Bot Framework markdown support by channel
When developing your Bot Framework bot you want to be sure exactly how your messages are rendering on the different channels that you enable. Plain text messages can look pretty boring, so you might decide to use markdown to create richer text messages. If you are new to markdown, have a quick read here, then the rest of this article will make more sense. Below is an extract taken from the BotBuilder documentation which describes the markdown supported by the Bot Framework itself, however it's important to note that not all channels themselves support markdown:
Bot Framework markdown support
Style | Example | ||
---|---|---|---|
Italic | *Italic* | ||
Bold | **Bold** | ||
Header1-5 | #H1 | ||
Strikethrough | ~~text~~ | ||
Hr | |||
Unordered list | * text | ||
Ordered list | 1. text | ||
Pre | `text` | ||
Block quote | > text | ||
Link | [bing](https://bing.com) | ||
image link | ![duck](https://aka.ms/Fo983c) |
Sample Bot message
So how does each channel render the text then? Let's consider the following message using markdown:
# Markdown test
**The** *quick* ~~brown~~ fox `jumped`1.over
2.the
* lazy
* dogs.A hyperlink for good measure: [Link](https://bing.com)
and now a random picture of a duck ![duck](https://aka.ms/Fo983c)
Channel markdown findings to date:
Channel | Markdown support | Screenshot | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Y | |||||
Facebook Messenger | N | Messenger | |||
GroupMe | N | GroupMe | |||
Kik | N | kik | |||
Skype | Y | Skype | |||
Slack | Y | Slack | |||
Telegram | Y | Telegram | |||
Twilio | N | Twilio | |||
Web Chat | Y | webchat |
Channel markdown screenshots:
And now see how that message gets rendered on ALL of the current Bot Framework supported channels:
[caption id="attachment_735" align="alignnone" width="169"] Email[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_675" align="alignnone" width="169"] Facebook Messenger[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_675" align="alignnone" width="169"] GroupMe[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_685" align="alignnone" width="169"] Kik[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_705" align="alignnone" width="193"] Skype[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_715" align="alignnone" width="169"] Slack[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_716" align="alignnone" width="169"] Telegram[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_716" align="alignnone" width="169"] Twilio[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_735" align="alignnone" width="180"] Web Chat[/caption]