diff --git a/panels/text/editor.html b/panels/text/editor.html
index add058a6232..297f8ac0b23 100644
--- a/panels/text/editor.html
+++ b/panels/text/editor.html
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <div ng-controller="text">
   <label class="small">Font Size</label> <select class="input-mini" ng-model="panel.style['font-size']" ng-options="f for f in ['6pt','7pt','8pt','10pt','12pt','14pt','16pt','18pt','20pt','24pt','28pt','32pt','36pt','42pt','48pt','52pt','60pt','72pt']"></select>
-  <label class=small>Content</label>
+  <label class=small>Content (This area uses <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown">Markdown</a>)</label>
   <textarea ng-model="panel.content" rows="6" style="width:95%"></textarea>
 </div>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/panels/text/lib/showdown.js b/panels/text/lib/showdown.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..babd3a0a45d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/panels/text/lib/showdown.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+var Showdown={extensions:{}},forEach=Showdown.forEach=function(a,b){if(typeof a.forEach=="function")a.forEach(b);else{var c,d=a.length;for(c=0;c<d;c++)b(a[c],c,a)}},stdExtName=function(a){return a.replace(/[_-]||\s/g,"").toLowerCase()};Showdown.converter=function(a){var b,c,d,e=0,f=[],g=[];if(typeof module!="undefind"&&typeof exports!="undefined"&&typeof require!="undefind"){var h=require("fs");if(h){var i=h.readdirSync((__dirname||".")+"/extensions").filter(function(a){return~a.indexOf(".js")}).map(function(a){return a.replace(/\.js$/,"")});Showdown.forEach(i,function(a){var b=stdExtName(a);Showdown.extensions[b]=require("./extensions/"+a)})}}this.makeHtml=function(a){return b={},c={},d=[],a=a.replace(/~/g,"~T"),a=a.replace(/\$/g,"~D"),a=a.replace(/\r\n/g,"\n"),a=a.replace(/\r/g,"\n"),a="\n\n"+a+"\n\n",a=M(a),a=a.replace(/^[ \t]+$/mg,""),Showdown.forEach(f,function(b){a=k(b,a)}),a=z(a),a=m(a),a=l(a),a=o(a),a=K(a),a=a.replace(/~D/g,"$$"),a=a.replace(/~T/g,"~"),Showdown.forEach(g,function(b){a=k(b,a)}),a};if(a&&a.extensions){var j=this;Showdown.forEach(a.extensions,function(a){typeof a=="string"&&(a=Showdown.extensions[stdExtName(a)]);if(typeof a!="function")throw"Extension '"+a+"' could not be loaded.  It was either not found or is not a valid extension.";Showdown.forEach(a(j),function(a){a.type?a.type==="language"||a.type==="lang"?f.push(a):(a.type==="output"||a.type==="html")&&g.push(a):g.push(a)})})}var k=function(a,b){if(a.regex){var c=new RegExp(a.regex,"g");return b.replace(c,a.replace)}if(a.filter)return a.filter(b)},l=function(a){return a+="~0",a=a.replace(/^[ ]{0,3}\[(.+)\]:[ \t]*\n?[ \t]*<?(\S+?)>?[ \t]*\n?[ \t]*(?:(\n*)["(](.+?)[")][ \t]*)?(?:\n+|(?