The heart of Outline is the document editor. We let you write in whichever way you prefer – be it Markdown, WYSIWYG, or taking advantage of the many keyboard shortcuts.

## Markdown

If you’re comfortable writing markdown then all of the shortcuts you are used to are supported, for example type \*\*bold\*\* to instantly create bold text. If you forget some syntax or are after a quick refresher hit the keyboard icon in the bottom right hand corner for our guide. Learning some of the key Markdown shortcuts will make using Outline faster and more enjoyable!

![The formatting toolbar](/images/screenshots/formatting-toolbar.png)

:::info
You can also paste markdown or html from elsewhere directly into a document.
:::


## Rich documents

The editor supports a variety of content blocks including images, tables, lists, quotes, videos, and more. Type "/" on an empty line or click on the "+" icon to trigger the block insert menu, you can keep typing to filter it down.

You can also drag and drop images to include them in your document or paste a link to embed content from one of the many supported [integrations](https://www.getoutline.com/integrations)

![The block menu](/images/screenshots/block-menu.png)

## References

Linking to another document automatically creates backlinks which are kept up-to-date and shown at the bottom of the document, so you can create a library of linked information and easily answer the question "which other documents link here?".