.. title: A reStructuredText Primer
.. slug: quickstart
.. date: 2012-03-30 23:00:00 UTC-03:00
.. tags:
.. link:
.. description:

:Author: Richard Jones
:Version: $Revision: 5801 $
:Copyright: This document has been placed in the public domain.

.. class:: alert alert-info pull-left

.. contents::


The text below contains links that look like "(quickref__)".  These
are relative links that point to the `Quick reStructuredText`_ user
reference.  If these links don't work, please refer to the `master
quick reference`_ document.

__
.. _Quick reStructuredText: ../quickref/
.. _master quick reference:
   http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/user/rst/quickref.html

.. Note:: This document is an informal introduction to
   reStructuredText.  The `What Next?`_ section below has links to
   further resources, including a formal reference.


Structure
---------

From the outset, let me say that "Structured Text" is probably a bit
of a misnomer.  It's more like "Relaxed Text" that uses certain
consistent patterns.  These patterns are interpreted by a HTML
converter to produce "Very Structured Text" that can be used by a web
browser.

The most basic pattern recognised is a **paragraph** (quickref__).
That's a chunk of text that is separated by blank lines (one is
enough).  Paragraphs must have the same indentation -- that is, line
up at their left edge.  Paragraphs that start indented will result in
indented quote paragraphs. For example::

  This is a paragraph.  It's quite
  short.

     This paragraph will result in an indented block of
     text, typically used for quoting other text.

  This is another one.

Results in:

  This is a paragraph.  It's quite
  short.

     This paragraph will result in an indented block of
     text, typically used for quoting other text.

  This is another one.

__ ../quickref/#paragraphs


Text styles
-----------

(quickref__)

__ ../quickref/#inline-markup

Inside paragraphs and other bodies of text, you may additionally mark
text for *italics* with "``*italics*``" or **bold** with
"``**bold**``".  This is called "inline markup".

If you want something to appear as a fixed-space literal, use
"````double back-quotes````".  Note that no further fiddling is done
inside the double back-quotes -- so asterisks "``*``" etc. are left
alone.

If you find that you want to use one of the "special" characters in
text, it will generally be OK -- reStructuredText is pretty smart.
For example, this lone asterisk * is handled just fine, as is the
asterisk in this equation: 5*6=30.  If you actually
want text \*surrounded by asterisks* to **not** be italicised, then
you need to indicate that the asterisk is not special.  You do this by
placing a backslash just before it, like so "``\*``" (quickref__), or
by enclosing it in double back-quotes (inline literals), like this::

    ``*``

__ ../quickref/#escaping

.. Tip:: Think of inline markup as a form of (parentheses) and use it
   the same way: immediately before and after the text being marked
   up.  Inline markup by itself (surrounded by whitespace) or in the
   middle of a word won't be recognized.  See the `markup spec`__ for
   full details.

__ http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/ref/rst/restructuredtext.html#inline-markup


Lists
-----

Lists of items come in three main flavours: **enumerated**,
**bulleted** and **definitions**.  In all list cases, you may have as
many paragraphs, sublists, etc. as you want, as long as the left-hand
side of the paragraph or whatever aligns with the first line of text
in the list item.

Lists must always start a new paragraph -- that is, they must appear
after a blank line.

**enumerated** lists (numbers, letters or roman numerals; quickref__)
  __ ../quickref/#enumerated-lists

  Start a line off with a number or letter followed by a period ".",
  right bracket ")" or surrounded by brackets "( )" -- whatever you're
  comfortable with.  All of the following forms are recognised::

    1. numbers

    A. upper-case letters
       and it goes over many lines

       with two paragraphs and all!

    a. lower-case letters

       3. with a sub-list starting at a different number
       4. make sure the numbers are in the correct sequence though!

    I. upper-case roman numerals

    i. lower-case roman numerals

    (1) numbers again

    1) and again

  Results in (note: the different enumerated list styles are not
  always supported by every web browser, so you may not get the full
  effect here):

  1. numbers

  A. upper-case letters
     and it goes over many lines

     with two paragraphs and all!

  a. lower-case letters

     3. with a sub-list starting at a different number
     4. make sure the numbers are in the correct sequence though!

  I. upper-case roman numerals

  i. lower-case roman numerals

  (1) numbers again

  1) and again

**bulleted** lists (quickref__)
  __ ../quickref/#bullet-lists

  Just like enumerated lists, start the line off with a bullet point
  character - either "-", "+" or "*"::

    * a bullet point using "*"

      - a sub-list using "-"

        + yet another sub-list

      - another item

  Results in:

  * a bullet point using "*"

    - a sub-list using "-"

      + yet another sub-list

    - another item

**definition** lists (quickref__)
  __ ../quickref/#definition-lists

  Unlike the other two, the definition lists consist of a term, and
  the definition of that term.  The format of a definition list is::

    what
      Definition lists associate a term with a definition.

