Apply Special Formatting (Questions and Discussions)

Applying special formatting such as bolded or italicized text within a Top Hat question or discussion can be accomplished through the use of Markdown or LaTeX—simple syntaxes used to customize your text.

Note: The "New Builder" interface for creating questions does not currently support Markdown or LaTeX inputs. These methods apply specifically to the legacy question editor and discussion prompts.

Table of Contents

1. Asterisks
2. Blank Lines / Spaces
3. Bold
4. Bulleted Lists
5. Code - Blocks using [code] tags
6. Code - Inline using backticks
7. Coloured Text
8. Font Size
9. Indent
10. Italics
11. Line Break
12. Links
13. Subscripts & Superscripts

Asterisks

To display a literal asterisk without triggering Markdown formatting, use a backslash \ as an escape character.

• Entered Text: (2\*3) = (Pi \* R)
• Published Text: (2*3) = (Pi * R)

Blank Lines / Spaces

Create visual underscores for fill-in-the-blank prompts.

• Entered Text: Add a blank line here \_\_\_\_\_\_.
• Published Text: Add a blank line here ______

Bold

Surround text with double asterisks **.

• Entered Text: This is **bold** text.
• Published Text: This is bold text.

Image: Bold text rendering in a Top Hat Question

Bulleted Lists

Use an asterisk followed by a space at the beginning of a line.

• Entered Text: * Item one
• Published Text: • Item one

Code - Blocks using [code] tags

Use [code] tags to display multi-line snippets of programming logic. This applies a monospaced font and maintains your specific indentation.

• Entered Text:

  [code]
  if (x > 5) {
      panic();
  }
  [/code]

• Published Text: Displays as a distinct, formatted block within the question or discussion.

Image: Code block rendering in Top Hat

Code - Inline using backticks

To highlight short snippets of code (like variables or function names) within a sentence, wrap the text in backticks `.

• Entered Text: The value of `int x = 10` is constant.
• Published Text: The value of int x = 10 is constant.

Image: Inline code rendering in Top Hat

Coloured Text

Use LaTeX syntax within [math] tags to change text color.

• Entered Text: [math]\color{blue}{\text{SKY}}[/math]
• Published Text: SKY
• Note: Supported colors include black, red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, and yellow.

Font Size

Adjust text size using LaTeX tags within [math] blocks.

• Entered Text: [math]\Large{\text{elephant}}[/math]
• Note: Options include \tiny, \small, \normalsize, \Large, \huge, and \Huge.

Indent (Blockquote)

Use the "greater than" symbol > before your text.

• Entered Text: > Indented quote.
• Published Text:

  Indented quote.

Italics

Surround text with single asterisks *.

• Entered Text: This is *italicized*.
• Published Text: This is italicized.

Line Break

Hold Shift + Enter to force a line break. Note that completely empty lines may not be retained in the final student view.

Links

Use the syntax [Link Text](URL).

Image: Hyperlink rendering

Subscripts & Superscripts

Use LaTeX notation within [math] tags for scientific or mathematical scripts.

H₂O

2³