Markdown reference
Everything you publish on LibreTimes – lectures, problem sets, expositions, essays – is written in LibreTimes Markdown. It is standard Markdown at the core, extended for academic writing: mathematics, theorem-style blocks, diagrams, and media.
The flavor is built in three layers, and this guide follows them in order:
- CommonMark – the standard core. Headings, emphasis, lists, links, quotes, code. If you have written Markdown anywhere, you already know this layer.
- GFM (GitHub Flavored Markdown) – widely adopted extensions: tables, footnotes, task lists, strikethrough, autolinks. Covered alongside the basics.
- LibreTimes extensions – what makes the flavor academic: mathematics with KaTeX, highlighted code, and the directive blocks – theorems and proofs, callouts, collapsible sections, tabs, TikZ diagrams, video embeds, mentions, and attachments.
Anything valid in a lower layer stays valid in the ones above it: a plain CommonMark document is already a valid LibreTimes document.
Quick example
## Pythagorean theorem
:::theorem[Pythagoras]
For a right triangle with legs $a$, $b$ and hypotenuse $c$:
$$
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
$$
:::
:::proof
Drop the altitude from the right angle and compare similar triangles.
:::renders as:
Pythagorean theorem
Theorem (Pythagoras). For a right triangle with legs , and hypotenuse :
Proof. Drop the altitude from the right angle and compare similar triangles.
Sections
| Guide | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Basics | CommonMark + GFM: text, headings, lists, links, images, quotes, tables, footnotes |
| Mathematics | KaTeX: inline and display math, delimiters, common commands |
| Code blocks | Syntax highlighting, titles, inline code |
| Extensions | The directive syntax and every LibreTimes block: statements, admonitions, figures, spoilers, tabs, TikZ, video, mentions, attachments |
| Comments | The reduced flavor used in comments |
| HTML and security | Which raw HTML is allowed, and how content is sanitized |
| Cheatsheet | Everything on one page |
Where it applies
Publications use the full flavor. Comments use a reduced set – the same text syntax, but no media and no block extensions. The editor writes this syntax for you; this guide is the reference for what the syntax is, whether you type it directly in source mode or import documents written elsewhere.
One rule worth knowing up front
The page title is not part of the document body. The title you enter when
publishing renders as the page's only top-level heading, so headings in the
body start at the second level. If your document does contain a top-level
heading (# Title), the whole heading tree is shifted down one rank to keep
the hierarchy – see Headings.