Description

Ultimate Markdown helps you speed up your writing workflow. Create, import, and export Markdown with tools designed for faster publishing and automation.

The plugin offers multiple ways to work with Markdown. After installing it, you can:

Create posts from Markdown files or internal Markdown documents.
Convert Markdown text to blocks directly in the post editor.
Create and manage Markdown documents in a dedicated plugin menu.
Import Markdown files into WordPress.
Export Markdown documents from the internal library as ZIP archives.

We distribute the Pro version of this plugin, which includes additional import and export options, automatic image uploads during import, REST API support for automation, additional Markdown parsers (7 options), extended Front Matter support, document categories, and more. See the feature comparison for a detailed overview.

Getting Started

To quickly understand how the plugin works, start with the guide below:

Quick Start Guide

Using the Editor Panels

Ultimate Markdown adds dedicated panels to the post editor:

Import Markdown – Upload a Markdown file and convert it into post content
Load Markdown – Generate post content from documents stored in the plugin’s internal library
Insert Markdown – Paste or type Markdown text and convert it instantly

The plugin integrates with both the Block Editor and the Classic Editor. The editor panels are available in the post editor sidebar when using the Block Editor and as meta boxes when using the Classic Editor.

Managing Markdown Documents

Manage your Markdown content directly within the plugin using a dedicated menu.

Documents Overview – Learn how to create, edit, and organize your Markdown documents

Front Matter

The plugin supports Front Matter key-value pairs provided in the YAML language. With this feature, you can configure post settings by defining key-value pairs at the beginning of the Markdown document.

See the Using Front Matter guide for available keys and practical examples.

Bulk Import and Export

Use the dedicated menu to import one or more Markdown files and store them as documents in the internal library.

You can also export the Markdown documents created within the plugin as downloadable files.

Learn More

Want to explore the plugin in more detail? See the full documentation:

Plugin Documentation

Screenshots

Import Markdown section in the post sidebar.
Load Markdown section in the post sidebar.
Insert Markdown section in the post sidebar.
A single document.
List of documents.
Tools menu.
Options menu.

Installation

Upload the plugin files to the /wp-content/plugins/ultimate-markdown/ directory, or install the plugin through the WordPress Plugins screen directly.
Activate the plugin through the Plugins screen in WordPress.

1. Start Using the Editor Panels

Go to the post editor and use the editor panels to create content from Markdown files, internal documents, or Markdown text.

2. Manage your Markdown Documents

Go to Markdown Documents to create and manage your Markdown documents.
For bulk import and export of Markdown files to and from the internal library, use Markdown Tools.

3. Configure the Plugin Options

Go to Markdown Options to configure the plugin settings. For example, you can choose the Markdown parser used in the editor panels and document preview, along with other advanced options.

For detailed guidance and advanced configuration, visit the official Knowledge Base.

Reviews

area9 ޑިސެމްބަރ 29, 2025 1 reply

The description claims this exports to markdown, but that’s not entirely accurate. What it actually does is export documents to markdown … that you’ve already created in markdown.

scott8035 އޯގަސްޓް 30, 2025

UPDATE: Turns out it was the use of three dashes for an <hr> tag that caused the problem. Apparently that means something else in this markdown plugin. Changing it to “***” worked perfectly. Five stars now! — I really wanted to like this plugin. Unfortunately, it has a fatal flaw. When I import a markdown file, it randomly skips chunks of the file. Can’t use it that way. If and when this gets fixed, I’ll update the review.

George ޖޫން 20, 2025

This review is for the UMD Pro paid version. I previously had good success with the free version and decided to tryout the personal paid version (for 1 site). I am a retired Linux software developer who is learning how to develop websites (just for fun). So I am not the expert, but I can share my experience with the plugin. I am currently using a static site generator that uses Markdown for its content. I really like creating/updating my content on my Mac, using the bbedit app. Coming from the Linux world, I also use vi a lot. WordPress offers a lot of interesting capabilities that I want to try out, but I must be able to edit my content offline, using Markdown. I have research and tried several options for using Markdown with WordPress. So far, the UMD Pro plugin has proved to be the best option for me. The plugin support is excellent! As a former developer, I really appreciate the support. I always receive a quick, detailed response to my questions or comments. The plugin feature that I use the most is the post/page sidebar Markdown import. I have been able to import my posts perfectly, after setting the Front Matter to match the UMD Pro front matter requirements. I am currently using my staging site to port my current static website to WordPress. I am also learning how to use WordPress. The UMD Pro Markdown plugin is saving me a lot of time. And it’s enabling me to create/edit my content on my Mac.

andybrandt މެއި 6, 2025 1 reply

Free version has no useful capabilities, it is a fake plugin that just advertises the paid version. As such I feel it should not be here.

