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XWiki Syntaxes

Last modified by Sergiu Dumitriu on 2013/05/07 13:09

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Contents

Starting with XWiki Enterprise version 1.7 we've introduced a new wiki syntax. We've named the old syntax the XWiki Syntax 1.0 and the new syntax was logically called the XWiki Syntax 2.0. The main reasons for introducing the new syntax were:

  • Fix the limitations and ambiguities of the XWiki Syntax 1.0 (which was inspired by both Radeox - the underlying rendering engine - and TWiki).
    • Not optimal symbols. For example the symbol for bold was single stars. This was causing trouble when users were entering text containing stars since that text was mistakenly considered to be bold when it wasn't. Hence we've rationalized the syntax by using at least double characters everywhere. 
    • Ambiguities. For example there was an ambiguity between a bold item starting a line and a bulletted list. Resolving the ambiguities was required in order to rewrite the WYSIWYG editor so that it could be deterministic.
  • Be closer to the Creole 1.0 syntax which is becoming a standard for wiki syntax. In addition the Creole community has taken the time to analyze all the existing wiki syntaxes before deciding on symbols. The choices made are thus very good.

Since the introduction of XWiki Syntax 2.0 a few shortcomings of this syntax have been found. To fix these a new, as of now experimental, XWiki Syntax 2.1 was introduced in XWiki Enterprise version 3.0. Some reason for the development of this new syntax are:

  • Homogenize the link and image syntax for better clarity, consistency and extensibility.
  • Added ability to display icons,  to link to files using the UNC notation and to link to relative URLs.
IconInformation

Since XWiki Syntax 2.1 is based on XWiki Syntax 2.0 all syntax from XWiki Syntax 2.0 is valid unless the 2.1 specifications suggest differently.

In addition to these XWiki-specific syntaxes we've also changed our underlying rendering engine in XWiki Enterprise version 1.7 (was Radeox previously) in favor of our own engine which is superset wrapper around Wikimodel and Doxia (and possibly others in the future). This has allowed us to provide other syntaxes in the wiki: MediaWiki, Confluence, JSPWiki, Creole, TWiki and more.

General Remarks

XWiki Syntax 2.0 corrects some errors or ambiguous syntax entered by the user as shown in the examples in the table below.

DescriptionExample of invalid or ambiguous syntaxFixed XWiki Syntax 2.0
Unclosed text styles**bold**bold**
Two standalone elements not separated by 2 new lines| table cell
* list item		| table cell

* list item
Two standalone elements not separated by 2 new linesparagraph
----
paragraph		paragraph

----

paragraph
Ignored new line at beginning of document<new line at beginning of document>
paragraph		paragraph
Not closed heading syntax=== heading=== heading ===

Paragraphs

Paragraphs are text elements separated by 2 or more new lines.

IconInformation

In XWiki Syntax 2.0 new lines are honored which is not the case in XWiki Syntax 1.0 and in Creole Syntax.

FeatureXWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0Result XWiki Syntax 1.0Result XWiki Syntax 2.0
Simple paragraphThis is a paragraphThis is a paragraphThis is a paragraphThis is a paragraph
Paragraph on multiple linesParagraph on\\
multiple lines		Paragraph on
multiple lines		Paragraph on
multiple lines		Paragraph on
multiple lines
Two paragraphsParagraph one

Paragraph two		Paragraph one

Paragraph two		Paragraph one

Paragraph two		Paragraph one

Paragraph two
Parametrized paragraph<p style="text-align:center;color:blue">Centered and blue paragraph</p>(% style="text-align:center;color:blue" %)
Centered and blue paragraph
Centered and blue paragraph
Centered and blue paragraph

Headings

FeatureXWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0Result
Standard headings

1 level 1
1.1 level 2
1.1.1 level 3
1.1.1.1 level 4
1.1.1.1.1 level 5
1.1.1.1.1.1 level 6

