Syntax guidance for Markdown usage

• 02/01/2019
• 16 minutes to read
• Contributors
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Azure DevOps Services | Azure DevOps Server 2019 | TFS 2018 | TFS 2017 | TFS 2015

Here you can find some basic Markdown syntax guidance and specific guidance for using Markdown in Azure DevOps features. You can use both common Markdown conventions and GitHub-flavored extensions.

Having the right guidance at the right time is critical to success. Use Markdown to add rich formatting, tables, and images to your project pages, README files, dashboards, and pull request comments.

You can provide guidance in the following areas using Markdown:

Basic format elements

Headers

Structure your comments using headers. Headers segment longer comments, making them easier to read.

Start a line with a hash character # to set a heading. Organize your remarks with subheadings by starting a line with additional hash characters, for example ####. Up to six levels of headings are supported.

Example:

# This is a H1 header
## This is a H2 header
### This is a H3 header
#### This is a H4 header
##### This is a H5 header

Result:

Paragraphs and line breaks

Make your text easier to read by breaking it up with paragraphs or line breaks.

Example - pull request comment:

Add lines between your text with the Enter key.
This spaces your text better and makes it easier to read.

Result: Add lines between your text with the Enter key. This spaces your text better and makes it easier to read.

Example - Markdown file or widget:

Add two spaces prior to the end of the line.(space, space)
This adds space in between paragraphs.

Result:
Add two spaces prior to the end of the line.

Space is added in between paragraphs.

Block quotes

Quote previous comments or text to set the context for your comment or text.

Quote single lines of text with > before the text. Use many > characters to nest quoted text. Quote blocks of lines of text by using the same level of > across many lines.

Example:

> Single line quote
>> Nested
>> multiple line
>> quote

Result:

Horizontal rules

To add a horizontal rule, add a line that's a series of dashes ---. The line above the line containing the --- must be blank.

Example:

above
 
----
below

Result:

above

below

Emphasis (bold, italics, strikethrough)

You can emphasize text by applying bold, italics, or strikethrough to characters:

• To apply italics: surround the text with an asterisk * or underscore _
• To apply bold: surround the text with double asterisks **.
• To apply strikethrough: surround the text with double tilde characters ~~.

Combine these elements to apply emphasis to text.

Example:

Use _emphasis_ in comments to express **strong** opinions and point out ~~corrections~~
**_Bold, italicized text_**  
**~~Bold, strike-through text~~**

Result:
Use emphasis in comments to express strong opinions and point out corrections Bold, italicized text Bold, strike-through text

Code highlighting

Highlight suggested code segments using code highlight blocks. To indicate a span of code, wrap it with three backtick quotes (```) on a new line at both the start and end of the block. To indicate code inline, wrap it with one backtick quote (`).

Example:

```
$ sudo npm install vsoagent-installer -g  
```

Result:

$ sudo npm install vsoagent-installer -g

Example:

To install the Microsoft Cross Platform Build & Release Agent, run the following: `$ sudo npm install vsoagent-installer -g`.

Result: To install the Microsoft Cross Platform Build & Release Agent run the following command: $ sudo npm install vsoagent-installer.

Within a Markdown file, text with four spaces at the beginning of the line automatically converts to a code block.

Set a language identifier for the code block to enable syntax highlighting for any of the supported languages.

``` language
code
```

Additional examples:

``` js
const count = records.length;
```

const count = records.length;

``` csharp
Console.WriteLine("Hello, World!");
```

Console.WriteLine("Hello, World!");

Tables

Organize structured data with tables. Tables are especially useful for describing function parameters, object methods, and other data that has a clear name to description mapping. You can format tables in pull requests, wiki, and Markdown files such as README files and Markdown widgets.

• Place each table row on its own line
• Separate table cells using the pipe character |
• The first two lines of a table set the column headers and the alignment of elements in the table
• Use colons (:) when dividing the header and body of tables to specify column alignment (left, center, right)
• To start a new line, use the HTML break tag (<br/>) (Works within a Wiki but not elsewhere)
• Make sure to end each row with a CR or LF.
• A blank space is required before and after work item or pull request (PR) mentions inside a table cell.

Example:

| Heading 1 | Heading 2 | Heading 3 |  
|-----------|:-----------:|-----------:|  
| Cell A1 | Cell A2 | Cell A3 |  
| Cell B1 | Cell B2 | Cell B3<br/>second line of text |  

Result:

Lists

Organize related items with lists. You can add ordered lists with numbers, or unordered lists with just bullets.

Ordered lists start with a number followed by a period for each list item. Unordered lists start with a -. Begin each list item on a new line. In a Markdown file or widget, enter two spaces prior to the line break to begin a new paragraph, or enter two line breaks consecutively to begin a new paragraph.

Ordered or numbered lists

Example:

1. First item.
2. Second item.
3. Third item.

Result:

1. First item.
2. Second item.
3. Third item.

Bullet lists

Example:

- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3

Result:

• Item 1
• Item 2
• Item 3

Nested lists

Example:

1. First item.
   - Item 1
   - Item 2
   - Item 3
1. Second item.
   - Nested item 1
   - Nested item 2
   - Nested item 3 

Result:

1. First item.
   • Item 1
   • Item 2
   • Item 3
2. Second item.
   • Nested item 1
   • Nested item 2
   • Nested item 3

Links

In pull request comments and wikis, HTTP and HTTPS URLs are automatically formatted as links. You can link to work items by entering the # key and a work item ID, and then choosing the work item from the list.

