Jira Wiki Markup

Jira uses Wiki-style markup, not Markdown. Key differences from Markdown:

Element	Markdown	Jira Wiki
Bold	**text**	*text*
Italic	*text*	_text_
Headings	# ## ###	h1. h2. h3.
Code inline	`code`	{{code}}
Links	[text](url)	[text|url]
Images		!url!
Tables	| separators	|| headers, | cells

Quick Reference

Text Effects

*bold*  _italic_  -strikethrough-  +underline+
^superscript^  ~subscript~  {{monospace}}
??citation??  {color:red}colored{color}

Headings

h1. Largest
h2. Large
h3. Medium (most common for sections)

Links

[http://example.com]                    Plain URL
[Link Text|http://example.com]          URL with text
[~username]                             User mention (notifies them)
[^attachment.ext]                       Link to attachment
[PROJ-123]                              Issue link (auto-detected)

Lists

* Bullet item              # Numbered item
** Nested bullet           ## Nested number
- Alternative bullet       #* Mixed: number then bullet

Tables

||Header 1||Header 2||Header 3||
|Cell 1|Cell 2|Cell 3|
|Cell 4|Cell 5|Cell 6|

Code and Preformatted Text

Code block with syntax highlighting:

{code:python}
def hello():
    return "world"
{code}

Plain preformatted (no highlighting):

{noformat}
Preserves whitespace, no *formatting* applied
{noformat}

Panels and Quotes

Quote (for citations):

bq. Single paragraph quote

{quote}
Multi-paragraph
quoted content
{quote}

Panel (for callouts/notices):

{panel:title=Warning|bgColor=#FFFFCE}
Important message here
{panel}

Breaks

\\              Force line break
----            Horizontal rule
---             Em dash (—)
--              En dash (–)

When to Use What

Need	Use
Highlight important info	{panel:title=Note}
Quote someone/something	bq. or {quote}
Show code/logs/errors	{code:language}
Preserve spacing without highlighting	{noformat}
Notify a team member	[~username]
Reference an issue	Just type PROJ-123
Structured data	Tables with || and |

Common Patterns

Status Update

h3. Status
*Current:* In progress
*Blockers:* None
*Next steps:* Complete testing

h3. Details
Description here...

Bug Description

h3. Steps to Reproduce
# Step one
# Step two
# Step three

h3. Expected vs Actual
||Expected||Actual||
|Should show X|Shows Y|

{code:title=Stack Trace}
Error details here
{code}

Decision Record

h3. Decision
We chose option B.

{panel:title=Rationale}
Explanation of why...
{panel}

h3. Alternatives Considered
* Option A - rejected because...
* Option C - rejected because...

Escaping

Use backslash to show literal characters: \*not bold\* → *not bold*

Additional References

• Complete syntax reference: See references/complete-syntax.md
• Templates: See references/templates.md for meeting notes, feature requests, etc.
• Emoticons: See references/emoticons.md for the full emoticon list