= level 1 = 
== level 2 ==
=== level 3 ===
==== level 4 ====
===== level 5 =====
====== level 6 ======

level 1

 

level 2

level 3

level 4

level 5
level 6
Parametrized headings<h1><span style="color:blue">heading</span></h1>(% style="color:blue" %)
= heading =

heading

Headings with XWiki Syntax1.1.1 Heading with *bold*=== Heading with **bold** ===

Heading with bold

Text Formatting

IconInformation

New in XWiki Syntax 2.0 over XWiki Syntax 1.0:

  • Spaces are allowed just after the syntax symbols (for example in XWiki Syntax 1.0, this was not possible: * bold *).
  • Use double symbols when there was only a single symbol in XWiki Syntax 1.0 so that it's less likely that the user will mistakenly use them in text.
  • Ability to span several lines (wasn't possible in XWiki Syntax 1.0).
FeatureXWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0Result
Bold*bold***bold**bold
Underline__underline_____underline__underline
Italics~~italic~~//italic//italic
Striked out--strike----strike--strike
Monospace<tt>monospace</tt>##monospace##monospace
Superscriptsome <sup>superscript</sup>some ^^superscript^^some superscript
Subscriptsome <sub>subscript</sub>some ,,subscript,,some subscript

Horizontal Line

IconInformation

There must be 4 or more dashes.

IconInformation

Note that this is different from Creole where exactly 4 dashes are required.

FeatureXWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0Result
Simple horizontal line--------
Parametrized horizontal line<hr style="color:blue"/>
(% style="color:blue" %)
----

Lists

IconInformation

Some of the mentioned styles do not work on all browsers. For a comprehensive list follow this link.

FeatureXWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0Result
Bulleted list
* item 1
** item 2
*** item 3
* item 4

* item 1
** item 2
*** item 3
* item 4
  • item 1
    • item 2
      • item 3
  • item 4
Numbered list
1. item 1
11. item 2
111. item 3
1. item 4

1. item 1
11. item 2
111. item 3
1. item 4
  1. item 1
    1. item 2
      1. item 3
  2. item 4
Mixed list
1. item 1
1*. item 2
1*. item 3
1. item 4

1. item 1
1*. item 2
1*. item 3
1. item 4
  1. item 1
    • item 2
    • item 3
  2. item 4
Square list
- item 1
- item 2

(% style="list-style-type: square" %)
* item 1
* item 2
  • item 1
  • item 2
Disc list

<ul style="list-style-type: disc">
  <li>item 1</li>
  <li>item 2</li>
</ul>

(% style="list-style-type: disc" %)
* item 1
* item 2
  • item 1
  • item 2
Lowercase Alphabetical list
a. item 1
a. item 2

(% style="list-style-type: lower-alpha" %)
* item 1
* item 2
  • item 1
  • item 2
Uppercase Alphabetical list
A. item 1
A. item 2

(% style="list-style-type: upper-alpha" %)
* item 1
* item 2
  • item 1
  • item 2
Lowercase Roman list
i. item 1
i. item 2

(% style="list-style-type: lower-roman" %)
* item 1
* item 2
  • item 1
  • item 2
Uppercase Roman list
I. item 1
I. item 2

(% style="list-style-type: upper-roman" %)
* item 1
* item 2
  • item 1
  • item 2
Lowercase Greek list
g. item 1
g. item 2

(% style="list-style-type: lower-greek" %)
* item 1
* item 2
  • item 1
  • item 2
Uppercase Greek list
G. item 1
G. item 2

(% style="list-style-type: upper-greek" %)
* item 1
* item 2
  • item 1
  • item 2
Hiragana list
h. item 1
h. item 2

(% style="list-style-type: hiragana" %)
* item 1
* item 2
  • item 1
  • item 2
Hiragana Iroah list
H. item 1
H. item 2

(% style="list-style-type: hiragana-iroha" %)
* item 1
* item 2
  • item 1
  • item 2
Katakana list
k. item 1
k. item 2

(% style="list-style-type: katakana" %)
* item 1
* item 2
  • item 1
  • item 2
Katakana Iroha list
K. item 1
K. item 2

(% style="list-style-type: katakana-iroha" %)
* item 1
* item 2
  • item 1
  • item 2
Armenian list
<ul style="list-style-type: armenian">
  <li>item 1</li>
  <li>item 2</li>
</ul>

