Under some circumstances list syntax is parsed inside <pre> tags. The same happens with <syntaxhighlight> and additionaly causes a terribly mis-nested output. Example input:
<pre>[[a]] #[[a]]</pre> ---- *<pre>[[a]] [[a]]</pre> ---- *<pre>[[a]] #[[a]]</pre>
Output:
<pre>[[a]] #[[a]]</pre> <hr> <ul><li><pre>[[a]] </pre></li></ul> [[a]] <hr> <ul><li><pre>[[a]] </pre></li></ul> <ol><li>[[a]] </li></ol>
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No 1 is ok. In No 2 the second line is outside the <pre>, but not parsed as wikisyntax. With <syntaxhighlight> instead of <pre> two additional </div>s appear (unless tidy removes them again). No 3 is like No 2, but the # is interpreted as wikisyntax for <ol>.
See also: