my own dog food*, as they say. But it's not the software that's "beta", so much as the formatting syntax. Every detail of Markdown's syntax -- what's there, and what's not -- has been carefully considered, refined, and field-tested. Numerous bad and mediocre ideas have been implemented, evaluated, and rejected during Markdown's months of development. However, I don't want to declare the syntax finalized quite yet. Once I declare Markdown 1.0 out of beta, the formatting syntax will thereafter remain stable. New syntactical features may be added, but old ones will not break. During beta-testing, however, I reserve the right to make changes that break the existing syntax. I don't anticipate this happening -- but I don't want to reject good ideas simply because they break the current syntax. I plan on using Markdown for a very long time; a few weeks of flux now will be worth it in the long run if the result is a better syntax. Discussion List --------------- I've set up a public [mailing list for discussion about Markdown] [ml]. Any topic related to Markdown -- both its formatting syntax and its software -- is fair game for discussion. Anyone who is interested is welcome to join. It's my hope that the mailing list will lead to good ideas for future improvements to Markdown. [ml]: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/markdown-discuss