Quotation block >…

A quotation block represents content which is quoted from another source. It can be used in various situations such as to quote an aphorism for inspiration, a public speech in a newspaper article, a newspaper article in a fact-checking blog, an error message in a tutorial, a reader’s question on a Q&A website, previous posts within a written conversation …

A citation can be added to name the source of the quotation.

The related quoted string markup can be used for short quotations within lines of text.

How to

Start each line of a quotation block with a greater-than sign like in the examples below.

The inside of a quotation block – that is everything to the right of the greater-than signs – is handled like its own embedded Aneamal file. It can contain all kinds of markup, for instance multiple blocks and even ghost markup.

A quotation block may optionally be followed by a citation, that is one or more lines of text that do not start with a greater-than sign and in which phrase markup is interpreted.

Examples

The first example quotes a short poem. Each line starts with a greater-than sign to mark it as part of the quotation block. At the end the name of the poet is added as a citation without a greater-than sign in front of it:

> The fog comes
> on little cat feet.
>
> It sits looking
> over harbor and city
> on silent haunches
> and then moves on.
Carl Sandburg

The next example quotes a verse from the bible. Even though the verse may automatically wrap in order to fit on the screen, it is technically interpreted as one line, because it does not contain any forced line breaks. Hence there is just a single greater-than sign at the beginning of the quotation. Again, the source is cited on a new line immediately below the quotation:

> And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
Genesis 2:19

The third example shows a reply below a quoted message like it is commonly found in email communication. No citation is added to the quotation block in this case.

> Set your watch to alert you in 20 mins.

Why?

The fourth example demonstrates how the conversation from the previous example could continue with another answer. Now there is a quotation block contained within a quotation block.

>> Set your watch to alert you in 20 mins.
>
> Why?

Because in exactly 20 minutes I'm going to kill someone on this plane.

For developers

When Aneamal is translated to HTML, a processed quotation block is turned into a HTML blockquote element. If present, the citation is turned into a HTML cite element at the end of the blockquote. So the examples become:

<blockquote>
<p>The fog comes<br>on little cat feet.</p>
<p>It sits looking<br>over harbor and city<br>on silent haunches<br>and then moves on.</p>
<cite>Carl Sandburg</cite>
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
<p>And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.</p>
<cite>Genesis 2:19</cite>
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
<p>Set your watch to alert you in 20 mins.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Why?</p>

<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>Set your watch to alert you in 20 mins.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Why?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Because in exactly 20 minutes I'm going to kill someone on this plane.</p>

By default browsers typically render the HTML blockquote element indented and the cite element in italics. You can change the appearance with CSS.