Editing Help:Magic words (section)

== General information ==
In general, there are three types of magic words.
# '''[[#Behavior switches|Behavior switches]]''': often appear in double underscores, all uppercase, e.g., <code>__NOTOC<nowiki/>__</code>. They will change the behavior of a page, rather than return a value.
# '''[[#Parser functions|Parser functions]]''': all in lowercase. A parser function will be followed by colon and pipe-separated parameters, e.g., <code><nowiki>{{#ifexpr:Y|Yes|No}}</nowiki></code>, wrapped in double braces. They will take a value and return a value.
# '''[[#Variables|Variables]]''': these are all uppercase, e.g., {{tld|PAGENAME}}. A variable will be wrapped in double braces and will return a value in its place.

The software generally interprets magic words in the following way:
* Magic words are [[case sensitive]].
* [[Whitespace character|White space]] is generously allowed for readability. It will be stripped from the start and end of their keywords and parameters (as is also done in template calls using named parameters).
* They can be [[CP:Transclusion|transcluded]], even variables "about the current page". This is ensured by the parsing order.
* Instead of magically transforming into HTML instructions, {{tag|[[help:wikitext#Nowiki|nowiki]]|o}} tags remove this magic so a magic word can itself be displayed (documented), e.g. <code><nowiki><nowiki>{{#magic:}}</nowiki></nowiki></code>or <code><nowiki>{{#magic:<nowiki/>}}</nowiki></code>.

Magic words compared to templates:
* As with templates, magic words can be [[help:transclusion|transcluded]] and [[Help:substitution|substituted]].
* The names of magic words are purposely chosen to be unlike the names of templates, and vice versa. Many parser function names will begin with a <code>#</code>([[Hash (character)|pound or hash]]), but template names [[CP:NCHASHTAG | will not start with a <code>#</code>]], and probably not end in a <code>:</code>(colon), or be all-uppercase.
* The first parameter's syntax differs. In <code>{{#magic: <nowiki/>p1 | p2 | p3}}</code>, the name is <code>#magic</code>and it is followed by an unspaced <code>:</code>and a required input parameter, <code>p1</code>. With a template, <code>p1</code>is optional and it is preceded by a <code>|</code>(pipe) instead of a <code>:</code>, e.g. <code>{{template<nowiki/>|p1}}</code>.

Most magic words can be used in any needed locations on a page; see [[MOS:ORDER]] for guidance on where to place magic words that are behavior switches.
Description	What you type	What you get
Italic	''Italic text''	Italic text
Bold	'''Bold text'''	Bold text
Bold & italic	'''''Bold & italic text'''''	*Bold & italic text*