Research / Constructs / Lists
Nested lists and task lists in five publishing editors
One Markdown fixture, five real publishing editors, tested 2026-08-24. For lists the observed result was degraded in Beehiiv; changed in WordPress, Substack, X, and LinkedIn. Every row below is a rule with its own page and its own dated record.
Matches list, task_item. Fixture markdown-portability-test-v1. Tested 2026-08-24. How these tests are run.
What happens, per destination
| Destination | What happens | Result | Severity | Rule | Confidence | Last tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beehiiv | Task markers stay as text, not checkboxes. | Degraded | Review | BEE-TASK-01 | Verified | 2026-08-24 |
| WordPress | Task state becomes explicit words. | Changed | Review | WP-TASK-01 | Verified | 2026-08-24 |
| Substack | Task state becomes Done: or To do:. | Changed | Info | SUB-TASK-01 | Verified | 2026-08-24 |
| X | Lists become plain bullet or numbered lines; task state becomes words. | Changed | Info | X-LIST-01 | Verified | 2026-08-24 |
| Lists become bullet or numbered lines; task state becomes words. | Changed | Info | LI-LIST-01 | Verified | 2026-08-24 | |
| WordPress | Lists and nesting are preserved. | Kept | Info | WP-LIST-01 | Verified | 2026-08-24 |
| Substack | Lists and nesting survive rich paste. | Kept | Info | SUB-LIST-01 | Verified | 2026-08-24 |
| Beehiiv | Lists and nesting are kept. | Kept | Info | BEE-LIST-01 | Verified | 2026-08-24 |
Limits of what was tested
- Each result describes the surface named beside it, on the date named beside it, and nothing wider.
- A result marked unknown means no dated test covers it. It is not a prediction.
- Rendering is not the same across platform versions, themes, plugins, or email clients.
Prepare a draft
- Check your own draft against all five destinations
- Markdown to WordPress, handoff mode: gutenberg paste
- Markdown to Substack, handoff mode: rich html clipboard
- Markdown to Beehiiv, handoff mode: clean markdown paste
- Markdown to X, handoff mode: plain text
- Markdown to LinkedIn, handoff mode: plain text
Related
- The 8 rules behind this page:
BEE-LIST-01,BEE-TASK-01,LI-LIST-01,SUB-LIST-01,SUB-TASK-01,WP-LIST-01,WP-TASK-01,X-LIST-01 - Every construct, side by side
- The full five-destination matrix