Converting HTML to Markdown can be useful for simplifying text formatting or for transferring content to platforms like GitHub, Reddit, or other sites that support Markdown.

Here's a simple guide on how to convert HTML to Markdown manually or with the help of a tool.

1. Manual HTML to Markdown Conversion
While converting HTML to Markdown manually can be time-consuming, it's useful if you want to understand the structure of both languages. Here's a quick reference on how HTML elements translate to Markdown:

HTML to Markdown Conversion Table
HTML Markdown
<h1>Title</h1> # Title
<h2>Subtitle</h2> ## Subtitle
<h3>Section</h3> ### Section
<p>Paragraph</p> Paragraph (Markdown ignores <p> tag)
<a href="url">Link</a> [Link](url)
<img src="image.jpg" alt="description"> 
<ul><li>Item</li></ul> - Item (or * Item)
<ol><li>First</li><li>Second</li></ol> 1. First
2. Second
<strong>Bold</strong> **Bold**
<em>Italic</em> *Italic*
<blockquote>Text</blockquote> > Text
<hr> --- or ***
<code>Code</code> `Code`
<pre><code>Code block</code></pre> markdown<br>Code block<br>
Example Conversion:
HTML Example:
html

<h1>My Web Page</h1>
<p>This is a <strong>bold</strong> paragraph.</p>
<ul>
<li>Item 1</li>
<li>Item 2</li>
</ul>
Converted Markdown:
markdown

# My Web Page

This is a **bold** paragraph.

- Item 1
- Item 2
2. Tools for Automatic HTML to Markdown Conversion
If you want to automate the conversion process, there are a number of online tools and libraries you can use.

2.1. Online Tools
1. HTML to Markdown Converter
This is a simple online tool where you can paste your HTML code, and it will convert it to Markdown for you.

Steps:
Go to the website.
Paste your HTML into the input box.
Click "Convert" to get the Markdown output.
2.2. Markdown Converter Tools

2. Dillinger
Dillinger is an online Markdown editor with built-in HTML to Markdown conversion. You can paste HTML and export the result as Markdown.

Steps:
Paste your HTML into the editor.
Select the output format as Markdown and download it.
2.3. Libraries for Developers
If you want to automate this conversion in a programmatically controlled environment (like in a Node.js or Python application), you can use libraries like:

1. html-to-markdown (Node.js)
A simple library to convert HTML to Markdown in Node.js.

Installation:

bash

npm install html-to-markdown
Usage:

javascript

const htmlToMarkdown = require("html-to-markdown");

const html = "<h1>Hello World</h1><p>This is <strong>bold</strong> text</p>";
const markdown = htmlToMarkdown(html);
console.log(markdown);
Output:

markdown

# Hello World

This is **bold** text
2. html2text (Python)
A Python library to convert HTML to Markdown.

Installation:

bash

pip install html2text
Usage:

python

import html2text

html = "<h1>Hello World</h1><p>This is <strong>bold</strong> text</p>"
markdown = html2text.html2text(html)
print(markdown)
Output:

markdown

# Hello World

This is **bold** text
3. Additional Notes:
HTML Tags and Markdown: Not all HTML tags directly map to a Markdown equivalent. For instance, things like <div>, <span>, and <form> don't have direct representations in Markdown, so you might need to manually handle those parts.

Image Handling: When you include images, Markdown uses the following format:

markdown

Links: Links are handled in Markdown with square brackets for the link text and parentheses for the URL:

markdown

[Link Text](http://example.com)
Conclusion
If you prefer a manual approach, you can convert HTML to Markdown by simply following the guidelines above. For automation, tools like Dillinger, html2text, or html-to-markdown (for Node.js) will make the process faster and more efficient.