hupsakee އޮކްޓޯބަރ 21, 2024

The Pro version of Ultimate Markdown lets you export all your Wordpress posts and pages to single Markdown files in one go. Great for when you want a backup of all your articles in .md format. I also use it to export single posts to Markdown after I update them in WordPress. This works great as well.(I have not used the import option.) Also, as other have said as well, the developer is very responsive and attentive. Thanks for a great plugin, Danilo!

januszkowal ފެބްރުއަރީ 5, 2024 1 reply

Unfortunately, the plugin doesn’t import code block language, e.g. assertThat(actual).isEqualTo(expected);

Read all 10 reviews

Contributors & Developers

“Ultimate Markdown – Markdown Editor, Importer, & Exporter” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

DAEXT

“Ultimate Markdown – Markdown Editor, Importer, & Exporter” has been translated into 1 locale. Thank you to the translators for their contributions.

Translate “Ultimate Markdown – Markdown Editor, Importer, & Exporter” into your language.

Interested in development?

Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.

Changelog

1.26

April 15, 2026

Updated links to the Quick Start Guide and plugin documentation.

1.25

March 18, 2026

The Pro version upgrade banner previously displayed at the bottom of all plugin menu pages is now shown only in the Options menu.
Added a notices manager class used to display documentation resources and a link to rate the plugin. A related action hook has also been introduced to allow notices to be rendered in a specific area of the plugin UI.

1.24

March 8, 2026

The post editor tools added by the plugin are now also available as meta boxes in the Classic Editor.
Improved the UI of the Block Editor tools.
Updating the post status via front matter is now restricted to valid statuses.
The plugin now checks if the user has the “edit_posts” capability before showing the block editor tools or meta boxes.

1.23

December 21, 2025

Improved Front Matter stripping logic to ensure it is removed only when located at the beginning of the document.

1.22

July 28, 2025

Improved normalization of Front Matter date field during Markdown imports in the block editor.
Bug fix: Categories and tags in the block editor are now correctly updated based on the imported Front Matter data.

1.21

July 11, 2025

Added the League CommonMark and League CommonMark GitHub Markdown parsers.
Added Editor and Live Preview Markdown parser options.
The Live Preview feature in the Documents menu editor can now use PHP-based parsers.
Added new settings to control the behavior of the Markdown preview when using PHP parsers.
The block editor now shows notification messages indicating whether Front Matter and Markdown content was parsed successfully or if errors occurred.
The Markdown preview in the Documents menu now displays a header indicating the active Markdown parser and, if applicable, a refresh button.
Bug fix: Markdown code was altered in specific scenarios due to improper use of sanitize_textarea_field().

1.20

April 21, 2025

Fixed PHP notice caused by early use of translation functions.

1.19

November 29, 2024

Resolved CSS style issue.
The load_plugin_textdomain() function now runs with the correct hook.

1.18

June 26, 2024

wp_unslash() was added to the Documents menu before input sanitization.

1.17

June 26, 2024

An alert message now prevents uploading more than the maximum number of files allowed with the max_file_uploads directive.

1.16

June 25, 2024

Vendor packages updated.

1.15

June 25, 2024

Major back-end UI update.

1.14

April 7, 2024

Fixed a bug (started with WordPress version 6.5) that prevented the creation of the plugin database tables and the initialization of the plugin database options during the plugin activation.

1.13

March 26, 2024

The phpcs “WordPress” ruleset has been applied to the plugin code.
Nonce verification has been added to the Documents menu for create/update/delete/duplicate operations.
Nonce verification has been added to the Import and Export menus.
The Select2 library has been removed.
Removed React warning in the block editor.

1.12

November 8, 2023

Removed deprecation warnings.

1.11

February 22, 2023

Fixed a bug causing incorrect parsing of Markdown tables in the context of the block editor.

1.10

September 22, 2022

Fixed a bug causing JavaScript errors in the site-editor.php page.
The “Content” textarea of the “Documents” menu now supports up to 1,000,000 characters.
Front Matter is now supported and can be used to configure post settings.

1.09

June 13, 2022

Fixed a bug causing JavaScript errors in the widgets.php page.
The “Pro Version” menu has been added.
A link to the Pro version has been added in the “Plugins” menu.

1.08

November 24, 2021

Fixed a bug causing JavaScript errors in the post editor of custom post types that don’t declare support for custom fields.
Aria attributes added in the “Documents” menu.

1.07

November 4, 2021

Improved the message displayed in the “Import” menu after a successful submission.
Improved input sanitization.
The file extensions supported in the upload process of the “Import” menu have been limited.

1.06

November 3, 2021

Initial release.

Doesn’t actually export

Serious bug: skips large sections of input

The UMD Pro plugin and developer support are great!

Free version absolutely useless

Great tool to export all your WordPress posts and pages to Markdown

Code block language missing