GovWire

Markdown

Government Digital Service

August 1
09:09 2023

When you edit a document in Whitehall publisher youll also see a quick guide to Markdown under Formatting on the right of the screen.

You can convert text from digital documents into basic Govspeak Markdown (which is used on GOV.UK) in Whitehall publisher or use the Govspeak converter.

Acronyms

Adding acronym Markdown to a document means that when a user hovers over the acronym they see the full name as alt text.

This text has acronym Markdown applied.

You should:

  • add the acronym Markdown at the end of the body copy, leaving one empty line space above it
  • type an asterisk, square brackets around the acronym and a colon, then the full name, for example *[DWP]: Department for Work and Pensions
  • make sure there is no space between the asterisk and the square bracket

When you have more than one acronym, list:

  • each one on a new line
  • both plurals and singulars, but not possessives, for example DFTs
  • plurals ahead of singulars, for example HGVs before HGV

See the style guide for how to use acronyms.

Addresses

For addresses use the Markdown $A above and below the address text.

Addresses look like this.

Example:

$A
Put the
address in
here
$A

Do not use bold for the address title. This is not accessible because it looks like a heading and can be confusing for users of assistive technology.

Attachments

There are 2 ways of using markdown to add attachments to content You can add them as an inline link or embed the attachment (a publication box).

First you need to upload your attachments. This will automatically generate the markdown for your attachment.

This will add the attachment title to a sentence or bullet point as a link to download the attachment. The file type and size is shown in brackets after the title.

See an example of a link to an attachment (in the Services we provide in Jerusalem section).

Under the attachments tab, select the Copy Markdown button under Link to this attachment.

Select the document tab and paste the markdown code into the text when you are ready to add your inline attachment link. This will generate the link text. Select the Preview button to check if your inline attachment link is showing correctly.

If you add an inline attachment to a publication format, it will also show the attachment under a documents heading above the body text.

Embed an attachment (a publication box)

This is a more prominent link than a link to an inline attachment. It shows the cover of the attached document, and adds the file type and size under the title.

See an example of an embedded attachment (in the Information notes section).

Under the attachments tab, select the Copy Markdown button under Embed this attachment.

Select the document tab and in the text, paste the markdown in the position you want the attachment. As this shows the cover of the document, it is best to add it to a new line or under a header rather than the middle of a sentence.

For more information about attachments see the creating and editing content section.

Blockquotes

Blockquote Markdown should only be used in news stories and case studies, for quotes longer than a few sentences. Do not use blockquotes in speeches.

In news and case studies:

  • introduce the blockquote with a colon
  • leave one empty line space above and below your blockquote
  • add > in any line spaces in the quote - if you leave it out youll get separate quotes on separate lines, not one running quote

Bullets

To create a bulleted list:

  • use asterisks (*) to make bullets (hyphens also work)
  • make sure there is one space after the asterisk
  • leave 1 empty line space before the bullets start, and one after

See the style guide to check how to punctuate bullets.

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