--- title: "Markdown author bio template: introduce one contributor" slug: markdown-author-bio-template excerpt: "Keep a contributor's work in a short third-person biography, with an empty Markdown author bio template and a fictional Jane Doe sample." quickAnswer: "An author bio names one contributor, says what they do and describes work they are known for. Replace the empty paragraph's placeholders with confirmed facts. Keep a short version and a longer version that describe the same person without adding unsupported titles or honors." keyTakeaways: - "The opening sentence names the contributor and their work." - "A concrete account of known work gives the introduction its subject." - "The optional ending concerns location or current work." - "The fictional Jane Doe sample stays in the third person." - "Shorter and longer versions retain the same factual basis." publishedDate: 2026-10-23 dateModified: 2026-10-23 author: Bobby Huang cluster: A role: post status: published faq: - q: "Which facts introduce a contributor?" a: "A name, a sentence about what the person does and a brief account of known work belong together. A location or current-work sentence can close the paragraph when relevant." - q: "Can a short bio and a longer bio describe the same person?" a: "Yes. The short version can retain the person's name, work and a defining detail. The longer version can give that same work room without inventing titles or honors." - q: "Whose perspective does the paragraph use?" a: "The paragraph describes the contributor in the third person. Jane Doe and she refer to the same fictional contributor in the example." related: - markdown-talk-script-template - markdown-file-naming --- An author bio introduces the person behind an article or the contributor being introduced at an event. It is a short factual biography written about that person in the third person. This Markdown author bio template gives the name, work and known work room in a single paragraph, with an optional last sentence about location or current work. The blank paragraph below is followed by one fictional example. In an actual bio, each statement belongs to the contributor's confirmed history. The suffix .md identifies [a Markdown text file](what-is-a-md-file.md). ## The author bio template Begin your bio file with this paragraph, substituting facts for its brackets. The first name placeholder stands for the contributor's full name. The remaining placeholders describe that same person throughout. ```markdown [Jane Doe] is [what the person does] at [Doe organization]. [Describe work the person is known for in one or two factual sentences.] [Optional: say where the person is based or what they are working on now.] ``` The organization phrase belongs only where an affiliation is relevant and confirmed. A contributor working independently can end the first sentence after the account of what they do. There is no need to invent an organization to fill the space. Keep the bio as a paragraph when placing it beneath an article byline. An event introduction can use the same third-person wording. The paragraph identifies a contributor and their work; it does not argue for a position or imagine the needs of someone reading a page. ## A fictional bio for Jane Doe This sample invents both its contributor, Jane Doe, and her organization, Doe Holdings. Her work is fictional too. This sample has no dates. If a date belongs in your own paragraph, use a placeholder such as `[Month YYYY]` until the contributor confirms it. ```markdown Jane Doe writes descriptions of woven cloth at Doe Holdings. She is known for accounts that describe how threads cross and how the cloth feels, using everyday words for the differences between pieces. She is working on descriptions of cloth woven with wool and linen. ``` The first sentence identifies Jane Doe through the work she does at Doe Holdings. The next sentence narrows that work to the descriptions she is known for: accounts of threads and texture. The last sentence names her current subject. It adds no claim about recognition beyond the work already described. The example uses the name once, then uses she. Jane Doe remains the subject even when later sentences begin with her pronoun. Keep the same third-person perspective when replacing the fictional details with a contributor's facts. ## Describing the work without stretching it What a person does and what they are known for serve different purposes in the paragraph. The opening gives their field of work. The next sentence gives a specific part of that work that belongs in this introduction. A broad title alone leaves that detail unstated. Choose work the contributor can confirm and that has a clear connection to the article or event. Describe their part with a verb: writes, builds, studies or tends, when that verb is accurate. If several people did the work, describe the contributor's own part rather than assigning the entire effort to them. Known work need not imply wide recognition. In the fictional bio, the description concerns what Jane Doe's accounts contain. Words such as renowned or leading would add a claim about standing that the example has not established. A longer paragraph has room for another supported detail about the work, without such a claim. A title or honor does not belong merely because a bio seems too short. Ask the contributor to confirm the exact wording of any qualification they want included. When that support is missing, leave the claim out. Length is a reason to choose among facts, not to create them. ## An optional ending about place or current work The last sentence can locate the person or name work in progress. Use whichever fact suits the introduction. A location belongs when the contributor wants it included and it matters to the context. Otherwise, the bio can end with the account of their known work. Current work is a present-tense fact that can change. Jane Doe's fictional closing concerns wool and linen descriptions. In an actual biography, confirm that the person is still doing the work before reusing that sentence for another article or event. Avoid turning an intention into a completed achievement. Keep a separate paragraph between the bio and any surrounding article text. Read about [blank lines between paragraphs](markdown-paragraphs-blank-lines.md) for the spacing around that boundary. Inside this bio, the sentences stay together as one introduction. ## A short version and a longer version Keep two lengths when the same contributor needs a brief byline bio and a fuller introduction. Give the shorter one the name, the work and the detail that identifies the person's contribution. Give the longer one room to explain that same detail and, if useful, add the optional closing sentence. For the fictional sample, a short version could say that Jane Doe writes cloth descriptions at Doe Holdings, with attention to threads and texture. The longer version is the full paragraph above: it explains how she describes differences and adds her current wool and linen work. Both lengths describe the same activity at the same organization. Shortening changes how much the paragraph says. It does not change the person's role or turn participation into sole authorship. Expanding can explain a confirmed task in greater detail; it cannot supply an unearned title or an invented achievement to occupy the extra space. Keep the two lengths together while editing so a change in affiliation or work reaches both. Read each on its own afterward. The short paragraph still needs to identify the person, and the long one still needs a reason for every added sentence. ## Naming the bio file For the fictional contributor, `jane-doe-author-bio.md` names both the person and the kind of text. You can keep the short paragraph and longer paragraph in that file, each beneath a heading naming its length. Those headings organize the working file; the introduction itself remains a paragraph. For separators between the descriptive words, consult [the file-naming guide](markdown-file-naming.md). When another contributor needs a bio, give their paragraph its own named file so the two people's facts stay apart. ## Where Sashmark fits Desktop Markdown reading alongside text editing is planned for Sashmark, currently in development. An author bio can sit among the .md files a contributor keeps for their writing.