Markdown: organize the meaning before styling the text
Markdown is useful for notes and documentation because its source remains readable as text. Its value lies in distinguishing headings, paragraphs and lists, not in adding as many formatting marks as possible.
Headings are more than a font size
Start with the document topic and place its sections at a lower heading level. # and ## indicate different levels when followed by a space. Giving every line a top-level heading loses that hierarchy.
Use a list for separate items and a paragraph when you need to explain their relationship. Formatting should support a clear sentence rather than substitute for one.
References: CommonMark 0.31.2 — Structured text, headings and rendering differences
A preview is not every publishing environment
Markdown extensions differ between systems. A table or extension working in one editor does not guarantee the same output elsewhere, so inspect the document where its readers will actually see it.
ToolRoof previews and exports HTML but does not execute raw HTML from the input. External images become descriptive placeholders, and links are inactive inside the preview. It is not a full-web-page reproduction tool.
References: CommonMark 0.31.2 — Structured text, headings and rendering differences
Keep the source alongside the displayed copy
Markdown source is useful when comparing later edits. HTML serves presentation, but converting it back need not reproduce the original source exactly.
Review links and content before distributing the output. Previewing is not proof that statements are correct or linked websites are safe, and it does not grant permission to reuse somebody else’s material.
Example: a short meeting note
Use # Weekly plan, then ## Priorities, followed by - Review the summary and - Send the draft on separate lines. The output contains a main heading, a section heading and a two-item list rather than four indistinguishable paragraphs.
Writing #Weekly plan without the space does not make an ATX heading. Code placed between backticks remains displayed text: seeing it in a preview neither runs it nor establishes that it is correct.