mardownToHtml JQuery plugin

mardownToHtml.jquery.js

$.fn.markdownToHtml = function () {
		return this.each(function () {
			var html,
				$childStore = $('<div/>');
			$(this).children().each(function (index) {
				var name = '$$$' + index;
				$(this).clone().markdownToHtml().appendTo($childStore);
				$(this).replaceWith(name);
			});
			html = $(this).html();
			html = html.replace(/__([^\s].*[^\s])__/gm, "<strong>$1</strong>");
			html = html.replace(/\*\*([^\s].*[^\s])\*\*/gm, "<strong>$1</strong>");
			html = html.replace(/_([^\s].*[^\s])_/gm, '<em>$1</em>');
			html = html.replace(/\*([^\s].*[^\s])\*/gm, '<em>$1</em>');
			//only replaces if url is valid (worthwhile feature?)
			html = html.replace(/\[(.*)\]\(((https?:\/\/)(([\da-z\.\-]+)\.([a-z\.]{2,6})|(([0-9]{1,3}\.){3}[0-9]{1,3}))([\/\w \.\-]*)*\/?[\/\w \.\-\=\&\?]*)\)/gm, '<a href="$2">$1</a>');
			html = html.replace(/\n/gm, '<br />');
			$childStore.children().each(function(i){
				var regex = new RegExp('\\$\\$\\$' + i);
				html = html.replace(regex, $(this)[0].outerHTML);
			});
			$(this).text('').append(html);
		});
	};
  //