Basic-README-Syntax

Github README.md is written in markdown which may include some minor variations.
Here I have listed some basic syntax which will help you to write your first README.md on github.

Contents

• Headings
• Paragraphs
• Horizontal Rules
• Line Breaks
• Emphasis
  • Bold
  • Italic
  • Strikethrough
  • Nested Emphasis
• Blockquotes
• Code Blocks
• Links
• Images
• Lists
  • Unordered list
  • Ordered list
• Task Lists
• Escaping Characters
• Emojis
• Tables

Headings

To create a heading add a hash sign - # (also known as number sign, or pound sign, etc.) followed by a space before your heading text. The number of # used before the heading text determines the level of heading. Heading level 1 i.e. h1 requires single # sign and goes upto heading level 6 i.e. h6 which requires use of six # signs.

Example	Rendered as
# Heading h1	Heading h1
## Heading h2	Heading h2
### Heading h3	Heading h3
#### Heading h4	Heading h4
##### Heading h5	Heading h5
###### Heading h6	Heading h6

Paragraphs

Write in plain text without additional label to create a paragraph text.

Example	Rendered as
This is a paragraph text.	This is a paragraph text.

• Sometimes html <p> tag is also used conventionally to custom-align a paragraph. For example, <p align="center">This is a center-aligned paragraph</p>

Horizontal Rules

To create a horizontal rule, use three or more dashes --- on a fresh line.

---

The above exmple is rendered as:

---

Line Breaks

Use two or more spaces and hit enter for a line break.
Since it is quite hard to see trailing whitespaces in an editor, HTML <br> tag is conventionally used for line breaks.

Example	Rendered as
This is one line<br>This is next	This is one line This is next

Emphasis

1. BOLD
   Add two asterisks (more conventionally used) or underscores before and after a text to make it bold. To make some characters of a text bold in the middle, use two asterisks without spaces before and after the characters (using underscore does not work in this case. So it is a good practise to use asterisks instead of underscore everytime to make a text bold).

Example	Rendered as
This word is **Bold**	This word is Bold
This word is __also Bold__	This word is also Bold
Basic**Readme**Syntax	BasicReadmeSyntax

2. ITALIC
   To italicize a text use single asterisk or underscore. Use single asterisk (and not underscore) to italicize a middle text.

Example	Rendered as
This word is *Italic*	This word is Italic
This word is _also Italic_	This word is also italic
Basic*Readme*Syntax	BasicReadmeSyntax

3. STRIKETHROUGH
   For strikingthrough a text use two tilde symbols before and after a text.

Example	Rendered as
This word is ~~strikedthrough~~	This word is strikedthrough

4. Nested Emphasis

Example	Rendered as
**This text is bold and _nested_ italic**	This text is bold and nested italic
***This text is all bold and italic***	This text is all bold and italic
This ***word*** is bold and italic	This word is bold and italic

Blockquotes

To create a blockquote add a > and a space at the begining of a paragraph.

> This is a blockquote.
The above example is rendered as:

This is a blockquote.

Blockquote with multiple paragraphs

> First line.
> 
> Last line was blank.

The above example is rendered as:

First line.

Second line.

Nested Blockquote

> The first line.
>> This is nested.

The above example is rendered as:

The first line.

This is nested.

Other examples of nested blockquotes

> 
> ### Opensource is love
> 
> 1. star this repo
> 2. fork this repo
> 
> Keep **contributing** to the *opensource*. It's fun.
> 

is rendered as

Opensource is love

1. star this repo
2. fork this repo

Keep contributing to the opensource. It's fun.

Code Blocks

You can call out code or a command within a sentence with single backticks. The text within the backticks will not be formatted.

Example	Rendered as
Use `npm install` to install dependencies	use npm install to install dependencies

To format code or text into its own distinct block, use triple backticks.

` ` `
npm install
npm start
` ` `
is rendered as

npm install
npm start

Links

Inline links can be created by wrapping link text in brackets [], and then wrapping the URL in parentheses ().

Example	Rendered as
[basic-readme-syntax](https://github.com/SandeepKrSuman/basic-readme-syntax/)	basic-readme-syntax

Relative links can also be used :

Example	Rendered as
[README](./README.md)	README

You can optionally add a title for a link. This will appear as a tooltip when the user hovers over the link. To add a title, enclose it within quotes "" after the URL.

Example	Rendered as
[basic-readme-syntax](https://github.com/SandeepKrSuman/basic-readme-syntax/ "Create your first README")	basic-readme-syntax

To quickly turn a URL or an Email address into a link enclose it within angle brackets <>.

Example	Rendered as
<https://github.com/SandeepKrSuman/basic-readme-syntax/>	https://github.com/SandeepKrSuman/basic-readme-syntax/
<examplemail@example.example>	examplemail@example.example

To link to headings within the README, treat headings as id's and use it instead of url in links.
For example to link to headings section in this README we can create link as [Headings](#headings). To link to code blocks section on this README we can create link as [Code Blocks](#code-blocks). Note that id's are exact name of headings with all characters in lower case and in place of space hypen - is used.

Example	Rendered as
[Headings](#headings)	Headings
[Code Blocks](#code-blocks)	Code Blocks

Images

Represent an image like ![alt-text](image-link).
Relative path of the image can also be used as image link: ![sun-image](./images/sun.jpg)

The following HTML <img> tag is also legal:

<img src="./images/sun.jpg" alt="sun-image" style="float: left; margin-right: 15px;" />

Lists

1. Unordered Lists
   To create an unordered list, add a dash(-) or an asterisk(*) or a plush sign (+) and a space in front of the text.
   Indent one or more items to create nested list.

- First item
- Second item
- Third item

The above example is rendered as:

• First item
• Second item
• Third item

- first item
- second item
  - third item
  - fourth item
- fifth item

The above example is rendered as:

• first item
• second item
  • third item
  • fourth item
• fifth item

2. Ordered Lists
   To create an ordered list use number and dot (or period) before text.
   Indent one or more items to create nested list.

1. first item
2. second item
    1. nested one
    2. nested two
3. third item

The above example is rendered as:

1. first item
2. second item
   1. nested one
   2. nested two
3. third item

Task Lists

To create a task list, preface list items with a regular space character followed by [ ]. To mark a task as complete, use [x].

- [ ] starred this repo
- [ ] forked this repo
- [x] I love opensource

The above example is rendered as:

• starred this repo
• forked this repo
• I love opensource

Escaping Characters

To display a literal character that would otherwise be used to format text in the README document, add a backslash \ in front of the character.

* this is a bullet point  
\* this is an asterisk

The above example is rendered as:

• this is a bullet point
  * this is an asterisk

Emojis

One way to use emojis in the readme file is to simply copy and paste them. The other way is to use emoji shortcuts.

😊😂  
:heart_eyes:  
:star: this repo

The above example is rendered as:
😊😂
😍
⭐ this repo

Tables

Take a look at the following examples to create a table:

| Greetings | Example |
| --- | --- |
| Hello | Hello git |
| Hi | Hi github |
| Hey | Hey there |

The above example is rendered as:

Greetings	Example
Hello	Hello git
Hi	Hi github
Hey	Hey there

---

We have touched almost every part required for creating a functional README.md file. Hope this was helpful. Try creating your first readme with the help of whatever you have learned from here. If this helped you in any way do show some love by starring this repo. Happy coding 😊.