Table of Contents

Emphasis

Standard Markdown syntax can make text **bold** and _italicized_.

Standard Markdown syntax can make text bold and italicized.

(It is a Coursage convention to use `‌**`‌ for bold and `‌_`‌ for italics to keep the two visually distinct in the source code, although Markdown supports *other* __variants__ and those are fine too.)

(It is a Coursage convention to use ** for bold and _ for italics to keep the two visually distinct in the source code, although Markdown supports other variants and those are fine too.)

In Coursage’s styling, bold is visually prominent in a way that’s designed to draw attention and stand out, even to a reader who is skimming. Italics are more subtle, and provide emphasis within a sentence without drawing large-scale attention.

You can also <‌highlight>highlight important passages of text.<‌/highlight>

You can also highlight important passages of text.

The semantic distinction between bold and highlighted text is fuzzy. In general, bold means “Important term! Anchor point! Action item!” while highlighting means something more like “Warning!! Do not miss this!!” or “Here is a big, crucial thought that should stand out from the larger text! Medidate on this!”

<‌callout>
  If you want to make a thought _really_ stand out in the text, use a callout. A callout must surround one or more entire paragraphs. It may <‌highlight>contain highlighted text<‌/highlight>.
<‌/callout>

If you want to make a thought really stand out in the text, use a callout. A callout must surround one or more entire paragraphs. It may contain highlighted text.

> Coursage sites generally use a blockquote like this for _quoting a source_ rather than emphasizing or offsetting text.

Coursage sites generally use a blockquote like this for quoting a source rather than emphasizing or offsetting text.