Formatting code and comments
I use a trick similar to the one presented by slhck, but mine allows not only HTML markup in a gray block, but also variable-width characters. I use the > (which is markdown for <blockquote>) at the beginning of the line, and then <code> and </code> and other markup/markdown as appropriate. For example,
(prompt)>
cd ///cdis short for “change directory”.
WWWWWWWWiiiiiiii // Compare the widths
of the characters.
WWWWWWWWiiiiiiii
is produced by
>_(prompt)_><code> **cd /**</code> _//_ `cd `_is short for “change directory”._ > `WWWWWWWWiiiiiiii` _// Compare the widths of the characters._☆☆ WWWWWWWWiiiiiiii
where ‘☆’ represents a space (two spaces at the end of a line inside a blockquote acts like a <br>).
It’s sometimes tricky figuring out when you can use markup and when you can use markdown.
For example, anything you type between back-ticks (`…`) is displayed literally, where as text between <code> and </code> can contain markup (<b>bold</b>, <i>italic</i>, & = ‘&’, × = ‘×’, etc.) and markdown (*bold*, _italic_, etc.) Thus, since I wanted to put the cd / into bold, I needed to use <code> and </code> for that,
but I could use back-ticks the other two places.
<edit>D’oh! I just realized
that I could have said **`cd /`.</edit>**
Beware: The markdown processors in SU and MSU might not be identical.