=~0))/gm,function(a,d,e,f,g){return d=d.toLowerCase(),b[d]=G(e),f?f+g:(g&&(c[d]=g.replace(/"/g,"&quot;")),"")}),a=a.replace(/~0/,""),a},m=function(a){a=a.replace(/\n/g,"\n\n");var b="p|div|h[1-6]|blockquote|pre|table|dl|ol|ul|script|noscript|form|fieldset|iframe|math|ins|del|style|section|header|footer|nav|article|aside",c="p|div|h[1-6]|blockquote|pre|table|dl|ol|ul|script|noscript|form|fieldset|iframe|math|style|section|header|footer|nav|article|aside";return a=a.replace(/^(<(p|div|h[1-6]|blockquote|pre|table|dl|ol|ul|script|noscript|form|fieldset|iframe|math|ins|del)\b[^\r]*?\n<\/\2>[ \t]*(?=\n+))/gm,n),a=a.replace(/^(<(p|div|h[1-6]|blockquote|pre|table|dl|ol|ul|script|noscript|form|fieldset|iframe|math|style|section|header|footer|nav|article|aside)\b[^\r]*?<\/\2>[ \t]*(?=\n+)\n)/gm,n),a=a.replace(/(\n[ ]{0,3}(<(hr)\b([^<>])*?\/?>)[ \t]*(?=\n{2,}))/g,n),a=a.replace(/(\n\n[ ]{0,3}<!(--[^\r]*?--\s*)+>[ \t]*(?=\n{2,}))/g,n),a=a.replace(/(?:\n\n)([ ]{0,3}(?:<([?%])[^\r]*?\2>)[ \t]*(?=\n{2,}))/g,n),a=a.replace(/\n\n/g,"\n"),a},n=function(a,b){var c=b;return c=c.replace(/\n\n/g,"\n"),c=c.replace(/^\n/,""),c=c.replace(/\n+$/g,""),c="\n\n~K"+(d.push(c)-1)+"K\n\n",c},o=function(a){a=v(a);var b=A("<hr />");return a=a.replace(/^[ ]{0,2}([ ]?\*[ ]?){3,}[ \t]*$/gm,b),a=a.replace(/^[ ]{0,2}([ ]?\-[ ]?){3,}[ \t]*$/gm,b),a=a.replace(/^[ ]{0,2}([ ]?\_[ ]?){3,}[ \t]*$/gm,b),a=x(a),a=y(a),a=E(a),a=m(a),a=F(a),a},p=function(a){return a=B(a),a=q(a),a=H(a),a=t(a),a=r(a),a=I(a),a=G(a),a=D(a),a=a.replace(/  +\n/g," <br />\n"),a},q=function(a){var b=/(<[a-z\/!$]("[^"]*"|'[^']*'|[^'">])*>|<!(--.*?--\s*)+>)/gi;return a=a.replace(b,function(a){var b=a.replace(/(.)<\/?code>(?=.)/g,"$1`");return b=N(b,"\\`*_"),b}),a},r=function(a){return a=a.replace(/(\[((?:\[[^\]]*\]|[^\[\]])*)\][ ]?(?:\n[ ]*)?\[(.*?)\])()()()()/g,s),a=a.replace(/(\[((?:\[[^\]]*\]|[^\[\]])*)\]\([ \t]*()<?(.*?(?:\(.*?\).*?)?)>?[ \t]*((['"])(.*?)\6[ \t]*)?\))/g,s),a=a.replace(/(\[([^\[\]]+)\])()()()()()/g,s),a},s=function(a,d,e,f,g,h,i,j){j==undefined&&(j="");var k=d,l=e,m=f.toLowerCase(),n=g,o=j;if(n==""){m==""&&(m=l.toLowerCase().replace(/ ?\n/g," ")),n="#"+m;if(b[m]!=undefined)n=b[m],c[m]!=undefined&&(o=c[m]);else{if(!(k.search(/\(\s*\)$/m)>-1))return k;n=""}}n=N(n,"*_");var p='<a href="'+n+'"';return o!=""&&(o=o.replace(/"/g,"&quot;"),o=N(o,"*_"),p+=' title="'+o+'"'),p+=">"+l+"</a>",p},t=function(a){return a=a.replace(/(!\[(.*?)\][ ]?(?:\n[ ]*)?\[(.*?)\])()()()()/g,u),a=a.replace(/(!\[(.*?)\]\s?\([ \t]*()<?(\S+?)>?[ \t]*((['"])(.*?)\6[ \t]*)?\))/g,u),a},u=function(a,d,e,f,g,h,i,j){var k=d,l=e,m=f.toLowerCase(),n=g,o=j;o||(o="");if(n==""){m==""&&(m=l.toLowerCase().replace(/ ?\n/g," ")),n="#"+m;if(b[m]==undefined)return k;n=b[m],c[m]!