md032.md

MD032 - Lists should be surrounded by blank lines

Tags: blank_lines, bullet, ol, ul

Aliases: blanks-around-lists

Fixable: Some violations can be fixed by tooling

This rule is triggered when lists (of any kind) are either not preceded or not followed by a blank line:

Some text
* List item
* List item

1. List item
2. List item
***

In the first case above, text immediately precedes the unordered list. In the second case above, a thematic break immediately follows the ordered list. To fix violations of this rule, ensure that all lists have a blank line both before and after (except when the list is at the very beginning or end of the document):

Some text

* List item
* List item

1. List item
2. List item

***

Note that the following case is not a violation of this rule:

1. List item
   More item 1
2. List item
More item 2

Although it is not indented, the text "More item 2" is referred to as a lazy continuation line and considered part of the second list item.

Rationale: In addition to aesthetic reasons, some parsers, including kramdown, will not parse lists that don't have blank lines before and after them.