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docs/source/usage/basic_formatting.rst

@@ -3,3 +3,93 @@
 ****************
 Basic Formatting
 ****************
+
+.. _Markdown: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown
+
+The basic text formatting syntax of novelWriter is based on Markdown_. It is only a subset of the
+Markdown syntax though. Lists, images, and links are not supported.
+
+URLs in the text should automatically be highlighted and become clickable. However, only URLs
+starting with "http" or "https" are recognised. In the editor, you must hold down the :kbd:`Ctrl`
+key when clicking a URL to follow it.
+
+
+.. _docs_usage_basics_paragraphs:
+
+Text Paragraphs
+===============
+
+A text paragraph is indicated by a blank line. That is, you need two line breaks to separate two
+fragments of text into two paragraphs. Single line breaks are treated as line breaks within a
+paragraph.
+
+It is important that you actually follow this rule. You should not, for instance, mimic indented
+paragraphs manually in the editor. This, and a lot of other formatting options that can be
+applied to text paragraphs in the :ref:`Manuscript Tool <docs_manuscript>` depends on paragraphs
+being separated by blank lines.
+
+:bdg-success:`Correct`
+
+.. code-block:: md
+
+   ### Scene
+
+   This is a text paragraph.
+
+   This is another text paragraph.
+
+:bdg-danger:`Incorrect`
+
+.. code-block:: md
+
+   ### Scene
+
+   This is a text paragraph.
+       This is meant to be another text paragraph.
+
+If you do as shown in the "Incorrect" example, novelWriter will understand this as a single
+paragraph with two lines.
+
+
+.. _docs_usage_basics_emphasis:
+
+Text Emphasis with Markdown
+===========================
+
+A minimal set of Markdown text emphasis styles are supported for text paragraphs.
+
+``_text_``
+   The text is rendered as emphasised text (italicised).
+
+``**text**``
+   The text is rendered as strongly emphasised text (bold).
+
+``~~text~~``
+   Strike through text.
+
+In Markdown guides it is often recommended to differentiate between strong emphasis and emphasis
+by using ``**`` for strong and ``_`` for emphasis, although Markdown generally also supports ``__``
+for strong and ``*`` for emphasis. However, since the differentiation makes the highlighting and
+conversion significantly simpler and faster, in novelWriter this is a rule, not just a
+recommendation.
+
+In addition, the following rules apply:
+
+1. The emphasis and strike through formatting tags do not allow spaces between the words and the
+   tag itself. That is, ``**text**`` is valid, ``**text **`` is not.
+2. More generally, the delimiters must be on the outer edge of words. That is, ``some **text in
+   bold** here`` is valid, ``some** text in bold** here`` is not.
+3. If using both ``**`` and ``_`` to wrap the same text, the underscore must be the **inner**
+   wrapper. This is due to the underscore also being a valid word character, so if they are on the
+   outside, they violate rule 2.
+4. Text emphasis does not span past line breaks. If you need to add emphasis to multiple lines or
+   paragraphs, you must apply it to each of them in turn.
+5. Text emphasis can only be used in comments and paragraphs. Headings and meta data tags don't
+   allow for formatting, and any formatting markup will be rendered as-is.
+
+.. tip::
+
+   novelWriter supports standard escape syntax for the emphasis markup characters in case the
+   editor misunderstands your intended usage of them. That is, ``\*``, ``\_`` and ``\~`` will
+   generate a plain ``*``, ``_`` and ``~``, respectively, without interpreting them as part of the
+   markup.