The following is a very basic guide on how to format your comments with Markdown (or equivalent HTML tags).

Quick summary

<table>
<tr>
<th>What you type</td>
<th>How it will display</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><https://forums.opera.com></td>
<td>https://forums.opera.com</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>[the forums](https://forums.opera.com)</td>
<td>the forums</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>emphasis</td>
<td><em>emphasis</em>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>strong</td>
<td>strong</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>monospaced <code> </td>
<td>monospaced <code> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>- List item

• List item
• List item</td>
  <td>• List item
  • List item
  • List item</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
  <td>> Block of quoted text</td>
  <td><blockquote>Block of quoted text</blockquote></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
  <td>    Use four spaces at the beginning of each line to indicate
      a block of preformatted text, such as code samples</td>
  <td>

`Use four spaces at the beginning of each line to indicate
a block of preformatted text, such as code samples.`

</td>
</tr>
</table>

Avoiding common problems

• Add a blank line before and after paragraphs, lists, quotes or blocks of preformatted text.
• A single Enter ↵ should be used between list items.
• To force a line break put two spaces at the end of the line or press Enter ↵ twice to start a new paragraph.
• You may have to escape characters that have special meaning to Markdown by adding a backslash. See the backslash escapes section of Daring Fireball for more information.

More details

Links

Add basic links by enclosing the URLs in angle brackets <>:

`<http://example.com/>`

It will display as:

<table>
<tr>
<td>http://example.com/</td>
</tr>
</table>

Note: Using angle brackets is not always necessary but it avoids problems with URLs getting corrupted by the formatting options.

You can create embedded links like this:

This is an [example link](http://example.com/)

It will display as:

<table>
<tr>
<td>This is an example link</td>
</tr>
</table>

HTML equivalent

Use the <a> anchor (link) tag.

Emphasis

You can make text bold by enclosing the text in double asterisks:

The last word in this sentence is **bold**

It will display as:

<table>
<tr>
<td>The last word in this sentence is bold</td>
</tr>
</table>

HTML equivalent

Use the <strong> important text tag.

Lists

You can make unordered (bulleted) lists by starting your lines with dashes, followed by a space:

- List item
- List item

It will display as:

<table>
<tr>
<td><ul><li>List item</li><li>List item</li></ul></td>
</tr>
</table>

You can make an ordered (numbered) lists by starting your lines with 1., followed by a space:

1. Item 1
2. Item 2

It will display as:

<table>
<tr>
<td><ol><li>Item 1</li><li>Item 2</li></ol></td>
</tr>
</table>

Note: Lists should start with an extra blank line before the begining of the list and an extra blank line after the end of the list. There should be no additional blank lines between list items.

HTML equivalent

Use the <ul>, <ol> and <li> list tags.

Quoting

You can quote another individual by starting the line with a right angle bracket >:

> I think Opera is the best browser

It will display as:

<table>
<tr>
<td><blockquote>I think Opera is the best browser</blockquote></td>
</tr>
</table>

Note: Quotes should start with an extra blank line before the start of the quote and end with an extra blank line.

HTML equivalent

Use the <blockquote> blockquote tag.

Computer code

You can provide example computer code (monospaced) by enclosing the text in grave accents (backticks):

You need to enter the command: `opera-developer`

It will display as:

<table>
<tr>
<td>You need to enter the command: opera-developer</td>
</tr>
</table>

If want to provide a block of code spanning multiple lines, start each new line with four spaces:

`    $ echo hello world
    hello world`

It will display as:

<table>
<tr>
<td>

`$ echo hello world
hello world`

</td>
</tr>
</table>

Note: Multiline blocks of code should start with an extra blank line before you begin indenting with spaces and an extra blank line after your code block has ended.

HTML equivalent

Use the <code> code and <pre> preformatted text tags.

Images

You can insert images like this:

![opera logo](https://forums.opera.com/themes/opera/design/static/css/img/opera-software-logo.png)

It will display as:

<table>
<tr>
<td></td>
</tr>
</table>

HTML equivalent

Use the <img> image tag.

Headings

You can insert headings by underling text with an equals symbol = or a dash -:

Major Heading
=============

Sub Heading
-----------

It will display as:

<table>
<tr>
<td><h1>Major Heading<h2>Sub Heading</td>
</tr>
</table>

Note: Headings should start with an extra blank line before they begin and an extra blank line after they end.

HTML equivalent

Use the <h1>, <h2>, <h3>, <h4>, <h5> and <h6> heading tags.

Horizontal rules

You can insert horizontal rules with three dashes on a line of their own line:

---

It will display as:

<table>
<tr>
<td><hr></td>
</tr>
</table>

Note: Horizontal rules should start with an extra blank line before they begin and an extra blank line after they end.

HTML equivalent

Use the <hr> horizontal rule tag.

Additional HTML tags

• <i> Italic text
• <s> Incorrect (strikethrough) text
• <u> Underlined text
• <table> Table layout

The above all currently work but should generally be avoided since they have no Markdown equivalents and hence could be removed from the forum. Further tags may also work but are largely untested and unneeded. They should also be avoided.

Further reading

For even more detail, refer to the Markdown syntax guide.

P.S. This post was formatted using only Markdown and HTML options that are available to everyone on the forum.

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