============= my first try...

one star for italic test1 This is also italic test2 test3

two stars for bold This is also bold test1 test2

You can combine them

Unordered Lists:

• this is item 1
• this is item 2
• this is item 3

• that is item 1
• that is item 2
  • that is item 2a
  • that is item 2b

Ordered Lists:

1. Item 1
2. Item 2

• Item 2a
• Item 2b

Blockquotes: As Kanye West said:

We're living the future so the present is our past.

Links: link to Google!

Images: Format:

Inline code: I think you should use an '' element here instead.

Syntax highlighting:

//ident the code by 4 spaces?
function fancyAlert(arg) {
    if(arg) {
        $.facebox({div:'#foo'})
    }
}

Python code without syntax highlight:

def foo(): if not bar: return True

Python code with syntax highlight (4 spaces):

def foo():
    if not bar:
        return True