Markdown Guide

Everything you need to know about writing content for the MeetBall handbook with Zola's markdown.

Basic Markdown

All the usual markdown stuff works:

# Big Title
## Smaller Title

**Bold text** and *italic text*

- Bullet points
- Are awesome
- For lists

1. Numbered lists
2. Work too
3. Obviously

[Links to stuff](https://meetball.fun) and `inline code`.

Code Blocks

Zola has syntax highlighting built-in. Just specify the language:

```rust
fn main() {
    println!("Hello MeetBall!");
}
```

```javascript
const meetball = {
    awesome: true,
    handbook: "https://handbook.meetball.fun"
};
```

```bash
# Commands look good too
git clone https://github.com/thesummeet/handbook.git
zola serve
```

fn main() {
    println!("Hello MeetBall!");
}

const meetball = {
    awesome: true,
    handbook: "https://handbook.meetball.fun"
};

# Commands look good too
git clone https://github.com/thesummeet/handbook.git
zola serve

Front Matter

Every markdown file needs front matter at the top:

+++
title = "Your Page Title"
description = "Short description for SEO and previews"
draft = false
weight = 10  # Lower numbers appear first in navigation
template = "docs/page.html"  # or "blog/page.html" for blog posts

[extra]
lead = "A short intro paragraph that appears under the title"
toc = true   # Show table of contents
top = false  # Pin to top of section
+++

This is what creates the page structure you see on this very page! The front matter above would create a page with the title "Your Page Title" and all the settings configured.

Zola Shortcodes

These are MeetBall handbook specific shortcuts:

YouTube Embeds

Just grab the video ID from the YouTube URL:

• URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz0k5aa7Bpg
• ID: qz0k5aa7Bpg (everything after v=)

In your markdown file, type:

{{ youtube(id="qz0k5aa7Bpg") }}

Preview

GitHub Repository Links

Use the format owner/repository:

In your markdown file, type:

{{ github(repo="thesummeet/handbook") }}

GitHub Repository Cards

For a more detailed view with repo stats:

In your markdown file, type:

{{ github_card(repo="thesummeet/handbook") }}

These create responsive, accessible embeds automatically!

Internal Links

Link to other handbook pages:

[Quick Start Guide](../getting-started/quick-start.md)
[FAQ](/docs/help/faq/)

Images

Put images in static/images/ and reference them like:

![MeetBall Logo](/images/meetball-logo.png)

Callouts

Use blockquotes for important notes:

> **Note:** This is something important you should know!

> **Warning:** Don't do this unless you know what you're doing.

> **Tip:** Pro tip for making things even more awesome.

Math

If you need math formulas, we have KaTeX support:

$ E = mc^2 $

$$
\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} e^{-x^2} dx = \sqrt{\pi}
$$

Mermaid Diagrams

Great for showing workflows and architecture:

```mermaid
graph TD
    A[Write Content] --> B[Create PR]
    B --> C[Review]
    C --> D[Deploy]
    D --> E[handbook.meetball.fun]
```

graph TD
    A[Write Content] --> B[Create PR]
    B --> C[Review]
    C --> D[Deploy]
    D --> E["handbook.meetball.fun"]

Writing Tips

• Keep it conversational (like you're explaining to a friend)
• Use "you" instead of "the user"
• Emojis used to be cool but now give AI generated vibes. But still, use where it makes sense ✨
• Break up long text with headers and lists
• Test your markdown by running zola serve locally

Remember: we're building in the open, so make it helpful for everyone! 🚀