(% style="list-style-type: armenian" %)
* item 1
* item 2
  • item 1
  • item 2
Hebrew list
j. item 1
j. item 2

(% style="list-style-type: hebrew" %)
* item 1
* item 2
  • item 1
  • item 2
Georgian list
<ul style="list-style-type: georgian">
  <li>item 1</li>
  <li>item 2</li>
</ul>

(% style="list-style-type: georgian" %)
* item 1
* item 2
  • item 1
  • item 2
CJK ideographic list
<ul style="list-style-type: cjk-ideographic">
  <li>item 1</li>
  <li>item 2</li>
</ul>

(% style="list-style-type: cjk-ideographic" %)
* item 1
* item 2
  • item 1
  • item 2

Definition Lists

FeatureXWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0Result
Standard definition
<dl>
  <dt>term</dt>
  <dd>definition</dd>
</dl>

; term
: definition
term
definition
Nested definitions
<dl>
  <dt>term 1</dt>
  <dd>definition 1
    <dl>
      <dt>term 2</dt>
      <dd>definition 2</dd>
    </dl>
  </dd>
</dl>

; term 1
: definition 1
:; term 2
:: definition 2
term 1
definition 1
term 2
definition 2
Parametrized definition
<dl style="color:blue">
  <dt>term</dt>
  <dd>definition</dd>
</dl>

(% style="color:blue" %)
; term
: definition
term
definition

New Line/Line breaks

A new line is a carriage return. A line break is a forced new line that can appear anywhere in the text.

IconInformation

In XWiki Syntax 2.0 new lines are honored which is not the case in XWiki Syntax 1.0 and in Creole Syntax.

FeatureXWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0Result XWiki Syntax 1.0Result XWiki Syntax 2.0
Line breakLine\\New lineLine\\New lineLine
New line		Line
New line
New lineLine
New line		Line
New line		Line New lineLine
New line

Links

FeatureXWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0Result XWiki Syntax 1.0Result XWiki Syntax 2.0
Link to a page in the current Space[WebHome][[WebHome]]Web HomeXWiki
Link with a label[label>WebHome]

[[label>>WebHome]]
IconInformationXWiki Syntax is supported inside link labels.

labellabel
Link with XWiki Syntax in the label<a href="$xwiki.getURL("WebHome")"><strong>bold label</strong></a>[[**bold label**>>WebHome]]bold labelbold label
Link to a page with the space specified[Main.WebHome][[Main.WebHome]]Web HomeMain
Link to a subwiki[subwiki:Main.WebHome][[subwiki:Main.WebHome]]Web HomeMain
Link that opens in a new window[label>WebHome>_blank][[label>>WebHome||rel="__blank"]]labellabel
Link to a URL directly in the textThis is a URL: http://xwiki.orgThis is a URL: http://xwiki.orgThis is a URL: http://xwiki.orgThis is a URL: http://xwiki.org
Link to a URL[http://xwiki.org][[http://xwiki.org]]http://xwiki.orghttp://xwiki.org
Link to a URL with a label[XWiki>http://xwiki.org][[XWiki>>http://xwiki.org]]XWikiXWiki
Link to an email address[john@smith.net>mailto:john@smith.net][[john@smith.net>>mailto:john@smith.net]]john@smith.netjohn@smith.net
Image Link<a href="$xwiki.getURL("Space1.Page1")">{image:img.png|document=Space2.Page2}</a>[[image:Space2.Page2@img.png>>Space1.Page1]]img.pngimg.png
Image Link with image parameters<a href="$xwiki.getURL("Space1.Page1")">{image:img.png|document=Space2.Page2|width=26|height=26}</a>[[[[image:Space2.Page2@img.png||width="26" height="26"]]>>Space1.Page1]]img.pngimg.png
Link to an attachment on the current page

IconInformationSee Attach Macro for details
{attach:text|file=img.png}

[[text>>attach:img.png]]texttext
Link to an attachment in a different page

IconInformationSee Attach Macro for details
{attach:text|document=Space.Page|file=img.png}

[[text>>attach:Space.Page@img.png]]texttext
Link to an Anchor in a page[label>Space.Page#anchor][[label>>Space.Page#anchor]]labellabel
Link to a Heading in a page

IconInformationWhen you add a Heading, an anchor named "H" followed by the heading title with only alpha characters is created. For example, for a Heading named "My heading", the generated anchor will be "HMyheading".
[label>Space.Page#HMyheading]

[[label>>Space.Page#HMyheading]]labellabel

XWiki Syntax 1.0 Link Specification

IconInformation

Part in ( ) is required, parts in [ ] are optional and one of the two chars in { } needs to be added if optional parts are being used.

