What is the Markdown language all about? How is it being used on sites like Ello, Github and in the Jetpack plugin for WordPress? Why should communicators and others involved in PR or marketing careabout Markdown? How can it help more rapidly create content for the web?
Those are all questions I sought to answer in episode 3 of FIR On Technology with Dan York that I published last Friday. The podcast is now available for listening directly on the FIR website or in iTunes or the podcast RSS feeds.
On the episode web page I also provided a list of links for people wanting to know more about Markdown, which I'm reprinting here:
- Wikipedia on Markup languages
- Wikipedia on Markdown
- Markdown Overview
- Markdown Basics
- Markdown Syntax
- Markdown in the Jetpack plugin for WordPress
- WordPress.com Markdown Quick Reference
- Ello: How To Format Posts Using Markdown
- GitHub Flavored Markdown
- MultiMarkdown
- Markdown Extra
- CommonMark
- 35+ Markdown Apps For The Mac
- MacDown
- The Best Markdown Editors for Windows
- 78 Tools for Writing and Previewing Markdown
I've found using Markdown to be extremely helpful in rapid content creation. I've naturally been using it on Ello (where I also wrote about this FIR On Technology episode) and on Github, but I'm also starting to use it for some posts on a couple of my WordPress sites courtesy of the Jetpack plugin. As I note in the episode, Markdown is not something necessarily new... after all it first came out in 2004... but it has seemed to attract more interest in recent years.
One point I forgot to make in the episode is that Markdown is not the only "lightweight markup language" out there. There are definitely other similar languages, each with their own take on how to make markup simple. An example I've used on several sites in the past is Textile. However, my interest these days has been in Markdown, and there seems to be a good bit of momentum behind the language... and so hence this podcast.
Anyway... I hope you find it useful and helpful. If you do, or if you have other comments or ideas or suggestions about Markdown, please do leave a comment here - or over in the FIR Podcast Community on Google+.
Enjoy!
P.S. I also recorded a The Dan York Report episode providing a preview of this FIR On Technology episode:
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