What's a README?
01A README is the instruction sheet that lives inside a project. Web Lab shows it as plain text only — it does not render markdown. To see what your symbols actually produce, paste your README into markdownlivepreview.com.
The six symbols you need
02| Type this | You get |
|---|---|
# Title | big heading |
## Section | smaller heading |
- item | bullet |
**bold** | bold |
`code` | code-style text |
| blank line | new paragraph |
That's the whole lesson. No links, tables, images, or code blocks are required for your README — ask if you want to go further.
Raw text → rendered
03This is what you'd type in the raw README file:
# Mood Machine Tells you how you're feeling based on a number from 1 to 10. ## How to use it - Type a number from 1 to 10 in the box - Click **Check my mood** - Read your result in the `moodResult` line
Pasted into a markdown previewer, that turns into a big "Mood Machine" heading, a smaller "How to use it" heading, a 3-item bulleted list, one bold phrase, and one code-styled word — automatically. Web Lab itself won't show you this; it only shows the raw text.
Common mistakes
04No space after # or -
#Title and -item often don't render — always leave one space: # Title, - item.Unclosed bold
**bold with only one ** pair won't turn bold — it needs to open AND close: **bold**.No blank line before a listA bullet list stuck right under a paragraph with no blank line above it may not render as a list.
Describes a feature that isn't realA README that describes something your app doesn't actually do is a bug — keep it matching reality.
Write your own README
05- A
# Titleon the first line - One sentence saying what the app does
- A
## How to use itsection with 2-3-bullets - One
**bold**word and one`code`word (for example, an element's id) - Read it out loud when you're done — would someone who's never seen your app know what to do?