On diaspora* it's possible to format your text in status messages, comments and conversations using Markdown. This page sums up all the allowed formatting codes.
The first thing to note is that you must use two line breaks between paragraps (expect items in a list), otherwise the paragraps will run together. If you really want just one line break, put two spaces at the end of the paragraph.
Note: this is where the Post preview button comes in really handy. Try some formatting, preview it, work out what isn't right, fix it, preview again, until you're happy!
# This is an extremely big, bold header
## Just as big as the one above but not bold
### Half as big as the ones above and bold
#### Just as big as the one above but not bold
##### Only slightly bigger than regular text and bold
###### Just as big as the one above but not bold
Make sure to leave a space between the hash and your text, to avoid creating a hashtag instead of a heading. The heading ends once you hit enter to proceed to the next line.
To create an bulleted list, place either *, + or – in front of each line you want as part of the list.
It's also possible to make numbered lists by placing '1.', '2.', etc. in front of the list items.
Again, make sure to leave a space between the Markdown and the text, otherwise it will not work.
If you are a developer you may be interested in code blocks. To create a code block, start your text/code with four backticks ( ```` ). To continue with normal text, close the code block with another.
Another way to do this is to start each of your lines of code with 4 spaces. Adding more spaces will allow for further indenting.
It's also possible to display code inline, `by starting and ending the snippet with a
backtick`.
To create a horizontal line, use at least three - - -, _ _ _ or * * * on a separate line. Any number above three will do the same thing and spaces between the characters do not matter.
Italics *word* or _word_
Bold **word** or __word__
Bold italics ***word*** or ___word___
To create an inline link use the following code:
[link text here](link.address.here "alt text")
To add external images to your post, comment or private message, use the following code:
The alternative text gets displayed if the image cannot be loaded; it's useful but not essential.
If you want to include a character which is used in Markdown coding, you can prevent it from being 'read' by Markdown by 'escaping' it by putting a backslash ( \ ) in front of the character. For example, "this \_ is an underscore" prevents Markdown from reading the underscore as a Markdown code and allows diaspora* to display the underscore rather than creating italic text.
You can create the following symbols using a combination of characters:
You can read more about Markdown's syntax here.