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What Is Markdown

Markdown is a lightweight markup language created by John Gruber in 2004. It uses simple syntax to format text and can be easily converted to HTML, PDF, and other formats. To switch between the two formats in your own work, paste your content into our HTML ↔ Markdown converter.

Markdown Example

# Heading

## Subheading

This is **bold** and *italic* text.

- List item 1
- List item 2
- List item 3

[Link text](https://example.com)

![Image description](image.png)

`inline code`

HTML vs Markdown

| Feature | HTML | Markdown | |---------|------|----------| | Syntax complexity | High (tag nesting) | Low (plain text) | | Readability | Medium | High | | Editing speed | Slow | Fast | | Feature richness | ✅ Complete | ⚠️ Basic | | Use case | Web pages | Docs/blogs |

Why You Need HTML/Markdown Conversion

1. Blog platforms: WordPress, Hugo, Jekyll use Markdown
2. GitHub READMEs: Project docs in Markdown
3. Email content: HTML emails ↔ Markdown source
4. CMS import: Import Markdown articles to CMS
5. Doc migration: Migrate content between formats
6. API docs: OpenAPI/Swagger supports Markdown

How to Use an Online Tool

Using DevToolkit Pro's HTML/Markdown Converter:

1. Paste HTML or Markdown content
2. The tool auto-detects format and converts
3. Bidirectional conversion supported
4. Preserves original structure
5. Handles images, links, tables, and complex elements

Markdown Common Syntax

| Syntax | Description | Result | |--------|-------------|--------| | # Heading | H1 heading | Large heading | | **bold** | Bold text | bold | | *italic* | Italic text | italic | | `code` | Inline code | code | | [text](URL) | Hyperlink | Clickable link | | ![alt](url) | Image | Displayed image | | - item | Unordered list | • item | | 1. item | Ordered list | 1. item | | > quote | Blockquote | Quoted style | | --- | Horizontal rule | — |

Conversion in Code

JavaScript

const TurndownService = require('turndown');
const { marked } = require('marked');

// HTML → Markdown
const turndown = new TurndownService();
const markdown = turndown.turndown('<h1>Heading</h1><p>Content</p>');

// Markdown → HTML
const html = marked('**bold** and *italic*');

Python

import markdown
import html2text

# Markdown → HTML
html = markdown.markdown('# Heading\n\n**Bold** content')

# HTML → Markdown
h = html2text.HTML2Text()
h.ignore_links = False
markdown_text = h.handle('<h1>Heading</h1><p>Content</p>')

FAQ

Is There a Markdown Standard?

Markdown has multiple variants: CommonMark (strictest standard), GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM), PHP Markdown Extra, etc. Different platforms may support different syntax.

Does Markdown Support Tables?

Standard Markdown doesn't, but GFM and CommonMark extensions do:

| Col1 | Col2 | Col3 |
|------|------|------|
| A    | B    | C    |

Does HTML to Markdown Lose Styles?

Yes. CSS styles don't convert to Markdown. Only structural info (headings, lists, links) is preserved. Complex HTML layouts (float, positioning) can't be represented in Markdown.

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