How to use TextMate with Markdown

Edited 6 days ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

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Markdown is a lightweight markup language with a plain-text formatting syntax. The primary purpose of Markdown is to make text formatting easier to write and read, allowing people to create documents that contain formatting such as headings, lists, images, and code without requiring a large and complex system. On the other hand, TextMate is a text editor for macOS, known for its simplicity, speed, and extensibility through bundles.

Understanding markdowns

Markdown is intended to be easy to use and helps create readable documents. It uses simple syntax to format text and is often used to create README files, write messages in online discussion forums, and format plain text. Some of the basic features of Markdown include:

• Header
• Paragraph
• Lists
• Link
• Emphasizing text (bold, italics)
• Inline Code
• Block quotes

Markdown can be extended to support tables, footnotes, or other elements. Different platforms may have variations, such as GitHub flavored Markdown. In its basic form, Markdown is simple, making it accessible to beginners.

What is TextMate?

TextMate is a text editor designed for macOS, and it stands out due to its ability to handle a wide variety of languages using bundles, which can be installed to add support for different languages and markup. TextMate offers features such as syntax highlighting, folding code, snippets, and more that enhance functionality when working with a wide variety of languages, including Markdown.

Setting up TextMate for Markdown

To use Markdown within TextMate, it's important that we set up the environment correctly to take advantage of the full power of TextMate's capabilities. Here's how you can set it up:

1. Install TextMate: If you haven't done so yet, download and install TextMate from the official website. TextMate is available exclusively for macOS.
2. Install the Markdown bundle: By default, TextMate comes with a Markdown bundle, but you can update or customize it by accessing Bundles from the TextMate menu. Go to Bundles > Bundle Editor > Show Bundle Editor and make sure Markdown is enabled.
3. Enable syntax highlighting: Make sure Markdown syntax highlighting is activated. Open the Markdown file and from the View menu, make sure Syntax is set to Markdown.
4. Set up preview: To preview your Markdown files, TextMate provides a built-in preview feature. You can access the preview by pressing Control + Option + Command + P or choosing Markdown > Preview from the menu.

Writing markdown in TextMate

Once setup is complete, you're ready to write Markdown! Below are some of the key features you'll use often:

Header

Headers in Markdown are created using the hash symbol (#). The number of hash symbols indicates the heading level:

# This is a Header 1
## This is a Header 2
### This is a Header 3

TextMate automatically provides syntax highlighting for each level, making headers stand out visually.

Bold and italic text

To make text bold, enclose it in double asterisks or underscores as shown below. Use a single asterisk or underscore for italics:

**Bold text**
*Italic text*
__Also bold__
_Also italic_

TextMate will recognize these and apply the appropriate formatting within the editor.

Lists

Lists are a popular feature for organizing information. Unordered lists use asterisks, plus signs, or hyphens, while ordered lists use numbers. Here's how you create them:

* Unordered list item 1
* Unordered list item 2
* Nested item
1. Ordered list item 1
2. Ordered list item 2

TextMate's syntax highlighting and auto-indent features make managing nested lists easy.

Links and images

Creating links and adding images is very easy in Markdown. Use brackets and parentheses for links, while using an exclamation mark in front of images:

[This is a link](http://example.com)
![This is an image](http://example.com/image.jpg)

TextMate automatically detects links and images, and turns them into clickable elements when presented.

Block quotes

Block quotes in Markdown are achieved by placing a capital symbol (>) before the text. They are useful for quoting others or emphasizing a block of text:

> This is a block quote

Code blocks

To display code or command examples, code blocks can be very helpful. Inline code uses single backticks, while fenced code blocks use triple backticks. TextMate supports various programming languages within these blocks:

`Inline code`	
	
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