Avoid auto suggestions for work items by prefixing # with a backslash (\). This can be useful if you want to use # for color hex codes.

In Markdown files and widgets, you can set text hyperlinks for your URL using the standard Markdown link syntax:

[Link Text](Link URL)

When linking to another Markdown page in the same Git or TFVC repository, the link target can be a relative path or an absolute path in the repository.

Supported links for Welcome pages:

• Relative path: [text to display](./target.md)
• Absolute path in Git: [text to display](/folder/target.md)
• Absolute path in TFVC: [text to display]($/project/folder/target.md)
• URL: [text to display](http://address.com)

Supported links for Markdown widget:

• URL: [text to display](http://address.com)

• Absolute path of Wiki pages: [text to display](/parent-page/child-page)
• URL: [text to display](http://address.com)

Example:

[C# language reference](https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/618ayhy6.aspx)

Result:

C# language reference

Source control relative links

Links to source control files are interpreted differently depending on whether you specify them in a Welcome page or a Markdown widget. The system interprets relative links as follows:

• Welcome page: relative to the root of the source control repository in which the welcome page exists
• Markdown widget: relative to the team project collection URL base

For example:

Anchor links

Within Markdown files, anchor IDs are assigned to all headings when rendered as HTML. The ID is the heading text, with the spaces replaced by dashes (-) and all lower case. In general, the following conventions:

• Punctuation marks and leading white spaces within a file name are ignored
• Upper case letters are converted to lower
• Spaces between letters are converted to dashes (-).

Example:

###Link to a heading in the page

Result:

The syntax for an anchor link to a section...

[Link to a heading in the page](#link-to-a-heading-in-the-page)

The ID is all lower case, and the link is case sensitive, so be sure to use lower case, even though the heading itself uses upper case.

You can also reference headings within another Markdown file:

[text to display](./target.md#heading-id)  

In wiki, you can also reference heading in another page:

[text to display](/page-name#section-name)

Images

To highlight issues or make things more interesting, you can add images and animated GIFs to the following in your pull requests:

• Comments
• Markdown files
• Wiki pages

Use the following syntax to add an image:

![Text](URL)

Example:

![Illustration to use for new users](https://docs.microsoft.com/media/illustrations/bcs-user-management-add-customer-1.svg)

Result:

The path to the image file can be a relative path or the absolute path in Git or TFVC, just like the path to another Markdown file in a link.

• Relative path:
  ![Image alt text](./image.png)
• Absolute path in Git:
  ![Image alt text](/_img/markdown-guidance/image.png)
• Absolute path in TFVC:
  ![Image alt text]($/project/folder/_img/markdown-guidance/image.png)
• Resize image:
  ![Image alt text]($/project/folder/_img/markdown-guidance/image.png =WIDTHxHEIGHT)

- [ ] A  
- [ ] B  
- [ ] C  
- [x] A  
- [x] B  
- [x] C  

:smile:
:angry:

`:smile:` `:)` `:angry:`

Ignore or escape Markdown syntax to enter specific or literal characters

<video src="path of the video file" width=400 controls>
</video>

<video src="https://sec.ch9.ms/ch9/7247/7c8ddc1a-348b-4ba9-ab61-51fded6e7247/vstswiki_high.mp4" width=400 controls>
</video>

<p>This text needs to <del>strikethrough</del> <ins>since it is redundant</ins>!</p>
<p><tt>This text is teletype text.</tt></p>
<font color="blue">Colored text</font>
<center>This text is center-aligned.</center>
<p>This text contains <sup>superscript</sup> text.</p> 
<p>This text contains <sub>subscript</sub> text.</p>
<p>The project status is <span style="color:green;font-weight:bold">GREEN</span> even though the bug count / developer may be in <span style="color:red;font-weight:bold">red.</span> - Capability of span
<p><small>Disclaimer: Wiki also supports showing small text</small></p>
<p><big>Bigger text</big></p>

$
\alpha, \beta, \gamma, \delta, \epsilon, \zeta, \eta, \theta, \kappa, \lambda, \mu, \nu, \omicron, \pi, \rho, \sigma, \tau, \upsilon, \phi, ...
$  


$\Gamma,  \Delta,  \Theta, \Lambda, \Xi, \Pi, \Sigma, \Upsilon, \Phi, \Psi, \Omega$

Area of a circle is $\pi r^2$

And, the area of a triangle is:

$$
A_{triangle}=\frac{1}{2}({b}\cdot{h})
$$

$$
\sum_{i=1}^{10} t_i
$$


$$
\int_0^\infty \mathrm{e}^{-x}\,\mathrm{d}x
$$     

::: video
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OtqFyBA6Dbk" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
:::

---
tag: post
title: Hello world
---

---
tags: 
- post
- code
- web
title: Hello world
---

::: query-table <queryid>
:::

Related articles

• Project page or Welcome pages
• README files
• Pull requests
• Markdown widget
• Dashboards
• Widget catalog
• Wiki