=undefined&&(o=c[m])}l=l.replace(/"/g,"&quot;"),n=N(n,"*_");var p='<img src="'+n+'" alt="'+l+'"';return o=o.replace(/"/g,"&quot;"),o=N(o,"*_"),p+=' title="'+o+'"',p+=" />",p},v=function(a){function b(a){return a.replace(/[^\w]/g,"").toLowerCase()}return a=a.replace(/^(.+)[ \t]*\n=+[ \t]*\n+/gm,function(a,c){return A('<h1 id="'+b(c)+'">'+p(c)+"</h1>")}),a=a.replace(/^(.+)[ \t]*\n-+[ \t]*\n+/gm,function(a,c){return A('<h2 id="'+b(c)+'">'+p(c)+"</h2>")}),a=a.replace(/^(\#{1,6})[ \t]*(.+?)[ \t]*\#*\n+/gm,function(a,c,d){var e=c.length;return A("<h"+e+' id="'+b(d)+'">'+p(d)+"</h"+e+">")}),a},w,x=function(a){a+="~0";var b=/^(([ ]{0,3}([*+-]|\d+[.])[ \t]+)[^\r]+?(~0|\n{2,}(?=\S)(?![ \t]*(?:[*+-]|\d+[.])[ \t]+)))/gm;return e?a=a.replace(b,function(a,b,c){var d=b,e=c.search(/[*+-]/g)>-1?"ul":"ol";d=d.replace(/\n{2,}/g,"\n\n\n");var f=w(d);return f=f.replace(/\s+$/,""),f="<"+e+">"+f+"</"+e+">\n",f}):(b=/(\n\n|^\n?)(([ ]{0,3}([*+-]|\d+[.])[ \t]+)[^\r]+?(~0|\n{2,}(?=\S)(?![ \t]*(?:[*+-]|\d+[.])[ \t]+)))/g,a=a.replace(b,function(a,b,c,d){var e=b,f=c,g=d.search(/[*+-]/g)>-1?"ul":"ol",f=f.replace(/\n{2,}/g,"\n\n\n"),h=w(f);return h=e+"<"+g+">\n"+h+"</"+g+">\n",h})),a=a.replace(/~0/,""),a};w=function(a){return e++,a=a.replace(/\n{2,}$/,"\n"),a+="~0",a=a.replace(/(\n)?(^[ \t]*)([*+-]|\d+[.])[ \t]+([^\r]+?(\n{1,2}))(?=\n*(~0|\2([*+-]|\d+[.])[ \t]+))/gm,function(a,b,c,d,e){var f=e,g=b,h=c;return g||f.search(/\n{2,}/)>-1?f=o(L(f)):(f=x(L(f)),f=f.replace(/\n$/,""),f=p(f)),"<li>"+f+"</li>\n"}),a=a.replace(/~0/g,""),e--,a};var y=function(a){return a+="~0",a=a.replace(/(?:\n\n|^)((?:(?:[ ]{4}|\t).*\n+)+)(\n*[ ]{0,3}[^ \t\n]|(?=~0))/g,function(a,b,c){var d=b,e=c;return 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\t]*>[ \t]?.+\n(.+\n)*\n*)+)/gm,function(a,b){var c=b;return c=c.replace(/^[ \t]*>[ \t]?/gm,"~0"),c=c.replace(/~0/g,""),c=c.replace(/^[ \t]+$/gm,""),c=o(c),c=c.replace(/(^|\n)/g,"$1  "),c=c.replace(/(\s*<pre>[^\r]+?<\/pre>)/gm,function(a,b){var c=b;return c=c.replace(/^  /mg,"~0"),c=c.replace(/~0/g,""),c}),A("<blockquote>\n"+c+"\n</blockquote>")}),a},F=function(a){a=a.replace(/^\n+/g,""),a=a.replace(/\n+$/g,"");var b=a.split(/\n{2,}/g),c=[],e=b.length;for(var f=0;f<e;f++){var g=b[f];g.search(/~K(\d+)K/g)>=0?c.push(g):g.search(/\S/)>=0&&(g=p(g),g=g.replace(/^([ \t]*)/g,"<p>"),g+="</p>",c.push(g))}e=c.length;for(var f=0;f<e;f++)while(c[f].search(/~K(\d+)K/)>=0){var h=d[RegExp.$1];h=h.replace(/\$/g,"$$$$"),c[f]=c[f].replace(/~K\d+K/,h)}return c.join("\n\n")},G=function(a){return a=a.replace(/&(?!#?[xX]?(?:[0-9a-fA-F]+|\w+);)/g,"&amp;"),a=a.replace(/<(?![a-z\/?\$!])/gi,"&lt;"),a},H=function(a){return a=a.replace(/\\(\\)/g,O),a=a.replace(/\\([`*_{}\[\]()>#+-.!])/g,O),a},I=function(a){return a=a.replace(/<((https?|ftp|dict):[^'">\s]+)>/gi,'<a href="$1">$1</a>'),a=a.replace(/<(?:mailto:)?([-.\w]+\@[-a-z0-9]+(\.[-a-z0-9]+)*\.