diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 5f8866f..f881b90 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -1,17 +1,10 @@
-=======================
-The Littlest JupyterHub
-=======================
+# The Littlest JupyterHub
 
-.. image:: https://circleci.com/gh/jupyterhub/the-littlest-jupyterhub.svg?style=shield
-   :target: https://circleci.com/gh/jupyterhub/the-littlest-jupyterhub
-.. image:: https://codecov.io/gh/jupyterhub/the-littlest-jupyterhub/branch/master/graph/badge.svg
-  :target: https://codecov.io/gh/jupyterhub/the-littlest-jupyterhub
-.. image:: https://readthedocs.org/projects/the-littlest-jupyterhub/badge/?version=latest
-   :target: https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io
-.. image:: https://badges.gitter.im/jupyterhub/jupyterhub.svg
-   :target: https://gitter.im/jupyterhub/jupyterhub
-.. image:: https://img.shields.io/badge/I_want_to_contribute!-grey?logo=jupyter
-   :target: https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/contributing/index.html
+[![](https://circleci.com/gh/jupyterhub/the-littlest-jupyterhub.svg?style=shield)](https://circleci.com/gh/jupyterhub/the-littlest-jupyterhub)
+[![](https://codecov.io/gh/jupyterhub/the-littlest-jupyterhub/branch/master/graph/badge.svg)](https://codecov.io/gh/jupyterhub/the-littlest-jupyterhub)
+[![](https://readthedocs.org/projects/the-littlest-jupyterhub/badge/?version=latest)](https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io)
+[![](https://badges.gitter.im/jupyterhub/jupyterhub.svg)](https://gitter.im/jupyterhub/jupyterhub)
+[![](https://img.shields.io/badge/I_want_to_contribute!-grey?logo=jupyter)](https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/contributing/index.html)
 
 **The Littlest JupyterHub** (TLJH) distribution helps you provide Jupyter Notebooks
 to 1-100 users on a single server.
@@ -21,27 +14,24 @@ but would like to provide hosted Jupyter Notebooks for their students or users.
 All users are provided with the same environment, and administrators
 can easily install libraries into this environment without any specialized knowledge.
 
-See the `latest documentation <https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io>`_
+See the [latest documentation](https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io)
 for more information on using The Littlest JupyterHub.
 
-For support questions please search or post to `our forum <https://discourse.jupyter.org/c/jupyterhub/>`_.
+For support questions please search or post to [our forum](https://discourse.jupyter.org/c/jupyterhub/).
 
-See the `contributing guide <https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/contributing/index.html>`_
+See the [contributing guide](https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/contributing/index.html)
 for information on the different ways of contributing to The Littlest JupyterHub.
 
-See `this blog post <http://words.yuvi.in/post/the-littlest-jupyterhub/>`_ for
+See [this blog post](http://words.yuvi.in/post/the-littlest-jupyterhub/) for
 more information.
 
-
-Development Status
-==================
+## Development Status
 
 This project is currently in **beta** state. Folks have been using installations
 of TLJH for more than a year now to great success. While we try hard not to, we
 might still make breaking changes that have no clear upgrade pathway.
 
-Installation
-============
+## Installation
 
 The Littlest JupyterHub (TLJH) can run on any server that is running at least
 **Ubuntu 18.04**. Earlier versions of Ubuntu are not supported.
@@ -51,21 +41,19 @@ We have several tutorials to get you started.
   on it. These are **recommended** if you do not have much experience setting up
   servers.
 
-  - `Digital Ocean <https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install/digitalocean.html>`_
-  - `OVH <https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install/ovh.html>`_
-  - `Google Cloud <https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install/google.html>`_
-  - `Jetstream <https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install/jetstream.html>`_
-  - `Amazon Web Services <https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install/amazon.html>`_
-  - `Microsoft Azure <https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install/azure.html>`_
+  - [Digital Ocean](https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install/digitalocean.html)
+  - [OVH](https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install/ovh.html)
+  - [Google Cloud](https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install/google.html)
+  - [Jetstream](https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install/jetstream.html)
+  - [Amazon Web Services](https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install/amazon.html)
+  - [Microsoft Azure](https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install/azure.html)
   - ... your favorite provider here, if you can contribute!
 
-- `Tutorial to install TLJH on an already running server you have root access to
-  <https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install/custom-server.html>`_.
+- [Tutorial to install TLJH on an already running server you have root access to](https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install/custom-server.html).
   You should use this if your cloud provider does not already have a direct tutorial,
   or if you have experience setting up servers.
 
-Documentation
-=============
+## Documentation
 
 Our latest documentation is at: https://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io
 
@@ -75,7 +63,5 @@ is not documented, it is a bug! We try to treat our documentation like we treat
 our code: we aim to improve it as often as possible.
 
 If something is confusing to you in the documentation, it is a bug. We would be
-happy if you could `file an issue
-<https://github.com/jupyterhub/the-littlest-jupyterhub/issues>`_ about it - or
-even better, `contribute a documentation fix
-<http://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/contributing/docs.html>`_!
+happy if you could [file an issue](https://github.com/jupyterhub/the-littlest-jupyterhub/issues) about it - or
+even better, [contribute a documentation fix](http://the-littlest-jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/latest/contributing/docs.html)!