Now that you have a plain text file opened within a text editor (not word processing app), it's time to put a title at the top of the page.

Let's start with:

A Title:

# This is a big header

In Markdown, the pound sign (number sign or octothorpe if you prefer) is the symbol used to indicate that this line of text is a header – used to separate and help organize content.

A single pound sign is usually used for the title of a document.

In HTML 5 lingo, it is the equivalent of an H1 tag (tag: markup code which is the foundation for all webpages), e.g. :

<h1>This is a big header</h1>

You're not here to learn HTML 5 though, so we won't spend too much time on that. However, stick around until the end of this Write Once, Post Anywhere series to see the link between Markdown and HTML 5 and to fully understand the power of a simple .md file.

Now when you need sub-headers to divide your content into further sections, after you write your title, use more pound signs.

## This is a sub-header

Two pound signs create a sub-header to the single pound sign, three pound signs create a sub-header to the two pound sign line, ect.

# This is a big header

## This is a sub-header
### This is a sub-sub-header

## This is a second sub-header

## This is a third sub-header
### This is a sub-sub-header to the third sub-header

How many pound signs can I use?

You can divide your sections using up to six pound signs, but will probably only use three at the most in reality. The pound signs are the equivalent of H1 – H6 HTML 5 tags.

That's really all you need to know about Markdown headers.

Summary

Pound signs are the headers and sub- headers (or titles and sub-titles) used to organize your content into sections.

Remember: save your file so that it has .md at the end of the name (the file extension).

Let's learn Markdown paragraphs.

Learn how to write a paragraph in Markdown.

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