Markdown flavors and compatibility
Markdown has multiple flavors: CommonMark (standardized core), GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM adds tables, task lists, strikethrough), and extended variants supporting footnotes, definition lists, and math (LaTeX). Our editor uses GFM by default with CommonMark compatibility for the base syntax. The live preview renders the output so you can see exactly how the content will appear on GitHub, GitLab, or in static site generators like Next.js MDX.
When writing documentation for open-source projects, stick to GFM — it is the most widely supported. Avoid HTML in Markdown (except for elements Markdown cannot produce, like <details> or <video>), because some renderers strip inline HTML for security. Our editor highlights unsupported syntax so you catch issues before publishing.
Markdown for developers: beyond basic formatting
Markdown is widely used for API documentation, README files, and blog content. Advanced techniques include: fenced code blocks with syntax highlighting (specifying the language after the opening ```), collapsible sections (<details>/<summary>), and table alignment using colon placement. Our editor supports all GFM extensions and provides character and word counts for tracking documentation progress.
When using Markdown in CMS platforms like Contentlayer or MDX, be aware that frontmatter (YAML/TOML between --- delimiters) is parsed separately from the body. Our editor can validate frontmatter formatting and highlight YAML syntax errors.