ASCIIdoc

Website (original Python implementation); asciidoctor (alternative Ruby implementation site)

AsciiDoc is a markup language similar to Markdown and it can be used for anything from books to blogs. Created in 2002 by Stuart Rackham the language is simple but it allows for a great amount of customization.

Syntax shorthand

Document Header

Headers are optional and can't contain blank lines. It must be offset from content by at least one blank line.

Title Only

= Document Title

First sentence of document.

Title and Author

= Document Title
First Last <first.last@learnxinyminutes.com>

Start of this document.

Multiple Authors

= Document Title
John Doe <john@go.com>; Jane Doe<jane@yo.com>; Black Beard <beardy@pirate.com>

Start of a doc with multiple authors.

Revision Line (requires an author line)

= Doc Title V1
Potato Man <chip@crunchy.com>
v1.0, 2016-01-13

This article about chips is going to be fun.

Paragraphs

You don't need anything special for paragraphs.

Add a blank line between paragraphs to separate them.

To create a line blank add a +
and you will receive a line break!

Formatting Text

_underscore creates italics_
*asterisks for bold*
*_combine for extra fun_*
`use ticks to signify monospace`
`*bolded monospace*`

Section Titles

= Level 0 (may only be used in document's header)

== Level 1 <h2>

=== Level 2 <h3>

==== Level 3 <h4>

===== Level 4 <h5>

Lists

To create a bulleted list use asterisks.

* foo
* bar
* baz

To create a numbered list use periods.

. item 1
. item 2
. item 3

You can nest lists by adding extra asterisks or periods up to five times.

* foo 1
** foo 2
*** foo 3
**** foo 4
***** foo 5

. foo 1
.. foo 2
... foo 3
.... foo 4
..... foo 5

ASCIIdoc

An authoring language for documentation that leverages "just" ASCII characters.

Syntax shorthand

Further Reading