HTML

Markdown is a subset of HTML; anything that cannot be expressed in Markdown can always be expressed directly with raw HTML. HTML is much less readable than plain Markdown, so you should only use it as a last resort.

The content inside HTML tags is treated differently depending if the HTML tags are inline or blocks.

Inline syntax

Only inline syntax, such as links, strong, emphasis, etc., is rendered as regular Markdown code. For example:

So <span class="special">**many** _books_</span>. So little time.

renders as:

<p>So <span class="special"><strong>>many<strong>
  <em>books</em></span>. So little time.<p>

Block syntax

For any block-level element everything inside that element is ignored, including child elements. For example:

<div>
# *Not* a header
</div>

renders as:

<div>
# <em>Not</em> a header
</div>

Use blank lines to separate block-level HTML elements, like <div>, <table>, <p>, etc., from the surrounding content.

Indentation

Block-level HTML elements must have no indentation at all. Unless they are inside a list elementy, in which case must be indented only the same as the list text.

<p class="a">Not indented</p>

- lorem
- ipsum
  <p class="b">barely indented</p>
- sit amet

renders (approximately) as:

<p class="a">Not indented</p>
<ul>
  <li>lorem</li>
  <li>ipsum
    <p class="b">barely indented</p>
  </li>
  <li>sit amet</li>
</ul>