Document that all extensions are in maintenance mode

This has been the de facto policy for some time. We are now officially
documenting it. Relates to #1612.

Some recommendations for alternative extensions have been included.

Author: waylan

.spell-dict

@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ prepended
 preprocessor
 preprocessors
 Pygments
+PyMdown
 PyPI
 PyPy
 PYTHONPATH

docs/changelog.md

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ See the [Contributing Guide](contributing.md) for details.
 ### Fixed
 
 * Fix `SetextHeaderProcessor` regex to prevent mixed `=` and `-` chars in setext-style headers (#1606).
+* Officially document all included extensions as being in maintenance mode.
 
 ## [3.10.2] - 2026-02-09
 

docs/extensions/abbreviations.md

@@ -11,6 +11,19 @@ Specifically, any defined abbreviation is wrapped in  an `<abbr>` tag.
 
 The Abbreviations extension is included in the standard Markdown library.
 
+!!! Note
+
+    This extension is in __maintenance mode__.  We will continue to fix bugs
+    and keep it up-to-date with the core parser, but no new features or
+    changes in behavior will be made. If you need a feature that this
+    extension does not offer, then you have three options (1) find an
+    existing [third-party extension] which meets your needs, (2) [build your
+    own extension], or (3) fork this extension (pursuant to its licensing
+    requirements) and maintain it as a third-party extension.
+
+[third-party extension]: index.md#third-party-extensions
+[build your own extension]: api.md
+
 Syntax
 ------
 

docs/extensions/admonition.md

@@ -12,6 +12,22 @@ This extension is included in the standard Markdown library.
 
 [rST]: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/ref/rst/directives.html#specific-admonitions
 
+!!! Note
+
+    This extension is in __maintenance mode__.  We will continue to fix bugs
+    and keep it up-to-date with the core parser, but no new features or
+    changes in behavior will be made. If you need a feature that this
+    extension does not offer, then you have three options (1) find an
+    existing [third-party extension] which meets your needs, (2) [build your
+    own extension], or (3) fork this extension (pursuant to its licensing
+    requirements) and maintain it as a third-party extension.
+
+    We recommend [PyMdown Admonition] as an actively developed alternative. 
+
+[third-party extension]: index.md#third-party-extensions
+[build your own extension]: api.md
+[PyMdown Admonition]: https://facelessuser.github.io/pymdown-extensions/extensions/blocks/plugins/admonition/
+
 Syntax
 ------
 

docs/extensions/attr_list.md

@@ -9,6 +9,19 @@ HTML elements in markdown's output.
 
 This extension is included in the standard Markdown library.
 
+!!! Note
+
+    This extension is in __maintenance mode__.  We will continue to fix bugs
+    and keep it up-to-date with the core parser, but no new features or
+    changes in behavior will be made. If you need a feature that this
+    extension does not offer, then you have three options (1) find an
+    existing [third-party extension] which meets your needs, (2) [build your
+    own extension], or (3) fork this extension (pursuant to its licensing
+    requirements) and maintain it as a third-party extension.
+
+[third-party extension]: index.md#third-party-extensions
+[build your own extension]: api.md
+
 ## Syntax
 
 The basic syntax was inspired by Maruku's Attribute Lists feature (see [web archive][Maruku]).

docs/extensions/code_hilite.md

@@ -11,6 +11,22 @@ Python-Markdown code blocks using [Pygments][].
 
 This extension is included in the standard Markdown library.
 
+!!! Note
+
+    This extension is in __maintenance mode__.  We will continue to fix bugs
+    and keep it up-to-date with the core parser, but no new features or
+    changes in behavior will be made. If you need a feature that this
+    extension does not offer, then you have three options (1) find an
+    existing [third-party extension] which meets your needs, (2) [build your
+    own extension], or (3) fork this extension (pursuant to its licensing
+    requirements) and maintain it as a third-party extension.
+
+    We recommend [Highlight] as an actively developed alternative. 
+
+[third-party extension]: index.md#third-party-extensions
+[build your own extension]: api.md
+[Highlight]: https://facelessuser.github.io/pymdown-extensions/extensions/highlight/
+
 ## Setup
 
 ### Step 1: Download and Install Pygments

docs/extensions/definition_lists.md

@@ -11,6 +11,22 @@ Markdown documents.
 
 This extension is included in the standard Markdown library.
 
+!!! Note
+
+    This extension is in __maintenance mode__.  We will continue to fix bugs
+    and keep it up-to-date with the core parser, but no new features or
+    changes in behavior will be made. If you need a feature that this
+    extension does not offer, then you have three options (1) find an
+    existing [third-party extension] which meets your needs, (2) [build your
+    own extension], or (3) fork this extension (pursuant to its licensing
+    requirements) and maintain it as a third-party extension.
+
+    We recommend [PyMdown Definition] as an actively developed alternative. 
+
+[third-party extension]: index.md#third-party-extensions
+[build your own extension]: api.md
+[PyMdown Definition]: https://facelessuser.github.io/pymdown-extensions/extensions/blocks/plugins/definition/
+
 Syntax
 ------
 

docs/extensions/extra.md

@@ -20,6 +20,19 @@ The supported extensions include:
 See each individual extension for syntax documentation. Extra and all its
 supported extensions are included in the standard Markdown library.
 
+!!! Note
+
+    This extension is in __maintenance mode__.  We will continue to fix bugs
+    and keep it up-to-date with the core parser, but no new features or
+    changes in behavior will be made. If you need a feature that this
+    extension does not offer, then you have three options (1) find an
+    existing [third-party extension] which meets your needs, (2) [build your
+    own extension], or (3) fork this extension (pursuant to its licensing
+    requirements) and maintain it as a third-party extension.
+
+[third-party extension]: index.md#third-party-extensions
+[build your own extension]: api.md
+
 ## Usage
 
 From the Python interpreter:

docs/extensions/fenced_code_blocks.md

@@ -9,6 +9,21 @@ indented code blocks.
 
 This extension is included in the standard Markdown library.
 
+!!! Note
+
+    This extension is in __maintenance mode__.  We will continue to fix bugs
+    and keep it up-to-date with the core parser, but no new features or
+    changes in behavior will be made. If you need a feature that this
+    extension does not offer, then you have three options (1) find an
+    existing [third-party extension] which meets your needs, (2) [build your
+    own extension], or (3) fork this extension (pursuant to its licensing
+    requirements) and maintain it as a third-party extension.
+
+    We recommend [SuperFences] as an actively developed alternative.
+
+[third-party extension]: index.md#third-party-extensions
+[build your own extension]: api.md
+
 ## Syntax
 
 Fenced Code Blocks are defined using the syntax originally established in [PHP Markdown Extra][php] and popularized by

docs/extensions/footnotes.md

@@ -11,6 +11,19 @@ documents.
 
 This extension is included in the standard Markdown library.
 
+!!! Note
+
+    This extension is in __maintenance mode__.  We will continue to fix bugs
+    and keep it up-to-date with the core parser, but no new features or
+    changes in behavior will be made. If you need a feature that this
+    extension does not offer, then you have three options (1) find an
+    existing [third-party extension] which meets your needs, (2) [build your
+    own extension], or (3) fork this extension (pursuant to its licensing
+    requirements) and maintain it as a third-party extension.
+
+[third-party extension]: index.md#third-party-extensions
+[build your own extension]: api.md
+
 Syntax
 ------