Markdown lists: bullets, numbers, and nesting

A bulleted list starts each line with a dash, asterisk, or plus. A numbered list starts each line with a number and a period. You nest a list by indenting its lines.

Bulleted lists

Put a -, *, or + at the start of a line, then a space, then your text. One marker per line.

- Flour
- Sugar
- Two eggs

That renders as three bulleted items, one per line. Pick whichever marker you like. All three work:

* Flour
+ Sugar
- Two eggs

Most people stick to one marker for a whole list out of habit, and a dash is the common default. The output looks the same either way.

Numbered lists

Start each line with a number, a period, and a space.

1. Preheat the oven
2. Mix the dry ingredients
3. Add the wet ingredients

That renders as a numbered list, 1 through 3.

The numbers you type don't have to be right. Markdown counts for you. Write all 1.s and the list still renders 1, 2, 3:

1. Preheat the oven
1. Mix the dry ingredients
1. Add the wet ingredients

Same result. That means you can reorder lines without renumbering by hand. If you want the list to start at a different number, the first line sets it: begin with 5. and the list runs 5, 6, 7.

Nesting a list

Indent a line to tuck it under the item above it. Four spaces is the safe amount, and a tab also works.

1. Gather the dry ingredients
    - Flour
    - Sugar
    - Salt
2. Gather the wet ingredients
    - Milk
    - Two eggs

That renders as a numbered list with a bulleted list nested under each step. You can mix the types freely: bullets under numbers, numbers under bullets, bullets under bullets. Keep indenting to go deeper.

- Drinks
    - Coffee
        - Decaf
        - Regular
    - Tea

Each extra level of indentation drops one level deeper in the list.

A common snag: too little indentation and the nested line doesn't nest, it just becomes a sibling. If a nested item renders flat instead of tucked under its parent, add more spaces.

In Unmarked

Unmarked renders all of this: bullets with any marker, numbered lists with automatic counting, and nesting. Mix ordered and unordered however you like and it comes out the way you'd expect.

Writing them beats typing the syntax by hand. In Write mode, press Enter inside a list and Unmarked starts the next item for you with the same marker. Tab indents the current item a level deeper, and Shift-Tab pulls it back out. Press Enter on an empty item to end the list. Type the first - or 1. and the rest is mostly Enter and Tab.