Markdown and Visual Editor Guide

Helpdesky offers two ways to edit the same article. Markdown shows the formatting as text; Visual shows the formatted result as you write. Open an article from Help Center > Articles, then use the Visual and Markdown buttons above the editor.

Markdown Mode

Choose Markdown if you prefer typing headings, lists, links, and other formatting directly. For example, ## Before you begin creates a level-two heading, and **short and clear** makes those words bold.

Markdown mode shows the characters that control the formatting.

Supported Syntax

Element	What to type
Bold	**bold text**
Italic	*italic text*
Heading 2	## Heading
Heading 3	### Heading
Link	[link text](https://example.com)
Image	
Ordered list	1. First step
Unordered list	- List item
Code block	Three backticks on a line before and after the code
Blockquote	> Quoted text

Leave a blank line between paragraphs and separate sections with descriptive headings. Use a numbered list for steps that readers must follow in order.

The Markdown toolbar also provides formatting shortcuts. Upload Image sits above it; see Uploading Images for screenshots of that workflow.

YouTube Embeds

Paste a YouTube video URL on its own line:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID

Replace VIDEO_ID with the actual video ID. Helpdesky renders the URL as an embedded player on the public page.

Buttons and Action Cards

Turn any link into a call to action button by writing a normal Markdown link and adding {.btn} (filled) or {.btn-outline} (outlined) directly after the closing parenthesis, with no space in between. In Visual mode, use the Insert Button toolbar control instead. The two buttons below were written as two consecutive lines, the first ending in {.btn} and the second in {.btn-outline}:

Buttons placed one after another sit side by side. Two or more consecutive button blocks are grouped on a single row that wraps onto the next line when the screen is too narrow. The editor shows the same layout, so what you see while writing matches the public page and the widget.

To keep buttons on separate lines, put some text between them. A sentence, a heading, or any other block between two buttons breaks the group, and each button stands alone on its own line again, like this:

Start free trial

This sentence sits between the two buttons.

Read the docs

Action cards work the same way. Add {.card} after a link, optionally with icon="rocket" and desc="Short description" inside the braces, and two or more consecutive cards form a two column grid (one column on small screens). Use the Insert action card toolbar control in Visual mode. The grid below is two consecutive card lines:

The full syntax, including the .same-tab and .nofollow options and the list of card icons, is in the Markdown reference on the API docs page. If you render articles on your own site through the Content API, grouped buttons arrive wrapped in <div class="btn-row"> and grouped cards in <div class="action-card-grid">. See Render Help Articles Inside Your Own Website and the headless spec for the full element list.

Visual Mode

Choose Visual to see the formatted content. The example below is the same content shown in Markdown above: the heading is larger, the selected words are bold, and the steps form a numbered list.

The same article content displayed in Visual mode.

Use the toolbar to:

• Apply bold, italic, underline, or strikethrough to selected text.
• Add Heading 2 and Heading 3 headings.
• Create bullet lists, numbered lists, blockquotes, and code blocks.
• Insert tables, links, and images.
• Add Info Callout, Warning Callout, or Danger Callout blocks.
• Insert Button and Action Card blocks that link to a page.

Place the cursor where a new block should go. To format existing words, select those words first and then choose the formatting button.

Bubble Menu

Selecting text in Visual mode displays an AI Rewrite control near the selection. Use it when you want help rewriting that specific passage. Use the main toolbar for ordinary text formatting.

Helpdesky does not charge overage fees. If you connect your own AI provider key, usage is billed separately by that provider. We recommend setting a spending cap in your AI provider account and regularly monitoring your usage and spending there.

Switching Between Modes

1. Click Markdown or Visual above the editor.
2. Review the converted content, especially lists, links, images, and callouts.
3. Save the article when you are happy with the result.

Before publishing, check the article as a reader: do the headings explain the sections, do the steps follow a clear order, and do images appear next to the instructions they illustrate?

For highlighted notes and warnings, see Using Callout Blocks.