Typography & Standard Markdown

While specialized components add interactive flair to technical documentation, clean typography and standard Markdown form the bedrock of any readable knowledge base. Starlight applies an opinionated, highly legible typographic scale optimized for technical content.

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How to Format Typography

To maintain a consistent reading rhythm across all documents, follow these authoring rules for text hierarchy:

1. Establish Heading Hierarchy: Use ## for primary section breaks and ### for sub-sections. Never skip heading levels.
2. Apply Inline Styles: Use single asterisks * for italics, double asterisks ** for bold text, and single backticks ` for inline code variables.
3. Build Bulleted & Numbered Lists: Use hyphens (-) for unorderly bulleted lists and sequential numbers (1., 2.) for numbered instructions.
4. Add Links & Underlining: Use standard markdown syntax [Anchor Text](URL) for hyperlinks, and semantic HTML <u>text</u> when specific underlining is required.
5. Incorporate Blockquotes: Use standard markdown blockquotes (>) to emphasize core axioms or callouts.

Behind the Curtain

1. Rendered Specimen

How the formatted typography renders on the live page.

Heading Level 2 (Section Break)

Here is a standard paragraph containing bold emphasis, italicized text, and an inline code variable like site.config.mjs.

“Documentation is the lifeblood of software engineering. If it isn’t documented, functionally, it doesn’t exist.”

— Technical Writing Axiom

2. Underlying MDX Code

The raw Markdown markup required to generate the specimen.

## Heading Level 2 (Section Break)

Here is a standard paragraph containing **bold emphasis**, *italicized text*, and an inline code variable like `site.config.mjs`.

> "Documentation is the lifeblood of software engineering. If it isn't documented, functionally, it doesn't exist."
>
> — *Technical Writing Axiom*

3. Sveltia CMS Authoring

How subject matter experts format text in the visual CMS.

In Sveltia CMS, authors use the rich-text markdown editor toolbar or switch to raw Markdown mode. Headings, blockquotes, and text styling render instantly in the visual preview pane before committing changes back to Git.

For a complete tutorial on editor shortcuts and technical text formatting, see Writing & Formatting in Sveltia.

Tip

Always rely on standard Markdown formatting for primary text before reaching for complex custom components. Clean text paired with proper headings ensures maximum accessibility for screen readers.