Modern documentation workflowsstart with Markdown
Convert legacy HTML documentation to Markdown and embrace docs-as-code workflows. Work faster, version better, and publish to any platform with clean, portable Markdown.
Why Technical Writers Love Markdown
Markdown has become the standard for technical documentation. Here's why.
Write in Plain Text
Focus on content, not formatting. Markdown's minimal syntax means less time fighting with tools and more time writing.
- No proprietary formats
- Open in any editor
- Fast to write and edit
- Keyboard-driven workflow
Version Control Everything
Store docs in Git alongside code. Track changes, review edits, and collaborate like developers do.
- Full change history
- Branching and merging
- Pull request reviews
- Blame and diff tools
Publish Anywhere
One source, many outputs. Convert Markdown to HTML, PDF, DOCX, or publish to any platform.
- Static site generators
- PDF generation
- CMS integration
- Multi-channel publishing
Collaborate with Developers
Speak the same language as your engineering team. Share tools, workflows, and platforms.
- Same review process
- Shared repositories
- CI/CD integration
- Developer-friendly
Search & Find Easily
Plain text means grep, ripgrep, and full-text search just work. Find anything in seconds.
- Fast text search
- Command-line tools
- IDE integration
- Cross-file searching
Accessibility Built-in
Semantic Markdown converts to accessible HTML. Screen readers love proper heading hierarchy.
- Semantic structure
- WCAG AA compliant
- Keyboard navigation
- Screen reader friendly
Common Technical Writing Scenarios
Migrating from Confluence to Docs-as-Code
❌ Challenge:
Your team wants to move documentation from Confluence to a Git-based workflow, but you have years of HTML content.
✓ Solution:
Use htmltomarkdown.io to batch convert Confluence export HTML to clean Markdown. Store in Git, publish with Docusaurus or MkDocs.
Step-by-Step Workflow:
- 1Export spaces from Confluence as HTML
- 2Batch convert using our API or web interface
- 3Clean up and organize in Git repository
- 4Set up static site generator
- 5Configure CI/CD for automatic publishing
Recommended Tools:
Converting Help Center Articles to Markdown
❌ Challenge:
Legacy help center uses HTML templates. You need portable, version-controlled documentation.
✓ Solution:
Extract HTML from help center, convert to Markdown, and manage with modern tools. Easy to update, track changes, and publish.
Step-by-Step Workflow:
- 1Export or scrape existing articles
- 2Convert HTML to Markdown preserving structure
- 3Organize by category in folder structure
- 4Add frontmatter for metadata
- 5Publish to new help center platform
Recommended Tools:
Archiving Technical Blogs as Markdown
❌ Challenge:
Company blog is shutting down, but you need to preserve content for future reference and repurposing.
✓ Solution:
Convert all blog posts to Markdown for a future-proof archive. Easy to search, portable, and ready to republish anywhere.
Step-by-Step Workflow:
- 1Scrape blog URLs systematically
- 2Convert posts with URL feature
- 3Extract metadata (author, date, tags)
- 4Store in organized directory structure
- 5Index for full-text search
Recommended Tools:
Standardizing Documentation Across Teams
❌ Challenge:
Multiple teams use different documentation tools. Need a single source of truth with consistent formatting.
✓ Solution:
Convert all documentation to Markdown as the common format. Everyone writes in the same format, tools don't matter.
Step-by-Step Workflow:
- 1Audit existing documentation sources
- 2Convert HTML from various sources
- 3Establish Markdown style guide
- 4Set up linting and validation
- 5Train teams on Markdown workflow
Recommended Tools:
Complete Technical Writer's Toolkit
The essential tools for a modern Markdown-based documentation workflow
Writing & Editing
- VS Code - Best Markdown extensions
- Typora - WYSIWYG Markdown editor
- iA Writer - Distraction-free writing
- Obsidian - Knowledge management
Publishing
- Docusaurus - Facebook's docs platform
- MkDocs - Python documentation
- Jekyll - GitHub Pages default
- Hugo - Ultra-fast static sites
Quality & Validation
- markdownlint - Style checker
- Vale - Prose linter
- textlint - Natural language linting
- Grammarly - Grammar checking
Version Control
- Git - Version control system
- GitHub - Collaboration platform
- GitLab - Alternative platform
- GitHub Desktop - GUI for Git
Conversion & Migration
- htmltomarkdown.io - Web service
- Pandoc - Universal converter
- Turndown - JS library
- Mammoth - DOCX to Markdown
Diagramming
- Mermaid - Diagrams as code
- PlantUML - UML diagrams
- Excalidraw - Hand-drawn style
- draw.io - Visual diagramming
Markdown Best Practices for Technical Writers
Use Consistent Heading Hierarchy
Never skip levels (H1 → H3). Screen readers and SEO depend on proper structure.
# Title ## Section ### Subsection
Add Frontmatter for Metadata
Include YAML frontmatter with title, description, author, and date for better content management.
--- title: API Guide author: Tech Team date: 2024-01-15 ---
Use Reference-Style Links for Maintainability
For long documents, reference-style links keep content readable and links easy to update.
See [documentation][docs] [docs]: https://example.com/docs
Always Specify Language in Code Blocks
Enable syntax highlighting by specifying the language in fenced code blocks.
```javascript const x = 42; ```
Keep Line Length Under 80-120 Characters
Makes Git diffs readable and reviews easier. Most Markdown editors support soft wrap.
This is a long paragraph that wraps at a reasonable line length for better diffs.
Ready to modernize your documentation?
Start converting your HTML documentation to Markdown today. Free, fast, and privacy-focused.