    *how*
      The term is a one-line phrase, and the definition is one or more
      paragraphs or body elements, indented relative to the term.
      Blank lines are not allowed between term and definition.

  Results in:

  what
    Definition lists associate a term with a definition.

  *how*
    The term is a one-line phrase, and the definition is one or more
    paragraphs or body elements, indented relative to the term.
    Blank lines are not allowed between term and definition.


Preformatting (code samples)
----------------------------
(quickref__)

__ ../quickref/#literal-blocks

To just include a chunk of preformatted, never-to-be-fiddled-with
text, finish the prior paragraph with "``::``".  The preformatted
block is finished when the text falls back to the same indentation
level as a paragraph prior to the preformatted block.  For example::

  An example::

      Whitespace, newlines, blank lines, and all kinds of markup
        (like *this* or \this) is preserved by literal blocks.
    Lookie here, I've dropped an indentation level
    (but not far enough)

  no more example

Results in:

  An example::

      Whitespace, newlines, blank lines, and all kinds of markup
        (like *this* or \this) is preserved by literal blocks.
    Lookie here, I've dropped an indentation level
    (but not far enough)

  no more example

Note that if a paragraph consists only of "``::``", then it's removed
from the output::

  ::

      This is preformatted text, and the
      last "::" paragraph is removed

Results in:

::

    This is preformatted text, and the
    last "::" paragraph is removed


Sections
--------

(quickref__)

__ ../quickref/#section-structure

To break longer text up into sections, you use **section headers**.
These are a single line of text (one or more words) with adornment: an
underline alone, or an underline and an overline together, in dashes
"``-----``", equals "``======``", tildes "``~~~~~~``" or any of the
non-alphanumeric characters ``= - ` : ' " ~ ^ _ * + # < >`` that you
feel comfortable with.  An underline-only adornment is distinct from
an overline-and-underline adornment using the same character.  The
underline/overline must be at least as long as the title text.  Be
consistent, since all sections marked with the same adornment style
are deemed to be at the same level::

  Chapter 1 Title
  ===============

  Section 1.1 Title
  -----------------

  Subsection 1.1.1 Title
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Section 1.2 Title
  -----------------

  Chapter 2 Title
  ===============

This results in the following structure, illustrated by simplified
pseudo-XML::

    <section>
        <title>
            Chapter 1 Title
        <section>
            <title>
                Section 1.1 Title
            <section>
                <title>
                    Subsection 1.1.1 Title
        <section>
            <title>
                Section 1.2 Title
    <section>
        <title>
            Chapter 2 Title

(Pseudo-XML uses indentation for nesting and has no end-tags.  It's
not possible to show actual processed output, as in the other
examples, because sections cannot exist inside block quotes.  For a
concrete example, compare the section structure of this document's
source text and processed output.)

Note that section headers are available as link targets, just using
their name.  To link to the Lists_ heading, I write "``Lists_``".  If
the heading has a space in it like `text styles`_, we need to quote
the heading "```text styles`_``".


Document Title / Subtitle
`````````````````````````

The title of the whole document is distinct from section titles and
may be formatted somewhat differently (e.g. the HTML writer by default
shows it as a centered heading).

To indicate the document title in reStructuredText, use a unique adornment
style at the beginning of the document.  To indicate the document subtitle,
use another unique adornment style immediately after the document title.  For
example::

    ================
     Document Title
    ================
    ----------
     Subtitle
    ----------

    Section Title
    =============

    ...

Note that "Document Title" and "Section Title" above both use equals
signs, but are distinct and unrelated styles.  The text of
overline-and-underlined titles (but not underlined-only) may be inset
for aesthetics.


Images
------

(quickref__)

__ ../quickref/#directives

To include an image in your document, you use the the ``image`` directive__.
For example::

  .. image:: /images/nikola.png

results in:

.. image:: /images/nikola.png

The ``/images/nikola.png`` part indicates the filename of the image
you wish to appear in the document. There's no restriction placed on
the image (format, size etc).  If the image is to appear in HTML and
you wish to supply additional information, you may::

  .. image:: /images/nikola.png
     :height: 100
     :width: 200
     :scale: 50
     :alt: alternate text

See the full `image directive documentation`__ for more info.

__ http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/ref/rst/directives.html
__ http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/ref/rst/directives.html#images


What Next?
----------

This primer introduces the most common features of reStructuredText,
but there are a lot more to explore.  The `Quick reStructuredText`_
user reference is a good place to go next.  For complete details, the
`reStructuredText Markup Specification`_ is the place to go [#]_.

Users who have questions or need assistance with Docutils or
reStructuredText should post a message to the Docutils-users_ mailing
list.

.. [#] If that relative link doesn't work, try the master document:
   http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/ref/rst/restructuredtext.html.

.. _reStructuredText Markup Specification:
   http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/ref/rst/restructuredtext.html
.. _Docutils-users: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/user/mailing-lists.html#docutils-users
.. _Docutils project web site: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/
