Strange numbering

Question

1. Is this in the docs? I began this with "7." (seven dot) but it came out as "1." instead. I'm guessing the software thinks I am starting a numbered list, and requires me to start with 1 and not 7.

I found this when inserting a definition into my answer, which was definition number 7 in the dictionary where I found it.

Answer 1

1. Numbered lists are easy
2. Markdown keeps track of
   the numbers for you
7. So this will be item 3.

This is a quote from the editing-help page. It's not completely intuitive what it means from that, but essentially, Markdown detects what you presumably input as a numbered list and always starts a 1, always progresses in numeric order. Since you can quote lists, it also occurs with plain blockquotes, but not in code formatting as demonstrated above. It is a convenience in some scenarios, but as you show, there are some points where it is a problem instead.

If you want to start at a different number, I recommend using parentheses rather than periods. Alternatively, if you are citing something in which the original source uses a period, then surround it with backticks to invoke code formatting on the number alone. It doesn't look all that fancy, but... unfortunately I don't know of an alternative method otherwise.

7. Is this in the docs? I began this with "7." (seven dot) but it came out as "1." instead. I'm guessing the software thinks I am starting a numbered list, and requires me to start with 1 and not 7.

Answer 2

This has been fixed. Now, the numbering follows from the first item in the list. If the first item in your list is 42, the numbering will follow from that. If the next item in your list is 1037, it will still show up as 43. So the first number in your numbered list is now respected; the others still aren’t.

1. This is a demonstration.
2. This item is numbered 7, but shows up as 2.

However,

4. This is item 4.
5. And this item is numbered 8, but shows up as 5.

Answer 3

7. Is this in the docs? I began this with "7." (seven dot) but it came out as "1." instead. I'm guessing the software thinks I am starting a numbered list, and requires me to start with 1 and not 7.

> 7\. Is this in the docs? I began this with "7." (seven dot) but it came out as "1." instead. I'm guessing the software thinks I am starting a numbered list, and requires me to start with 1 and not 7.