Initial simplifies the reproduction of typical formatting found at the begining of a chapter: A dropped capital, with the remainder of the word uppercased. While this can be reproduced relatively simply, ex. {{di|T}}HE, or more correctly {{uc|{{di|T}}he}}, if the first paragraph is part of a bulleted list, and letter-spacing is applied, the formatting becomes more complicated, ex. {{di|1.|1em}}{{uc|{{di|T}}{{sp|he|.2em}}}}. Initial replaces this with {{initial|T|he}} in the simple case, and {{initial|T|he|.2em|num=1.}} in the more complex case:

1. The grand Truth which we are now to be imployed about and to prove, is, That there is a God: And I made choice of this Subject as very seasonable for the Times we are in, and are coming on, wherein Divine Providence more universally loosening the minds of men from the awe and tyranny of mere accustomary Superstition, and permitting a freer perusal of matters of Religion then in former Ages, the Tempter would take advantage, where he may, to carry men captive out of one dark prison into another, out of Superstition into Atheism it self.

Parameters
Paramater Mandatory Definition Notes
1 no Dropped capital Default value is "A"
2 no Uppercased text There is no space between the dropped capital and the uppercase text. If one exists then it needs to be added manually with a nbsp
3 no Letter spacing Default value is "0em" (no spacing)
num no Number If part of numbered list. Usually "1.", any value can be used. Appears superscript before the dropped capital.