The full format of a link is [label {> or |}] (resource) [@interWikiAlias] [{> or |} target]

  • label: An optional string which will be displayed to the user as the link name when rendered. Example: My Page
  • resource: The full link reference using the following syntax: (reference) [?queryString] [#anchor]
    • reference: The link reference. This can be either
      • A URI in the form protocol:path (examples: http://xwiki.org, mailto:john@smith.com), or
      • A wiki page reference in the form [[wikiName:] space.] (page). Examples: WebHome, Main.WebHome, mywiki:Main.WebHome
        • wikiName: An optional string containing the name of a virtual wiki. The link will point to a page inside that virtual wiki. Example: mywiki
        • space: An optional wiki Space name. If no space is specified the current space is used. Example: Main
        • page: A required string containing the name of the linked wiki page. Example: WebHome
    • queryString: An optional query string for specifying parameters that will be used in the rendered URL. Example: mydata1=5&mydata2=Hello
    • anchor: An optional anchor name pointing to an anchor defined in the referenced link. Note that in XWiki anchors are automatically created for headings. Example: HTableOfContents
  • interWikiAlias: An optional Inter Wiki alias as defined in the InterWiki Map (see the Admin Guide). This is only valid for wiki page names. Example: wikipedia
  • target: An optional string corresponding to the HTML target attribute for a HTML A link element. This element is used when rendering the link. It defaults to opening the link in the current window. Examples: _self, _blank

XWiki Syntax 2.0 Link Specification

IconInformation

The part in ( ) is required, while the parts in [ ] are optional.

The full format of a link is [label>>] (resource) [@interWikiAlias] [||parameters]

  • label: An optional string which will be displayed to the user as the link name when rendered. The label may contain XWiki Syntax. If no label is specified a default label will be generated. The generation pattern can be changed, see the Admin Guide. Example: My Page
  • resource: The full link reference using the following syntax: (reference) [?queryString] [#anchor]
    • reference: The link reference in one of the following forms:
      • URL: Any URL in the form of protocol://path. Examples: http://xwiki.org, https://svn.xwiki.org/
      • Wiki page name reference in the form [[wikiName:] space.] (page). Examples: WebHome, Main.WebHome, mywiki:Main.WebHome
        • wikiName: An optional string containing the name of a virtual wiki. The link will point to a page inside that virtual wiki. Example: mywiki
        • space: An optional wiki Space name. If no space is specified the current space is used. Example: Main
        • page: A required string containing the name of the linked wiki page. Example: WebHome
      • Attachment reference in the form attach: [wikiPageName@] (attachmentName). Examples: attach:img.png, attach:mywiki:Main.WebHome@img.png
        • attach:: A required string identifying the resource as attachment.
        • wikiPageName: An optional string referencing the document that holds the attachment, see "Wiki page name" above.
        • attachmentName: Name of the attachment as it is stored in the wiki.
      • Email address in the form mailto: (emailAddress) (#anchor is not valid). Example: mailto:john@smith.com
        • mailto:: A required string identifying the resource as email.
        • emailAddress: Targeted email address. Example: "john@smith.com"
    • queryString: An optional query string for specifying parameters that will be used in the rendered URL. Example: mydata1=5&mydata2=Hello
    • anchor: An optional anchor name pointing to an anchor defined in the referenced link. Note that in XWiki anchors are automatically created for headings. Example: HTableOfContents
  • interWikiAlias: An optional Inter Wiki alias as defined in the InterWiki Map (see the Admin Guide). This is only valid for wiki page names. Example: wikipedia
  • parameters: An optional list of parameters passed to the link. Example: rel="__blank" (open in new window)

XWiki Syntax 2.1 Link Specification

IconInformation

The part in ( ) is required, while the parts in [ ] are optional.

The full format of a link is [label>>] (resource) [||parameters]

  • label: An optional string which will be displayed to the user as the link name when rendered. The label may contain XWiki Syntax. If no label is specified a default label will be generated. The generation pattern can be changed, see the Admin Guide. Example: My Page
  • resource: A required string with the link reference in one of the following forms
    • URL: Any URL in the form of [url:] (protocol://path). Examples: http://xwiki.org, url:https://svn.xwiki.org/
      • url: An optional string identifying the resource as an URL.
    • Wiki page name reference in the form [doc:] [[wikiName:] space.] (page). Examples: WebHome, Main.WebHome, mywiki:Main.WebHome
      • doc: An optional string identifying the resource as an XWiki document.
      • wikiName: An optional string containing the name of a virtual wiki. The link will point to a page inside that virtual wiki. Example: mywiki
      • space: An optional wiki Space name. If no space is specified the current space is used. Example: Main
      • page: A required string containing the name of the linked wiki page. Example: WebHome
    • InterWiki page name reference in the form interwiki: (interWikiAlias:) (page). Example: interwiki:wikipedia:XWiki
      • interwiki: A required string identifying the resource as an InterWiki link.
      • interWikiAlias: An optional Inter Wiki alias as defined in the InterWiki Map (see the Admin Guide). Example: wikipedia
      • page: A required string containing the name of the linked page. Example: XWiki
    • Attachment reference in the form attach: [wikiPageName@] (attachmentName). Examples: attach:img.png, attach:mywiki:Main.WebHome@img.png
      • attach:: A required string identifying the resource as attachment.
      • wikiPageName: An optional string referencing the document that holds the attachment, see "Wiki page name" above.
      • attachmentName: Name of the attachment as it is stored in the wiki.
    • Email address in the form mailto: (emailAddress) (#anchor is not valid). Example: mailto:john@smith.com
      • mailto:: A required string identifying the resource as email.
      • emailAddress: Targeted email address. Example: john@smith.com
    • Relative path reference on the server in the form path: (relPath). Example: path:$doc.getURL('reset') produces target address http://server.domain.com/xwiki/bin/reset/Space/Page where /xwiki/bin/reset/Space/Page is produced by $doc.getURL('reset').
      • path: A required string identifying the resource as a relative path.
      • relPath: A required string containing the relative path of the resource on the server that shall be linked.
    • UNC (Windows Explorer) reference in the form unc: (path). The link is rendered as a file:// link. Examples: unc:C:\Windows\, unc:\\myserver\path\img.png, unc:home/user/somefile
      • unc: A required string identifying the resource as a UNC (Windows Explorer) path.
      • path: A required string containing the local path of resource accessible by the user. Examples: C:\Windows\, \\myserver\path\img.png, home/user/somefile
  • parameters: An optional list of space-separated parameters passed to the link. Example: queryString="mydata1=5&mydata2=Hello" anchor="HTableOfContents" rel="__blank"
    • queryString: An optional query string for specifying parameters that will be appended to the link target address and used in the rendered URL. Example: url:http://domain.com/path||queryString="mydata1=5&mydata2=Hello" produces target address http://domain.com/path?mydata1=5&mydata2=Hello
    • anchor: An optional anchor name pointing to an anchor defined in the referenced link. Note that in XWiki anchors are automatically created for headings. Example: url:http://domain.com/path||anchor="HTableOfContents" produces target address http://domain.com/path#HTableOfContents
    • rel: An optional parameter that allows to open link target in new window. Example: rel="__blank"

Tables

Allows to easily create content in table format. Parameters for table, row or cell are also supported in XWiki Syntax 2.0.

FeatureXWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0Result
Standard table
{table}
Title 1 | Title 2
Word 1 | Word 2
{table}

|=Title 1|=Title 2
|Word 1|Word 2
or
!=Title 1!=Title 2
!!Word 1!!Word 2
Title 1Title 2
Word 1Word 2
Parametrized table

<table style="background-color:red;align:center">
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Title 1</td>
      <td style="background-color:yellow">Title 2</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Word 1</td>
      <td>Word 2</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

(% style="background-color:red;align=center" %)
|=Title 1|=(% style="background-color:yellow" %)Title 2
|Word 1|Word 2
Title 1Title 2
Word 1Word 2
Filterable Sortable table
$xwiki.ssfx.use("js/xwiki/table/table.css")
$xwiki.jsfx.use("js/xwiki/table/tablefilterNsort.js", true)
<table id="tableid" class="grid sortable filterable doOddEven">
  <tr class="sortHeader">
    <th>Title 1</th>
    <th>Title 2</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>Cell 11</td>
   <td>Cell 12</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>Cell 21</td>
   <td>Cell 22</td>
  </tr>
</table>
IconInformation

For improved features see the Livetable Macro.

{{velocity}}
$xwiki.ssfx.use("js/xwiki/table/table.css")
$xwiki.jsfx.use("js/xwiki/table/tablefilterNsort.js", true)
{{/velocity}}

(% class="grid sortable filterable doOddEven" id="tableid" %)
(% class="sortHeader" %)|=Title 1|=Title 2
|Cell 11|Cell 12
|Cell 21|Cell 22
IconInformation

For improved features see the Livetable Macro.

Failed to execute the [velocity] macro. Cause: [The execution of the [velocity] script macro is not allowed in [gavancollett:XWiki.XWikiSyntax]. Check the rights of its last author or the parameters if it's rendered from another script.]. Click on this message for details.

Title 1Title 2
Cell 11Cell 12
Cell 21Cell 22

Images

FeatureXWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0Result
Image from attachment on current page

IconInformationSee Image Macro for details
{image:img.png}

image:img.pngimg.png
Image from attachment on another page{image:img.png|document=Space.Page}image:Space.Page@img.pngimg.png
Image with parameters{image:img.png|width=25|height=25}[[image:img.png||width="25" height="25"]]img.png
Images located at URLhttp://some/url/img.pngimage:http://some/url/img.pngimg.png

XWiki Syntax 2.0 Image Specification

IconInformation

The part in ( ) is required, while the parts in { } are optional.

The full format of an image is either image: (reference) or [[image: (reference) {||parameters}]]

  • image: A required string identifying the resource as image.
  • reference: The reference to the image that shall be displayed in one of the following forms:
    • URL: Any URL to an image in the form of http://path/imageName. Example: http://domain.org/path/img.png
    • Attachment reference in the form {{{wikiName:} space.} page@} (imageName)
      • wikiName: An optional string containing the name of a virtual wiki. The image reference will point to an image attached to a page inside that virtual wiki. Example: mywiki
      • space: An optional wiki Space name. If no space is specified the current space is used. Example: Main
      • page: An optional string containing the name of the wiki page to which the referenced image is attached. Example: WebHome
      • imageName: A required string containing the name of the image attached to a page as it is stored in the wiki.
  • parameters: An optional list of space-separated parameters passed to the image. Example: width="800" height="600" alt="img.png" title="My nice image"
    • HTML attributes: All attributes defined by the HTML standard will be added to the rendered HTML <img> tag.
      • style: CSS style information that should be applied to the image. Examples: style="float:right;height:50" (image on right side, height 50 px), style="style="display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;width:80%" (image centered, width 80% of block width), style="vertical-align:bottom" (text starts at bottom of picture)
      • height: A parameter that defines the height of the displayed image. The value should be presented either in pixel (example: height="80") or in pixel related to the height of the block containing the image (example: height="40%").
      • width: A parameter that defines the width of the displayed image. The value should be presented either in pixel (example: width="80") or in pixel related to the width of the block containing the image (example: width="40%").
      • title: A parameter that defines the title the displayed image which will be visible when hovering the mouse trigger over the image, for instance. Example: title="My nice image"
      • alt: A parameter that defines which text should be displayed if the browser is not able to display the image. Since this is a required HTML attribute XWiki will use the file name instead if the alt parameter is not defined. Example: alt="img.png"
      • More: A more in depth explanation on the HTML <img> tag including more attributes can be reviewed on w3.org.

