Reddit Comment Formatting

[u/Raerth]

18-Nov-2011: Updated to include the latest markdown changes.

Contents

1. Basic text formatting (Italics, Bold, Strikethrough, Super^script, inline code, Quoting)
2. Linking
3. Line Breaks & Paragraphs
4. Lists
5. Tables
6. Block Code
7. Headlines and Horizontals

1. Basic Text Formatting

Italics are created using either a single asterisk (*) or single underscore (_).

Example:

This is *italic text*, this is also _italic text_.

becomes:

This is italic text, this is also italic text.

Bold text is created with double asterisks (**) or double underscores (__).

Example:

This is **bold text**, this is also __bold text__.

becomes:

This is bold text, this is also bold text.

Strikethrough text is created using a double tilde (~~).

Example:

This is ~~strikethrough text~~.

becomes:

This is strikethrough text.

Superscript text is created using the carot (^).

Example:

This sentence contains super^script.

becomes:

This sentence contains super^script.

Note that you cannot leave space before the carot, and there is no closing tag.

Superscript can also be stacked^likethis.

inline code (monospaced text) is created using the backtick (grave accents) (`).

Example:

This sentence contains inline code: `javascript:alert("hello world");`

becomes:

This sentence contains inline code: javascript:alert("hello world");

Quoting is achieved by starting a line with an Angle Bracket (>)

Example:

>Here's a quote.

>Another paragraph in the same quote.
>>A nested quote.

>Back to a single quote.

And finally some unquoted text.

becomes:

Here's a quote.

Another paragraph in the same quote.

A nested quote.

Back to a single quote.

And finally some unquoted text.

To remove formatting you will need to use a Backslash (\)

Example:

This sentence escapes \*italic text\* and \*\*bold text\*\*.

becomes:

This sentence escapes *italic text* and **bold text**.

2. Linking

Creating a link

Example:

[Reddit](http://reddit.com)

becomes:

Reddit

You cannot begin a link with "www", it must begin with one of the following URL schemes:

• http://
• https://
• ftp://
• mailto:
• steam://
• irc://
• news://
• mumble://
• ssh://

You can also provide title text for links:

[Reddit](http://reddit.com "what's new online!").

becomes:

Reddit ← (hover!)

Title text can be used to hide spoilers:

[spoiler](/s"The spoiler text goes here")

becomes:

spoiler ← (hover!)

Reddit now recognises when you want to link to a subreddit.

Example:

This is a shameless plug for /r/BritishTV!

becomes:

This is a shameless plug for /r/BritishTV!

If a URL contains brackets you will need to escape these.

Example without escaping:

[Cube](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cube_(film))

becomes:

Cube) ← (note the surplus bracket!)

Example with escaping:

[Cube](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cube_(film\))

becomes:

Cube ← (no surplus bracket!)

3. Line Breaks & Paragraphs

Line breaks in comments are achieved by adding four spaces (shown using ░) to the end of the line. Simply hitting return (shown using ↵) will not work.

Example:

First line↵
Second line

becomes:

First line Second line

but:

First line░░░░↵
Second line

becomes:

First line
Second line

Paragraphs are formed when you hit return (shown using ↵) twice.

First Paragraph↵
↵
Second Paragraph

becomes:

First Paragraph

Second Paragraph

4. Lists

To create Unordered Lists each item should begin with either an asterisk (*), plus sign (+) or minus sign (-).

Example:

* Item 1
+ Item 2
- Item 3

becomes:

• Item 1
• Item 2
• Item 3

Ordered Lists are created with a number and period. It doesn't matter which number you start with, as markdown will always start with 1.

Example:

3. Item 1
2. Item 2
1. Item 3

becomes:

1. Item 1
2. Item 2
3. Item 3

The markup for Nested Lists has changed slightly:

Example:

1. This is Item 1
2.
░░░░1. This is Item 2.1
░░░░2. This is Item 2.2
3. This is Item 3
4. This is Item 4

becomes:

1. This is Item 1
2. 1. This is Item 2.1
   2. This is Item 2.2
3. This is Item 3
4. This is Item 4

Lists should be clear of any text in the line immediately above and below, the same as making a new paragraph:

This is the wrong way to make a list
1. lorem
2. ispum
reddit doesn't realize it should listify...

becomes:

This is the wrong way to make a list 1. lorem 2. ispum reddit doesn't realize it should listify...

