You can use Markdown to format your screener and guide questions in Outset. This helps make your text clearer and easier to read, especially when you're writing longer prompts or want to emphasize key details.
1. Where Markdown Works in Outset
You can use Markdown in two places:
Screener questions: These have a built-in Markdown editor.
Guide questions: Markdown formatting must be added manually.
Formatting is visible to anyone who views the question—both researchers and participants.
2. Supported Markdown Elements
Outset supports GitHub-Flavored Markdown (GFM). Here are the elements you can use:
Text formatting
Italic:
*italic*or_italic_Bold:
**bold**or__bold__Strikethrough:
~~strikethrough~~
Lists
Bullet points:
* Itemor- ItemNumbered lists:
1. ItemTask lists:
[ ] Task not done[x] Task done
Links and images
Links:
[Link text](https://example.com)Images:
Tables
| Column A | Column B |
|----------|----------|
| Value 1 | Value 2 |
Footnotes
Here's a footnote.[^1]
[^1]: This is the footnote content.
Autolinks
URLs and email addresses are automatically linked:
www.example.com,https://example.com,[email protected]
3. Example Use Cases
Here are some ways researchers commonly use Markdown in Outset:
Clarifying long questions
Please rate the following features:
* Ease of use
* Design
* SpeedComparing items in a table
| Option | Pros | Cons |
|--------|----------------|-----------------|
| A | Fast, Cheap | Less flexible |
| B | Highly Custom | Slower to setup |Adding helpful links
[View product screenshots](https://example.com/screenshots)
4. Preview Your Markdown
Make sure to test your Markdown formatting:
Go to your interview.
Click Test Interview.
Choose the question you want to start the test from.
Confirm that your formatting appears as expected.
This is especially important for guide questions, where you have to write the Markdown manually.
Hope this helps! If you have any further questions, please reach out to our team at [email protected] or via chat.