How to make Markdown Footnotes start at Zero in WordPress


As a dedicated and professional computer scientician0, I believe that all indices must start at zero. Not one, not two, but zero1.

The zeroth2 element is sacrosanct to our creed; for in the beginning there was nothing.

If you're using WordPress's JetPack, it uses an ancient version of Markdown Extra. You can either monkeypatch this, or install a separate Markdown plugin.

I've patched my fork of it in two specific places.

Firstly, I set $this->footnote_counter = 0; in the initial config of the footnotes.

Secondly, I changed the display so that the ordered list began from zero: <ol start="0">

Wait… should that be zerothly and firstly?

There's no way to change footnote links to symbols like * or ♪. Perhaps I'll add that next3😉?

Anyway, I enjoy hacking around on my theme.


  1. I've even got certificates in it! ↩︎

  2. Five is right out! ↩︎

  3. Or is it "noughtst"? ↩︎

  4. OK, maybe there is a way. But it isn't particularly easy or automated. ↩︎


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5 thoughts on “How to make Markdown Footnotes start at Zero in WordPress”

  1. said on bsky.app:

    I just heard a talk from an engineer at an email service about their signing key transparency log

    They put up a picture of how the log was designed

    It started from 1

    The next 5 minutes of the talk were interspersed with apologies for this "historic mistake"...

    Reply | Reply to original comment on bsky.app

  2. says:

    @blog
    Just going to note that our very first programming language, FORTRAN, uses 1-indexed arrays and matrices.

    I'm not saying it is *right*, or *sane*, but it is what it is. Computer Science has its own original sin.

    | Reply to original comment on fosstodon.org

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