XWiki Syntax 2.1 Image Specification

IconInformation

The part in ( ) is required, while the parts in { } are optional.

The full format of an image is either image: (reference) or [[image: (reference) {||parameters}]]

  • image: A required string identifying the resource as image.
  • reference: The reference to the image that shall be displayed in one of the following forms:
    • URL: Any URL to an image in the form of protocol://path/imageName. Example: http://domain.org/path/img.png
    • Attachment reference in the form {{{wikiName:} space.} page@} (imageName)
      • wikiName: An optional string containing the name of a virtual wiki. The image reference will point to an image attached to a page inside that virtual wiki. Example: mywiki
      • space: An optional wiki Space name. If no space is specified the current space is used. Example: Main
      • page: An optional string containing the name of the wiki page to which the referenced image is attached. Example: WebHome
      • imageName: A required string containing the name of the image attached to a page as it is stored in the wiki.
    • Icon reference in the form (icon:) (iconName). Example: icon:accept
      • icon: A required string identifying the image reference as an icon from the XWiki Icon Set.
      • iconName: A required string identifying the icon referenced. Example: accept
  • parameters: An optional list of space-separated parameters passed to the image. Example: width="800" height="600" alt="img.png" title="My nice image"
    • HTML attributes: All attributes defined by the HTML standard will be added to the rendered HTML <img> tag.
      • style: CSS style information that should be applied to the image. Examples: style="float:right;height:50" (image on right side, height 50 px), style="style="display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;width:80%" (image centered, width 80% of block width), style="vertical-align:bottom" (text starts at bottom of picture)
      • height: A parameter that defines the height of the displayed image. The value should be presented either in pixel (example: height="80") or in pixel related to the height of the block containing the image (example: height="40%").
      • width: A parameter that defines the width of the displayed image. The value should be presented either in pixel (example: width="80") or in pixel related to the width of the block containing the image (example: width="40%").
      • title: A parameter that defines the title the displayed image which will be visible when hovering the mouse trigger over the image, for instance. Example: title="My nice image"
      • alt: A parameter that defines which text should be displayed if the browser is not able to display the image. Since this is a required HTML attribute XWiki will use the file name instead if the alt parameter is not defined. Example: alt="img.png"
      • More: A more in depth explanation on the HTML <img> tag including more attributes can be reviewed on w3.org.
    • queryString: Allows queries to be passed to the server when creating the download link for the referenced image. Example: queryString="width=100&height=800&keepAspectRatio=true" (keepAspectRatio=true will fail if the width and height parameters are specified in addition to queryString!)

Verbatim

Allow to enter content that will not be formatted (in other words the XWiki Syntax will not be taken into account).

IconInformation

In XWiki Syntax 1.0 the Pre macro only preserves XWiki Syntax and Radeox macros. However HTML snippets and Groovy/Velocity scripts are still executed.

FeatureXWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0Result XWiki Syntax 1.0Result XWiki Syntax 2.0
Verbatim inlineSome verbatim {pre}*[not rendered]*{/pre} contentSome verbatim {{{**[[not rendered]]**}}} contentSome verbatim *[not rendered]* contentSome verbatim **[[not rendered]]** content
Verbatim block

{pre} multi line *verbatim* content {/pre}
IconInformationIt's also possible to use the Code macro but it displays its content in a box by default.

{{{
multi line
**verbatim**
content
}}}

multi line
*verbatim*
content

multi line
**verbatim**
content

Quotations

Allows to quote some text.

FeatureXWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0Result
Simple quote

<blockquote><p>john said this</p></blockquote>
I said ok

> john said this
I said ok

 john said this

I said ok

Nested quotes

<blockquote><p>john said this</p>
  <blockquote><p>marie answered that</p></blockquote>
</blockquote>
I said ok 

> john said this
>> marie answered that
I said ok

 john said this

 marie answered that

I said ok

Groups

Groups can be used to insert another document inline directly into the current document. This allows for example to insert complex elements inside a list item or inside a table cell. Groups are delimited by the following syntactic elements: (((...))). One Group can contain another Group and there is no limit of imbrication.

XWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0Result
IconInformationThis feature doesn't exist in XWiki Syntax 1.0. You'd have to use pure HTML to achieve the result.
|=Header 1|=Header 2|=Header 3
|Cell One|(((
= Embedded document =

Some embedded paragraph.

* list item one
* list item two
  ** sub-item 1
  ** sub-item 2
))) | Cell Three

Next paragraph in the top-level document
Header 1Header 2Header 3
Cell One

Embedded document

Some embedded paragraph.

  • list item one
  • list item two
    • sub-item 1
    • sub-item 2
 Cell Three

Next paragraph in the top-level document

Escapes

Allows to escape XWiki Syntax.

FeatureXWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0Result XWiki Syntax 1.0Result XWiki Syntax 2.0
Escape a characterThis is not a \[link\]

This is not a ~[~[link~]~]
IconInformationTo enter a ~ character use a double escape: ~~

This is not a [link]This is not a [[link]]

Macros

There are 2 kinds of macros in XWiki Syntax 1.0:

  • Velocity macros (called using the #macroname(param1 ... paramN) syntax)
  • Radeox macros (called using the {macroname:param1=value1|...|paramN=valueN} syntax)

There are also 2 kinds of macros in XWiki Syntax 2.0:

  • Velocity macros (called using the #macroname(param1 ... paramN) syntax inside the Velocity Macro)
  • XWiki macros (called using the {{macroname param1="value1" ... paramN="valueN"}} syntax)
IconInformation

The Radeox macros cannot be used in XWiki Syntax 2.0. Thus they have been rewritten as XWiki macros.

IconInformation

For the full list of available macros check the Extensions wiki.

FeatureXWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0
Velocity Macro
#info("Some text")
{{info}}
Some text
{{/info}}
Radeox Macro/XWiki Macro
{code:java}
java content
{code}

{{code language="java"}}
java content
{{/code}}

HTML

IconInformation

In XWiki Syntax 2.0 HTML or XHTML must be entered by using the HTML macro whereas in XWiki Syntax 1.0 it's possible to enter HTML directly in the text.

XWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0Result
<b>bold</b>{{html}}<b>bold</b>{{/html}}bold
IconInformation

In XWiki Syntax 2.0, by default the HTML macro does not understands XWiki Syntax (other macros included since it's XWiki Syntax too). To enable it, use {{html wiki="true"}}.

Velocity/Groovy Scripts

IconInformation

In XWiki Syntax 1.0 it was possible to enter Velocity scripts anywhere directly in the page. This lead to issues for example when the user was involuntarily entering Velocity content. It was also performance hungry for pages not requiring Velocity content. There were several other technical limitations. Thus in XWiki Syntax 2.0 Velocity scripts must be entered using the velocity macro. Same goes for entering Groovy scripts.

FeatureXWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0
Velocity script
#set ($var = "whatever")

{{velocity}}
#set ($var = "whatever")
{{/velocity}}
Groovy script
<%
def var = "whatever"
%>

{{groovy}}
def var = "whatever"
{{/groovy}}

Parameters

With XWiki Syntax 2.0 it's possible to pass parameters to the different syntax elements and also to blocks of text. This is used for example to style them. You can set any parameter key/value pair you want. The XHTML renderer will pass these parameters as XHTML attributes to the underlying XHTML representation of the different syntax elements. In XWiki Syntax 1.0 there was no syntax for passing parameters and the only way to do it was to write XHTML directly in the content as shown in the table below.

XWiki Syntax 1.0XWiki Syntax 2.0Generated XHTML
<h1 class="myClass" style="myStyle" id="myId">heading</h1>

(% class="myClass" style="myStyle" id="myId" %)
= heading =

<h1 class="myClass" style="myStyle" id="myId">heading</h1>

Other syntaxes

The following other syntaxes are implemented in XWiki Enterprise 1.6 and later:

IconWarning

The implementation for these syntaxes is not fully finished yet. For example support for links is not working perfectly yet. We also need to define if we want to extend the original syntaxes to support XWiki-specific features like ability to link to another sub-wiki.