created: 20220110233944530
modified: 20220917112724551
tags: WikiText
title: WikiText Parser Modes
type: text/vnd.tiddlywiki

In order to display Tiddlers (usually the text field), the WikiText parser reads and interprets the content and applies WikiText rules. The parser has three modes:

* ''pragma mode'' - the parser will recognise only [[pragma mode WikiText|Pragmas]] punctuation 
* ''block mode'' - the parser will recognise only [[block mode WikiText|Block Mode WikiText]] punctuation
* ''inline mode'' - the parser will recognise only [[inline mode WikiText|Inline Mode WikiText]]

The parser [[transitions between these modes|WikiText parser mode transitions]] based on the text it encounters. In addition, there are  [[places where the parser ignores WikiText|Places where the parser ignores WikiText]] punctuation.

<<.tip "The concept of inline vs block also exists for standard HTML elements. For HTML, these [[two layout modes|https://www.w3schools.com/html/html_blocks.asp]] determine if the output flows together on the same line or not.
<p>Most [[block mode WikiText|Block Mode WikiText]] corresponds to [[block level HTML elements|https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Block-level_elements]] and most [[inline mode WikiText|Inline Mode WikiText]] corresponds to [[inline level HTML elements|https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Inline_elements]]. However, for Wikitext the two modes are just as important for determining which syntax will be recognised by the parser as they are for determining how the output will flow.</p>">>