Jekyll is a static site generator that takes Markdown files and converts them to a website. Jekyll is a free and open-source application written in the Ruby programming language. Thousands of websites, including the Markdown Guide, rely on Jekyll to convert Markdown source files to HTML output. GitHub Pages uses Jekyll as the backend for its free website creation service.
By default, Jekyll uses the kramdown Markdown processor with stock settings, but you can enable other kramdown options or even switch Jekyll to another Markdown processor. See the Jekyll Markdown configuration options documentation for more information. You can change Jekyll’s kramdown settings in the _config.yml file. The settings for the Markdown Guide are shown below.
kramdown:
syntax_highlighter: rouge
input: GFM
auto_ids: true
toc_levels: 1..3
Jekyll Markdown Support
Jekyll provides support for the following Markdown elements.
| Element | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Headings | Yes | |
| Paragraphs | Yes | |
| Line Breaks | Yes | |
| Bold | Yes | |
| Italic | Yes | |
| Blockquotes | Yes | |
| Ordered Lists | Yes | |
| Unordered Lists | Yes | |
| Code | Yes | |
| Horizontal Rules | Yes | |
| Links | Yes | |
| Images | Yes | |
| Tables | Yes | |
| Fenced Code Blocks | Yes | |
| Syntax Highlighting | Yes | Make sure that syntax_highlighter: rouge is in the kramdown section of the _config.yml file.
|
| Footnotes | Yes | |
| Heading IDs | Yes | |
| Definition Lists | Yes | |
| Strikethrough | Yes | You can use two tildes (~~word~~) or one tilde (~word~) — both work.
|
| Task Lists | Yes | |
| Emoji (copy and paste) | Yes | |
| Emoji (shortcodes) | No | Not supported by default, but you can use the jemoji plugin to enable support. |
| Highlight | No | |
| Subscript | No | |
| Superscript | No | |
| Automatic URL Linking | Yes | |
| Disabling Automatic URL Linking | Yes | |
| HTML | Yes |
Support for Additional Syntax Elements
As an added bonus, Jekyll provides support for several obscure elements.
| Element | Markdown | Rendered Output |
|---|---|---|
| Abbreviation | *[HTML]: Hyper Text Markup LanguageThe HTML specification is maintained by the W3C. |
The HTML specification is maintained by the W3C. |