06.07 Basic Markdown and text formatting

6.7Emphasis with underlining

There is no direct support for underlining text in Markdown (nothing with asterisks or underscores), but it can be achieved with the use of the HTML insert tag: <ins>…</ins> or the underline tag: ….

^{Markdown and GitHub output}
${\large \color{#0050C0}\text{M\ A\ R\ K\ D\ O\ W\ N}}$ 🔽
The next word is <ins>underlined</ins> or The next word is <u>underlined</u>
${\large \color{#00C050}\text{H\ T\ M\ L}}$ 🔽
<p>The next word is <ins>underlined</ins></p> or <p>The next word is <u>underlined</u></p>
${\large \color{#B00000}\text{G\ I\ T\ H\ U\ B}\space\ \space\text{O\ U\ T\ P\ U\ T}}$ 🔽
The next word is underlined
^{Table 6.28 — Underlined text}

Unlike bold and italics, underlining cannot carry over between lines. Each line must be underlined individually:

^{Markdown and GitHub output}
${\large \color{#0050C0}\text{M\ A\ R\ K\ D\ O\ W\ N}}$ 🔽
This is not in underlined <ins>the rest of the line is</ins> <ins>This line is also underlined</ins>
${\large \color{#00C050}\text{H\ T\ M\ L}}$ 🔽
<p>This is not in underlined <ins>the rest of the line is</ins></p> <p><ins>This line is also underlined</ins></p>
${\large \color{#B00000}\text{G\ I\ T\ H\ U\ B}\space\ \space\text{O\ U\ T\ P\ U\ T}}$ 🔽
This is not in underlined the rest of the line is This line is also underlined
^{Table 6.29 — Underlined text across lines}

Note

Although both  and <ins> work in Wiki .md files, the  does not work in repository Markdown files (for example the README.md file). Consequently, for compatibility, I recommend using the <ins> in place of ; see section 5.6.

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6.7.1Markdown rules for underlining

	^{List 6.7 — Markdown rules for underlining}
❶	The first rule is don’t underline things. Ever! Underlined text can be confused as a link, plus it just looks bad
❷	Use a `<ins>` before the text that is to be underlined and a `</ins>` at the end
❸	code><u> does not work in main repository Markdown files
❹	Underlining does not span blank lines

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6.7.2Underlining text examples

^{Markdown, HTML equivalence and GitHub output}
${\large \color{#0050C0}\text{M\ A\ R\ K\ D\ O\ W\ N}}$ 🔽
Lorem <ins>ipsum</ins> sit	Lorem <u>ipsum</u> sit
${\large \color{#00C050}\text{H\ T\ M\ L}}$ 🔽
<p>Lorem <ins>ipsum</ins> sit</p>	<p>Lorem <u>ipsum</u> sit</p>
${\large \color{#B00000}\text{G\ I\ T\ H\ U\ B}\space\ \space\text{O\ U\ T\ P\ U\ T}}$ 🔽
Lorem ipsum sit	Lorem ipsum sit
^{Table 6.30 — Underlined text examples}

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6.8Emphasis with strikethrough

Strikethrough applies a line through the middle of text. It can be applied to any text by surrounding it with two tildes ~~ i.e.

^{Markdown and GitHub output}
${\large \color{#0050C0}\text{M\ A\ R\ K\ D\ O\ W\ N}}$ 🔽
The next word has been ~~struck~~ through
${\large \color{#00C050}\text{H\ T\ M\ L}}$ 🔽
<p>The next word has been <del>struck</del> through</p> <p>The next word has been <s>struck</s> through</p>
${\large \color{#B00000}\text{G\ I\ T\ H\ U\ B}\space\ \space\text{O\ U\ T\ P\ U\ T}}$ 🔽
The next word has been ~~struck~~ through
^{Table 6.31 — Strikethrough text}

Both of the HTML tags <del>…</del> and <s>…</s>^💠1 cause the text to be struct through.

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6.8.1Markdown rules for strikethrough

	^{List 6.8 — Markdown rules for strikethrough}
❶	Surround the text that is to be in struck through with two tildes `~~` before and after
❷	Strikethrough text cannot span lines

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6.8.2Strikethrough text examples

^{Markdown, HTML equivalence and GitHub output}
${\large \color{#0050C0}\text{M\ A\ R\ K\ D\ O\ W\ N}}$ 🔽
Lorem ~~ipsum~~ sit
${\large \color{#00C050}\text{H\ T\ M\ L}}$ 🔽
<p>Lorem <del>ipsum</del> sit</p> or <p>Lorem <s>ipsum</s> sit</p>
${\large \color{#B00000}\text{G\ I\ T\ H\ U\ B}\space\ \space\text{O\ U\ T\ P\ U\ T}}$ 🔽
Lorem ~~ipsum~~ sit
^{Table 6.33 — Strikethrough text examples}

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6.9Superscript and subscript

There is no direct support for superscript or subscript text in Markdown (nothing with asterisks or underscores), but it can be achieved with the use of the HTML tags: … for superscript and: … for subscript

^{Markdown, HTML equivalence and GitHub output}
${\large \color{#0050C0}\text{M\ A\ R\ K\ D\ O\ W\ N}}$ 🔽
The next word is <sup>superscript</sup> The next word is <sub>subscript</sub>
${\large \color{#00C050}\text{H\ T\ M\ L}}$ 🔽
<p>The next word is <sup>superscript</sup></p> <p>The next word is <sub>subscript</sub></p>
${\large \color{#B00000}\text{G\ I\ T\ H\ U\ B}\space\ \space\text{O\ U\ T\ P\ U\ T}}$ 🔽
The next word is ^superscript The next word is _subscript
^{Table 6.34 — Superscript and subscript text}

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6.9.1Markdown rules for superscript and subscript

	^{List 6.9 — Markdown rules for superscript and subscript}
❶	Use a `<sup>` before the text that is to be superscript and a `</sup>` at the end
❷	Use a `<sub>` before the text that is to be subscript and a `</sub>` at the end
❸	Superscript and subscript do not span blank lines

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6.9.2Superscript and subscript text examples

^{Markdown, HTML equivalence and GitHub output}
${\large \color{#0050C0}\text{M\ A\ R\ K\ D\ O\ W\ N}}$ 🔽
Lorem <sup>ipsum</sup> dolor sit	Lorem <sub>ipsum</sub> dolor sit
${\large \color{#00C050}\text{H\ T\ M\ L}}$ 🔽
<p>Lorem <sup>ipsum</sup> dolor sit</p>	<p>Lorem <sub>ipsum</sub> dolor sit</p>
${\large \color{#B00000}\text{G\ I\ T\ H\ U\ B}\space\ \space\text{O\ U\ T\ P\ U\ T}}$ 🔽
Lorem ^ipsum dolor sit	Lorem _ipsum dolor sit
^{Table 6.35 — Superscript and subscript text examples}

Footnotes:

Note

^💠1 Both <s> and <del> tags will strikethrough text. The difference between the tags is purely semantic, <del> tells the browser that the content has been removed after the site was first published (it has textual significance), <s> simply means that the text is has been struck through and has no specific meaning in terms of textual content.↩