[a-z]+)>/gi,function(a,b){return J(K(b))}),a},J=function(a){var b=[function(a){return"&#"+a.charCodeAt(0)+";"},function(a){return"&#x"+a.charCodeAt(0).toString(16)+";"},function(a){return a}];return a="mailto:"+a,a=a.replace(/./g,function(a){if(a=="@")a=b[Math.floor(Math.random()*2)](a);else if(a!=":"){var c=Math.random();a=c>.9?b[2](a):c>.45?b[1](a):b[0](a)}return a}),a='<a href="'+a+'">'+a+"</a>",a=a.replace(/">.+:/g,'">'),a},K=function(a){return a=a.replace(/~E(\d+)E/g,function(a,b){var c=parseInt(b);return String.fromCharCode(c)}),a},L=function(a){return a=a.replace(/^(\t|[ ]{1,4})/gm,"~0"),a=a.replace(/~0/g,""),a},M=function(a){return a=a.replace(/\t(?=\t)/g,"    "),a=a.replace(/\t/g,"~A~B"),a=a.replace(/~B(.+?)~A/g,function(a,b,c){var d=b,e=4-d.length%4;for(var f=0;f<e;f++)d+=" ";return d}),a=a.replace(/~A/g,"    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\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/panels/text/module.html b/panels/text/module.html
index 72a8ef2e6f5..eb8277bac66 100644
--- a/panels/text/module.html
+++ b/panels/text/module.html
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
 <kibana-panel ng-controller='text' ng-init="init()">
-  <p ng-show='!panel.allowhtml' ng-style="panel.style" ng-bind-html-unsafe="panel.content | striphtml | newlines"></p>
+  <!--<p ng-style="panel.style" ng-bind-html-unsafe="panel.content | striphtml | newlines"></p>-->
+  <markdown>
+    {{panel.content}}
+  </markdown>
 </kibana-panel>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/panels/text/module.js b/panels/text/module.js
index 50fc776746c..7fcbb99852f 100644
--- a/panels/text/module.js
+++ b/panels/text/module.js
@@ -12,6 +12,26 @@ angular.module('kibana.text', [])
   $scope.init = function() {
   }
 
+}).directive('markdown', function() {
+  return {
+    restrict: 'E',
+    link: function(scope, element, attrs) {
+      scope.$on('render', function() {
+        render_panel();
+      })
+
+      function render_panel() {
+        var scripts = $LAB.script("panels/text/lib/showdown.js")
+        scripts.wait(function(){
+          var converter = new Showdown.converter();
+          var htmlText = converter.makeHtml(scope.panel.content);
+          element.html(htmlText);
+        });
+      }
+
+      render_panel();
+    }
+  }
 })
 .filter('newlines', function(){
   return function (input) {
@@ -19,10 +39,10 @@ angular.module('kibana.text', [])
   }
 })
 .filter('striphtml', function () {
-    return function(text) {
-        return text
-                .replace(/&/g, '&amp;')
-                .replace(/>/g, '&gt;')
-                .replace(/</g, '&lt;');
-    }
+  return function(text) {
+    return text
+      .replace(/&/g, '&amp;')
+      .replace(/>/g, '&gt;')
+      .replace(/</g, '&lt;');
+  }
 });
\ No newline at end of file