Markdown QuickTags is a plugin for WordPress which replaces the HTML editor with a Markdown-enabled set of buttons and features. It can edit Markdown for saving, or render the finished Markdown to HTML, if you prefer. You can preview the rendered HTML at any time, and there's even a full-screen editing mode. Options can be set in the Settings->Markdown QuickTags panel of your wp-admin section.

What's Markdown?

Created by John Gruber, Markdown is a simple, plain-text language for easily creating HTML. See the original project page for syntax and documentation.

Can I use Markdown QuickTags with the visual editor?

Yes. You can edit Markdown in the Markdown editor and, with the click of a button, render it to clean HTML that will work in the visual editor.

Can I save my post as Markdown?

Sure. You'll just need a plugin to render it to HTML on the front end. I recommend this one.

0.9.6

• Fix appearance on WordPress 4.4

0.9.5

• Headline button (H) cycles header levels for current line
• If line is selected to beginning and # is pressed, headlines cycle
• If ctrl-# (ctrl-shift-3) is pressed, cycle headers regardless of selection

0.9.4

• Fix method of locating wp-content

0.9.3

• Smarter blockquote behavior
• Tag buttons notice when selection is already tagged, reverse effect

0.9.2

• Fixes for WP 4+
• Style updates
• Option to insert images from Media Uploader in Markdown syntax

0.8.2

• Another attempt to fix the invalid header issue. I think I got it.

0.8.1

• A probably-failed attempt to solve the invalid header issue

0.8

• WordPress 3.3 compatibility (still backwards compatible)
• More font size options
• New font choices (Google Fonts)
• Font preview in settings
• Redesigned UI
• Various fixes for editing quirks and popup dialog styling

0.7.14

• Fixed a few conflicts that arose when the visual editor was enabled.

0.7.13

• Another attempt to fix "Invalid Header" error
• Restored previous pairing style where a closing element would not be inserted if the character immediately following the cursor was a letter.
• Typing a closing square bracket while auto-completing a reference title will end completion and place the cursor after the existing closing bracket.

0.7.12

• Cleanup, try to fix "Invalid Header" error

0.7.11

• Fix for scroll jump on enter in Firefox

0.7.10

• Fixes behavior of return key at bottom of screen
• Sets editor background to white on focus
• Stops constant lighting of undo tab

0.7.9

• Restores the ability to switch back to Visual editor

0.7.8

• Backtracking recent changes because everything went wrong.
• Better handling of auto-pairing when between other characters
• Smarter loading of additional javascripts in the editor without PHP

0.7.5

• Quick fix for loading the colorpicker, "farbtastic" only on the options page.

0.7.4

• Switched to LABjs for loading most of the external javascript. Seems to have stemmed the occasional problem where the loading spinner would just keep spinning after a javascript error.
• Modified script loading function to only fire on post/page edit pages. A lot less extraneous JavaScript floating around in the rest of your admin now.

0.7.3

• Fix for image/media insertion, now inserts at cursor instead of end of document. Thanks to @khaled for catching that one.

0.7.2

• Fix for script loading order, eliminate hangs on page load

0.7

• Initial Release

1. Upload the folder markdown-quicktags to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory
2. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress
3. Configure options under the Settings->Markdown QuickTags menu
4. The changes to your HTML editor are automatic