X-Git-Url: https://sipb.mit.edu/gitweb.cgi/ikiwiki.git/blobdiff_plain/7960031135e74f6d36abc4294dbadb687117222c..2f3a279f68dcf8c1566d82419fc7257e162ee345:/doc/ikiwiki/preprocessordirective.mdwn

diff --git a/doc/ikiwiki/preprocessordirective.mdwn b/doc/ikiwiki/preprocessordirective.mdwn
index 1e2332c09..743c0d9f5 100644
--- a/doc/ikiwiki/preprocessordirective.mdwn
+++ b/doc/ikiwiki/preprocessordirective.mdwn
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
+[[!meta robots="noindex, follow"]]
 Preprocessor directives are similar to a [[WikiLink]] in form, except they
-contain spaces and parameters. The general form is:
+begin with `!` and may contain parameters. The general form is:
 
-	\[[directive param="value" param="value"]]
+	\[[!directive param="value" param="value"]]
 
 This gets expanded before the rest of the page is processed, and can be used
 to transform the page in various ways.
@@ -9,25 +10,30 @@ to transform the page in various ways.
 The quotes around values can be omitted if the value is a simple word.
 Also, some directives may use parameters without values, for example:
 
-	\[[tag foo]]
-
-Note that if a preprocessor directive has no parameters, a space still must
-be put after its name, to avoid confusion with a [[WikiLink]]. For example:
-
-	\[[pagecount ]]
+	\[[!tag foo]]
 
 A preprocessor directive does not need to all be on one line, it can be
 wrapped to multiple lines if you like:
 	
-	\[[directive foo="baldersnatch"
+	\[[!directive foo="baldersnatch"
 	bar="supercalifragalisticexpealadocious" baz=11]]
 
 Also, multiple lines of *quoted* text can be used for a value.
 To allow quote marks inside the quoted text, delimit the block
 of text with triple-quotes:
 
-	\[[directive text="""
+	\[[!directive text="""
 	1. "foo"
 	2. "bar"
 	3. "baz"
 	"""]]
+
+ikiwiki also has an older syntax for preprocessor directives, which requires a
+space in directives to distinguish them from [[wikilinks|wikilink]].  This
+syntax has several disadvantages: it requires a space after directives with no
+parameters (such as `\[[pagecount ]]`), and it prohibits spaces in
+[[wikilinks|wikilink]].  ikiwiki now provides the `!`-prefixed syntax shown
+above as the preferred alternative.  However, ikiwiki still supports wikis
+using the older syntax, if the `prefix_directives` option is not enabled.
+For backward compatibility with existing wikis, this option currently
+defaults to off, so ikiwiki supports the old syntax.