Markdown Previewer: Frequently Asked Questions

The previewer supports GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM), which includes the standard Markdown specification plus tables, task lists, fenced code blocks with language identifiers, strikethrough text, and automatic URL linking.

Footnote syntax ([^1] and [^1]: text) is part of extended Markdown specifications (MultiMarkdown, Pandoc) but is not part of standard GFM. The previewer does not currently render footnotes as they require significant additional parser logic.

Standard Markdown allows HTML tags to be used directly in the source. The previewer passes through raw HTML tags. However, for security, script tags and inline event handlers are not executed in the preview.

Tables require a header row followed immediately by a separator row with at least three hyphens per cell (| --- |). The number of columns must be consistent. Cells do not need to align perfectly in the source. A common mistake is missing the separator row entirely.

The previewer does not have a direct PDF export. To save as PDF: switch to Preview mode, then use your browser's Print function (Ctrl+P) and select 'Save as PDF' as the destination. This captures the rendered preview including styles.

Both * and - create unordered list items in Markdown and render identically. Using - is slightly more common in modern Markdown because * has a second meaning (emphasis), making the source slightly easier to scan.