Lemmy Markdown Formatting Guide

This post explains how to format Markdown with Lemmy and details it’s nuances as best as possible.

Important Notes on Markdown with Lemmy

Lemmy parses Markdown using CommonMark, but with some additional features namely spoilers.

NOTE: Lemmy cares about the number of newlines between paragraphs. If you want to have a new paragraph, you need to have at least one newline between the two paragraphs. Or else, Lemmy will treat it as a single paragraph. You can see this in the example below.

This is a paragraph. Imagine it's a bit longer.

This is another paragraph. Again, imagine it's a bit longer.

This is a paragraph. Imagine it's a bit longer.
This is another paragraph. Again, imagine it's a bit longer.

Text Formatting

Paragraph Text

Headings

Headings are denoted by a # at the beginning of a line. The number of #s determines the heading level up to 6. The alternate format is to have the heading text on the line below and underline it with = for heading 1 and - for heading 2.

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
#### Heading 4
##### Heading 5
###### Heading 6

Heading 1
=========

Heading 2
---------

Blockquotes

Blockquotes are simply a > at the beginning of a line.

Blockquote Format

> This is a blockquote.

> This is
>
> a multiline
>
> blockquote.

> This is
> not a multiline
> blockquote.

Blockquote Result

This is a blockquote.

This is

a multiline

blockquote.

This is not a multiline blockquote.

Lists

Lists can be ordered or unordered. Ordered lists are numbered, unordered lists are bulleted. You can nest lists by indenting them with 4 spaces or a tab, and you can mix ordered and unordered lists by indenting them differently.

- Item 1
- Item 2
  - Item 2.1
  - Item 2.2
- Item 3

1. Item 1
2. Item 2
   1. Item 2.1
   2. Item 2.2
3. Item 3

- Item 1
- Item 2
  1. Item 2.1
  2. Item 2.2
     - Item 2.2.1
- Item 3

Code Blocks

Code blocks are denoted by 3 backticks (```) on the line before and after the code block. Currently no syntax highlighting is supported. You can also do inline code blocks by using a single backtick (`) on either side of the code.

\`\`\` python
def hello_world():
    print("Hello World!")
\`\`\`

def hello_world():
    print("Hello World!")

This is a paragraph with some `inline code` in it.

Links

Links are denoted by [link text](link url). You can also do reference links by doing [link text][link id] and then [link id]: link url somewhere else in the post, preferably at the bottom.

[SFFA](https://sffa.community)


[SFFA][sffa-wiki]
... somewhere down at the bottom of the post ...

[sffa-wiki]: https://sffa.community

Images

Images are denoted by ![alt text](image url). You can also do reference images by doing ![alt text][image id] and then [image id]: image url somewhere else in the post, preferably at the bottom of the post like with reference links.

![Lemmy from Motörhead]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Lemmy-02.jpg)

![Lemmy from Motörhead][lemmy]

... somewhere down at the bottom of the post ...

[lemmy]: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Lemmy-02.jpg

Tables

Tables are denoted by |s and -s. The first row is the header row, and the second row is the alignment row. The alignment row is optional, and if it is not included, the table will default to left alignment. The alignment row can be left aligned with :---, right aligned with ---:, or center aligned with :---:. The alignment row can also be omitted entirely, in which case the table will default to left alignment.

| Header 1 | Header 2 | Header 3 |
| :--- | :---: | ---: |
| Left | Center | Right |
| Left | Center | Right |

Horizontal Rules

Horizontal rules are denoted by 3 or more -s on a line by themselves and require blank new lines above and below.

some text

---

some more text

Spoilers

Spoilers are denoted by ::: spoiler and ::: around a block of text or other markdown elements. You can give the spoiler a title by putting it after ::: spoiler like ::: spoiler Spoiler Title.

You CAN’T nest spoilers inside of each other.

Spoiler Format

NOTE: Ignore the backslashes, they are only there to escape the colons.

Some paragraph text.

\::: spoiler Spoiler Title
Some spoiler or _other_ markdown elements.
\:::

Other paragraph text.

Spoiler Result

Some paragraph text.

Other paragraph text.