#Basic Syntax

This guide covers the fundamental text formatting and typography features in Zolt.

#Text Formatting

Zolt supports several inline text formatting options:

#Inline Styles

Apply CSS -like attributes to text spans using the ||text||{attr} syntax.

#Syntax

||text to style||{attribute=value}

#Examples

This is ||important||{color=red} text.

This is ||highlighted||{background=yellow}.

This is ||bold and blue||{fontWeight=bold color=blue}.

#Common Attributes

#Practical Examples

||Warning:||{color=red fontWeight=bold} This action cannot be undone.

||NEW||{background=blue color=white padding="2px 8px" borderRadius=12px}

||$variable||{fontFamily=monospace background=#F3F4F6}

#Character Escaping

Display literal special characters using the backslash \ character.

#Common Escapes

#Examples

This is not a \[link]

This is not bold \*\*text\*\*

Use the function \`print()\`

Literal pipe: \|

Literal backslash: \\

#Comments

Add notes that won't appear in the rendered output.

#Inline Comments

This is visible %% this is hidden %% text.

#Block Comments

Before
:::comment
This entire block
is a comment
and won't appear
in the output.
:::
After

#Horizontal Rules

Create visual separators between sections.

#Syntax

---
***
___

#With Attributes

--- {color=red style=dashed}

*** {color=blue}

___ {color=lightgreen width=50% align=center}

#Headings

Create document structure with headings.

#Syntax

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
#### Heading 4
##### Heading 5
###### Heading 6

#Heading Attributes

Add IDs, and control numbered or TOC visibility:

## Introduction{#intro}

## Chapter 1{numbered}

## Appendix{numbered=false}

## Hidden Section{noToc}

## Unnumbered Section{noCount}

#Automatic Numbering

Enable global numbered in your file metadata:

---
numbered: true
---

You can also specify a style directly:

---
numbered: "roman-upper"
---

Or even a mixed style for each level using a comma-separated list:

---
numbered: "decimal, alpha-lower, roman-upper"
---

In this case, the first level headings will be 1 , the second level 1.a , the third level 1.a.I , etc. If there are more levels than styles, the last style in the list is used for all remaining levels.

#Selective Numbering

You can toggle numbered mid-document by changing the $numbered variable:

# Unnumbered Section

$numbered = true

## Numbered Subsection

$numbered = "alpha-lower"

## Subsection with different style

$numbered = "decimal, alpha-lower, roman-upper"

## Subsections with different style for each (decimal.alpha-lower)

### Sub-Subsections with decimal.alpha.ROMAN

#### Sub-Sub-Subsections with decimal.alpha.ROMAN.ROMAN

$numbered = false

## Another Unnumbered Section

#Numbering Rules

Zolt uses a smart numbered system for document titles:

1. Single H1 Rule : If your document has only one # Heading 1 , it is treated as the document title and will not be numbered . Numbering will automatically start at ## Heading 2 (e.g., the first H2 will be "1", its first H3 will be "1.1").
2. Multiple H1 Rule : If your document has more than one # Heading 1 , all H1s are numbered (e.g., "1", "2"), and sub-headings follow (e.g., "1.1", "1.2").
3. Structural Integrity : Even if some headings are not numbered (no {numbered} attribute or numbered=false ), they are still counted in the document structure to ensure consistent numbered for subsequent elements.

Available styles: decimal (default), roman-lower , roman-upper , alpha-lower , alpha-upper

#Abbreviations

Define abbreviations for technical terms.

#Inline & Local

HTML{abbr="HyperText Markup Language"} & CSS

CSS is stylesheet language

*[CSS]: Cascading Style Sheets

#Global Definitions

Use double asterisks for project-wide abbreviations:

**[API]: Application Programming Interface

#Footnotes

Add references with footnotes.

This has a footnote[^1].

[^1]: This is the footnote content.

#Processing Order

The parser processes elements in this order:

1. Variables {$var}
2. Blocks [[...]] and :::
3. Inline formatting (bold, italic, etc.)
4. Attributes {} applied to the element on the left

#Attribute Syntax Rules

When providing attributes in curly braces {} :

• Key-Value : key=value
• Boolean : noToc (equivalent to noToc=true )
• Quoting : If a value contains spaces or special characters, it must be enclosed in quotes (single or double).
  • Correct: {border="1px solid black"}
  • Incorrect: {border=1px solid black} (this would be parsed as border=1px , solid and black as separate attributes).

© 2026 Marmotz