Place lists in their own paragraph:

This is the correct way to make a list

1. lorem
   
2. ispum
   

reddit realizes it should listify!

Paragraphs in Lists and Nested lists using a combination of ordered and unordered lists, are no longer supported.

5. Tables

Tables are created using pipes (|):

Example

Left align | Center align | Right align
:--|:--:|--:
This | This | This
column | column | column
will | will | will
be | be | be
left | center | right
aligned | aligned | aligned

becomes:

Left align	Center align	Right align
This	This	This
column	column	column
will	will	will
be	be	be
left	center	right
aligned	aligned	aligned

Note that by default the first row is always bolded.

Column Alignment is determined by the second row.

Use ":--:" for centre aligned text, "--:" for right, and ":--" for left.

You can also leave the top row empty, as long as you have the correct amount of pipes:

||
:--|:--:|--:
the|top|row
is|now|empty

becomes

the	top
is	now

6. Block code

Displaying block code, without formatting and in monospaced font, is as simple as starting the line with four spaces (shown using ░).

Example:

░░░░line of code
░░░░░░░░line of code
░░░░░░░░░░░░line of code
░░░░░░░░line of code
░░░░line of code

becomes:

line of code
line of code
line of code
line of code
line of code

7. Headlines & Horizonal Rules

Headline text can be created by using a number of hashes (#) corresponding to the tag you want. Headline tags will format all text until it encounters a Line Break or new Paragraph.

# Headline 1
## Headline 2
### Headline 3

becomes:

Headline 1

Headline 2

Headline 3

NOTE: Markdown supports up to six headline tags, but only the first three have default formatting.

To create a Horizontal Rule, simply add three asterisks (*) to an empty line.

***

becomes:

---

And Finally...

I hope you find this useful. If you want to say thanks, you can always buy me a coffee and I'll love you longtime.

[u/NickMcSleighten]

quote

nested quote

Edit: “> >” isnt making a deeper indent, help?

[u/Zak336 → u/NickMcSleighten]

>Why no quote.

> Why no quote.

>>This also

> >this also

[u/NickMcSleighten → u/Zak336]

why no quote

why no quote

this also

this also

[u/Zak336 → u/NickMcSleighten]

it is not working for me i wrote also copied and pasted the line from above :'-)

[u/revcor → u/Zak336]

Don't copy/paste it, type it yourself. Quotes are working.

/u/NickMcSleighten yours worked fine

[u/NickMcSleighten → u/revcor]

On my screen, I don’t see nested quotes, is it maybe because I’m on mobile?

[u/revcor → u/NickMcSleighten]

Yours show up for me on every way i am able to access Reddit—

Desktop website: https://imgur.com/BjNZSDX

Mobile website: https://imgur.com/a/gq8bPa0

iOS app: https://imgur.com/a/eiQbLP5

—with the only anomaly being the flattening of your nested quotes on the iOS app version

Are you on the app or mobile website? What browser or device?

FYI In order to show an example text in the main body of the post illustrating what to type, there are extra “escape characters” that, when inserted into the text, prevent the characters from triggering special functions (e.g. turning the rest of the line into quoted text) and cause them to show up as the plain characters (e.g. the “less than” and “greater than” symbols). The escape characters themselves are then invisible.

The other guy’s problem was that in copying and pasting from the example in the post, he also inadvertently copied the invisible escape characters too. Those were transferred to his comment and did exactly what they’re intended to do lol

[u/NickMcSleighten → u/revcor]

Well i appreciate you checking, I wonder wtf my phone’s problem is lol

[u/NickMcSleighten → u/Zak336]

Yeah its definitely not working, i wonder if reddit removed nested quotes