Magical Markdown Part 2 Lists

When writing, especially in nonfiction how-to pieces, one is often confronted with the need to use lists. Lists are normally divided into two types–ordered and unordered. You’ve likely seen both. Ordered lists are used when steps must be performed sequentially. Use cases might include assembly instructions and some recipes in which the order ingredients are added matters. These lists are often numbered. Unordered lists are standard bulleted lists, such as to-do lists, shopping lists, etc.

Ordered Lists

To create an ordered list, simply precede the list item with a number, followed by a period or right parenthesis, followed by a space. Please note that in order to make a list, there must be a blank line following the text before the list items, as follows:

1) This is the first item;
2) This is the 2nd item; and
3) This is the 3rd item.

Unordered Lists

To make an unordered list, precede the list items by a blank line. In front of each item, put a * or a hyphen followed by a space, as follows (using asterisks):

  • Finish this lesson.
  • Publish this lesson.
  • Finish lesson 3.
  • Publish lesson 3.
  • Celebrate and get drunk (yeah, probably not).

Dashes also work, as in:

  • Finish this lesson.
  • Publish this lesson.
  • Finish lesson 3.
  • Publish lesson 3.
  • Celebrate and get drunk (yeah, probably not).

Pick your favorite character and use it consistently.

List items can also be made into paragraphs simply by putting blank lines between them, like this:

  • Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.

  • She also had a cockatoo, that swore with every breath. And every time that bird would curse, it embarrassed her to death.

Lastly, lists can be nested by putting 4 spaces or a tab in front of the items to be indented, as in:

  • Fruit
    • Apple;
    • Orange
    • Strawberry.

The first list fruit, is flush left, while the fruits beneath it, i.e., apple, orange, and strawberry, are indented.

That’s all there is. Not terrible, right?

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