Markdown Best Practices - Professional Tips

Writing clean, maintainable markdown is an art. Follow these best practices to create professional, readable, and maintainable markdown documents that work well across different platforms and tools.

1. Consistent Formatting

Use Consistent Header Styles

✅ Best Practice:

Choose one style for headers and stick with it throughout your document:

# Use ATX-style headers
## They're more consistent
### And easier to maintain

❌ Avoid:

# ATX header
Setext header
=============
### Another ATX

Consistent List Markers

✅ Best Practice:

Use dashes (-) for unordered lists consistently:

- Item one
- Item two
- Item three

2. Readability

Use Blank Lines Liberally

✅ Best Practice:

Add blank lines between sections, paragraphs, and list items for better readability:

## Section Title

This is a paragraph with some content.

- List item one
- List item two

Another paragraph here.

❌ Avoid:

## Section Title
This is a paragraph with some content.
- List item one
- List item two
Another paragraph here.

Wrap Long Lines

💡 Tip:

Wrap lines at 80-100 characters for better readability in editors and code reviews. Most markdown parsers handle wrapped lines correctly.

3. Link Management

Use Reference-Style Links

✅ Best Practice:

For long documents with many links, use reference-style links at the bottom:

Check out our [documentation][docs] and [API reference][api].

[docs]: https://example.com/docs
[api]: https://example.com/api

💡 Tip:

Reference links make your content more readable and easier to maintain. Update URLs in one place instead of throughout the document.

4. Code Blocks

Always Specify Language

✅ Best Practice:

Always specify the language for code blocks to enable syntax highlighting:

```javascript
function example() {
    return "Hello, World!";
}
```

❌ Avoid:

```
function example() {
    return "Hello, World!";
}
```

Use Fenced Code Blocks

✅ Best Practice:

Use triple backticks (```) instead of indented code blocks. They're more reliable and support syntax highlighting:

```python
def hello():
    print("Hello, World!")
```

5. Tables

Align Tables Properly

✅ Best Practice:

Use proper alignment in tables for better readability:

| Feature | Status | Priority |
|---------|:------:|---------:|
| Login   | Done   | High     |
| Logout  | Done   | High     |
| Profile | Pending| Medium    |

Keep Tables Simple

💡 Tip:

Keep tables simple and avoid complex formatting. If you need complex tables, consider using HTML or splitting into multiple simpler tables.

6. Images

Always Use Alt Text

✅ Best Practice:

Always provide descriptive alt text for accessibility:

![Screenshot of the login page](login.png)
![Architecture diagram showing system components](architecture.svg)

❌ Avoid:

![image](image.png)
![screenshot](screenshot.png)

7. Documentation Structure

Use Clear Hierarchy

✅ Best Practice:

Maintain a clear document hierarchy:

# Main Title (H1 - use once per document)

## Major Section (H2)

### Subsection (H3)

#### Sub-subsection (H4 - use sparingly)

Table of Contents

💡 Tip:

For long documents, include a table of contents at the top using links to headers:

## Table of Contents
- [Introduction](#introduction)
- [Installation](#installation)
- [Usage](#usage)
- [API Reference](#api-reference)

8. Lists

Use Ordered Lists for Steps

✅ Best Practice:

Use ordered lists for sequential steps:

1. First, install the dependencies
2. Then, configure the settings
3. Finally, run the application

Use Unordered Lists for Features

✅ Best Practice:

Use unordered lists for features, benefits, or non-sequential items:

- Feature one
- Feature two
- Feature three

9. Emphasis and Strong Text

Use Asterisks Consistently

✅ Best Practice:

Choose one style and stick with it:

**Bold text** and *italic text*
***Bold and italic***

💡 Tip:

Asterisks (*) are more common than underscores (_) and work better in most contexts.

10. Blockquotes

Use Blockquotes for Quotes and Notes

✅ Best Practice:

Use blockquotes for quotes, important notes, or callouts:

> **Note:** This is an important note that stands out.
>
> It can span multiple paragraphs.

11. Horizontal Rules

Use Sparingly

💡 Tip:

Use horizontal rules (---) sparingly to separate major sections. Overuse makes documents look cluttered.

12. File Organization

Use Descriptive Filenames

✅ Best Practice:

Use lowercase, descriptive filenames with hyphens:

getting-started.md
api-reference.md
installation-guide.md

❌ Avoid:

Getting Started.md
api_reference.md
InstallationGuide.md

13. Version Control

Write Meaningful Commit Messages

✅ Best Practice:

When committing markdown changes, write clear commit messages:

docs: Add installation guide
docs: Update API reference with new endpoints
docs: Fix typo in getting started guide

14. Platform-Specific Considerations

GitHub Flavored Markdown

💡 Tip:

GitHub supports extended markdown features like task lists, tables, and strikethrough. Use them when appropriate:

- [x] Completed task
- [ ] Incomplete task
- [x] Another completed task

CommonMark Compatibility

✅ Best Practice:

Stick to CommonMark-compliant syntax when possible for maximum compatibility across platforms.

15. Accessibility

Use Semantic HTML When Needed

💡 Tip:

For complex formatting needs, you can use HTML directly in markdown (if your parser supports it):

<details>
<summary>Click to expand</summary>
Hidden content here
</details>

Summary

Following these best practices will help you create professional, maintainable markdown documents that work well across different platforms and tools. Remember:

🎯 Pro Tip:

Use our Markdown Formatter to automatically format your markdown according to best practices, and our Live Editor to preview your work in real-time.