Markdown tables

Basic syntax

| Name  | Role     |
| ----- | -------- |
| Ada   | Engineer |
| Grace | Admiral  |

• The first row is the header. It is required.
• The second row is the delimiter row: at least one dash per column (three is common). It needs the same number of cells as the header.
• The pipes at the start and end of a row are optional, and the columns do not have to line up.
• Leave a blank line before and after the table.

Column alignment

Colons in the delimiter row set the alignment: :--- left, :---: center, ---: right. Right-align columns of numbers so the digits line up.

| Item   | Qty | Price |
| :----- | :-: | ----: |
| Coffee |  2  |  3.50 |
| Bagel  |  1  | 12.25 |

Formatting inside cells

Inline Markdown works in cells: bold, italic, code, links and images. Block elements such as lists, headings and code blocks do not.

| Feature   | Status        |
| --------- | ------------- |
| **Login** | ~~Beta~~ Done |
| `export`  | [Docs](/guide) |

Escaping pipes

A pipe inside a cell ends the cell. Write \| to show a literal pipe; this also works inside inline code.

| Operator | Meaning     |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `a \|\| b` | logical OR  |
| x \| y    | a pipe      |

Line breaks in a cell

Each row must stay on one line. For a line break inside a cell, use the HTML tag <br>.

| Step | Notes                        |
| ---- | ---------------------------- |
| 1    | Install<br>Then restart      |

Merged cells

Markdown has no syntax for merged cells. Where HTML is allowed (GitHub, Hashlite and most editors), write an HTML table and use colspan or rowspan.

<table>
  <tr><th>Quarter</th><th colspan="2">Sales</th></tr>
  <tr><td rowspan="2">Q1</td><td>Jan</td><td>120</td></tr>
  <tr><td>Feb</td><td>135</td></tr>
</table>

Tips

• Don't align by hand. Spacing is ignored, so only line columns up if it helps you read the source.
• No header wanted? Leave the header cells empty: | | | followed by |---|---|.
• Keep cells short. Long text makes tables scroll on phones; put details in a list below the table.
• Empty cell? Just leave it blank between two pipes. Missing cells at the end of a row are filled in as empty.