Jambalaya

The following extract from yesterday's Prime Minister's Question Time in Parliament may (or may not) shed some light on this important question:

Most weblog software makes it easy enough to write simple plain text articles, but what if you want to add a bit of spice, some emphasis, or more complex formatting such as a list:—

1. Item 1
2. Item 2

etc.

Well, of course, you can resort to good old HTML tags. Not that difficult, but my experience of hosting a number of discussion group websites is that few users have the first idea about HTML (why on earth should they) and are plain put off by it, so a simpler, more intuitive form of markup could just fit the bill…

…enter Markdown and SmartyPants, two tiny plugins for MovableType from the Daring Fireball John Gruber which make basic HTML formatting a breeze — “Simply spectacular”.