When you decide you may want to use Markdown in WordPress, it's important to know what you're getting into. Not everybody understands what Markdown is and not everybody needs it.
<h2>What is Markdown?</h2>
Markdown is simply the use of markup language to take plain text and convert it into HTML. It’s like using a simple text editor. This language will take the text you insert and will convert it to HTML code without you needing to put in the code.

<strong>Example</strong>

If you were using markdown, you could type **make this bold** and the ** would be converted into the HTML code to make this phrase bold.

Using Markdown in WordPress allows you to easily create rich text documents without needing to understand HTML code.
<h2>Adding Markdown to WordPress</h2>
The easiest and best way to add Markdown to WordPress is with the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-markdown/">WP-Markdown plugin</a>. Tis plugin will allow you to use Markdown with your blog posts and it's very user friendly.

Simply download, install and active the plugin. Once the plugin is activated, you will find the menu to add Markdown in the Settings&gt;&gt;Writing section of your WordPress dashboard.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-7236" src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/MarkdownInWriting.png" alt="Markdown In Writing" width="600" height="423" />

From this section, you will be able to enable WP-Markdown and decide which sections of your website will use Markdown. You can select any of the boxes displayed to use markdown in posts, pages and other sections of your website.

You will be able to use the menu bar the plugin provides in the edit area to easily add Markdown syntax to your blog posts, pages and other areas of your site. This will even help you learn how to use Markdown faster.
<h2>How to Use Markdown in WordPress</h2>
After you've installed the plugin and you have selected the options for using Markdown, it's important to understand how to use this code. You will notice the text and visual editors have both been replaced with a Markdown editor.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-7237" src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/MarkdownEditor.png" alt="Markdown Editor" width="487" height="93" />

Within the editor screen, you will get to see a live preview of your post as you create it. This makes it easy to understand how the Markdown language works and you will learn the language much faster.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-7239" src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/MarkdownLanguage.png" alt="Markdown Language" width="277" height="496" />

A Quick Cheat Sheet for Markdown Language in WordPress

Here's a quick look at some very common uses of Markdown Language

*italics*
**bold**
#Header 1#
##Header 2##
###Header 3###
[ITX Design](https://itxdesign.com)

These are just a few of the many things you can use Markdown in WordPress for. These show how to use italics, bold, headers and how to link a phrase with this type of language.

Using Markdown for Videos

You can even use Markdown language to insert videos within your posts. This is easily done by adding the following code:

[embed]YOUR VIDEO LINK[/embed]

Is there an Advantage to using Markdown Language in WordPress?

Using Markdown in WordPress provides some advantages, but it's not for everybody. Since this is a language of it's own, you will still need to learn all the ins and outs of using it. However, if you already know the basics, you will be well on your way.

Those without any knowledge of Markdown language may be better off learning some of the basic HTML codes used for the same things. They are not that much different, as far as how long they will take you to put in, and you can use the "text editor" within WordPress to learn some of the languages.

If you just want to be able to use bold, headings, links and other basic things within your posts, Markdown language isn't necessary. However, if you already know how to type in this type of language you may want to add the plugin and start using Markdown within WordPress.

It all comes down to what you're most comfortable with. HTML is a more widely used code than Markdown, but you can always use Markdown if you struggle with learning HTML. However, both languages are similar in some ways and different in others. There is no significant advantage to using Markdown language in WordPress or choosing to learn HTML code instead.

Now you should know how to add Markdown to WordPress and you should be able to make a decision on whether or not you prefer this over HTML or the visual editor.