I’m amazed I’m writing this tip. For years, I’ve been poking fun at text file zealots who have been using a set of slightly messy characters to emulate what a more fully featured file format and software can do without batting an eyelid.
To put it another way. Why use a typewriter when you can use a word processor?
Now you can count me in!
I’ve seen the light.
Instead of feeling I’m going back in time to text files, I’ve found that a recent Jetpack plug-in update has enabled WordPress to understand Markdown.
And I’ve realised that’s a biggie for me.
From the slightly fiddly to the absolutely simple
You see, I’ve been going from Visual tab into the Text tab and typing <h2> and </h2> around my subheads, before going back to the main tab. Or typing the tags in Evernote and pasting the copy into the Text tab in WordPress.
It’s a bit fiddly, but helps my SEO.
Now things are much simpler. All I do is type ## at the start of a subheading instead of all that switching between tabs and typing stuff at the beginning and end of the subhead.
How good is that?
And it fits in with my workflow
If I’m writing a blog post in Evernote, a text editor or even better a text editor that’s designed for Markdown, I can type in Markdown and cut and paste the content complete with the codes into the WordPress Visual tab.
I use just a few bits of Markdown
If you’re worried about learning something else to make your life simpler 😉 , you needn’t be.
I just use a few bits of Markdown to make my life easier in WordPress. But because I always spend time in WordPress checking formatting, inserting links, adding images and doing a final proof, that’s where I do the more complex stuff.
It’s horses for courses.
These bits
- For h1 headings – #
- For h2 subheadings – ##
- For the occasional h3 subheadings – ###
And for bulleted lists – *
That’s it. Anything else gets done more straightforwardly in WordPress’ editor.
Are you using Markdown with WordPress?
Thanks to MENI from ASO! & Soothe. for making the down vest image available.