$$Include{docs/siteMacros.textCarver}

# Markdown

TextCarver uses Markdown for standard text formatting. If you aren’t already familiar with it, Markdown is a popular standard for using simple characters to define structure and formatting in text. Here’s a good guide to [learning Markdown](https:\/\/commonmark.org/help/).

TextCarver uses the CommonMark engine for high quality, standardized Markdown generation.

### Let’s talk about line breaks
TextCarver uses the standard Markdown convention for breaking lines, which many people find highly counter-intuitive:

$$example{}
Alex
Blair
Chris

$$exampleRight{}
Alex Blair Chris

$$endExample{}

You have two options for keeping your lines separate:

#### Option 1: end your lines with two spaces
$$example{}
// Each line has two spaces at the end
Alex  
Blair  
Chris  

$$exampleRight{}
Alex
Blair
Chris

$$endExample{}


#### Option 2: set the softbreak option in CommonMark

$$example{}
\$\$SecondPassOptions{|.softbreak <br>}
Alex
Blair
Chris

$$exampleRight{}
Alex
Blair
Chris

$$endExample{}


[Next: Variables](2aVariables.html)