Markdown basics

New to Markdown? It's a simple way to write formatted text in plain files. You add a few symbols to your words, and Silica turns them into headings, lists, links, and more. This page covers the essentials; the rest of this section adds the Obsidian and Silica extras on top.

Headings

Start a line with # symbols. More # means a smaller heading.

# Page title

## Section

### Subsection

Headings also build the page's table of contents.

Paragraphs and line breaks

Just write text. Leave a blank line between paragraphs:

This is one paragraph.

This is another paragraph.

Bold, italic, and strikethrough

_italic_ or _italic_
**bold** or **bold**
**_bold italic_**
~~strikethrough~~

italic, bold, bold italic, and strikethrough.

Lists

Bulleted lists use -; numbered lists use 1.. Indent to nest:

- First item
- Second item
  - Nested item

1. Step one
2. Step two

• First item
• Second item
  • Nested item

1. Step one
2. Step two

Add [ ] or [x] for a task list:

- [x] Write the page
- [ ] Publish it

• Write the page
• Publish it

Links and images

[Link text](https://example.com)
![Image alt text](images/photo.png)

In a Silica vault you'll usually link between your own pages with wikilinks and embed images with `![[...` embeds]] instead.

Quotes

Start a line with >:

> A blockquote.

A blockquote.

Silica also turns special blockquotes into callouts.

Inline code and code blocks

Wrap inline code in backticks. For a block, fence it with three backticks:

Use the `silica build` command.

```ts
const site = "Silica";
```

Use the silica build command.

const site = "Silica";

See Code and diagrams for syntax highlighting and diagrams.

Horizontal rule

Three dashes on their own line draw a divider:

---

Obsidian additions

On top of standard Markdown, Silica understands a few Obsidian inline extras.

Highlight text with double equals:

This is ==highlighted== text.

This is highlighted text.

Hide private notes with %% — they never appear on the page:

Visible text. %% This comment is hidden. %%

Visible text.

Add a quick aside with an inline footnote:

Silica supports inline footnotes.^[This note stays inline in the source.]

Silica supports inline footnotes.¹

Where to next

That's the core of Markdown. From here, the rest of this section covers what Silica adds:

• Frontmatter — page metadata
• Links — connect your pages
• Callouts — styled note boxes
• Tables — rows, columns, and alignment
• Math — inline and block equations