vim sparkup item number in content - vim

Question

Using the sparkup plugin for vim (specifically vim-gnome on Ubuntu 15.04, although I doubt that matters), I am generating a list with item numbers:
ion-content.has-tabs > .list > a.item[href=#/item/$]{Item $}*3
The result substitutes the item number in [href=#/item/$] but not in {Item $}:
<ion-content class="has-tabs">
<div class="list">
Item $
Item $
Item $
</div>
</ion-content>
Feature, bug, or user error?

Answer 1

I don't remember Sparkup ever supporting incrementing numbers inside "content" braces so I would say "feature".
Don't waste your time asking for a fix on the plugin's issue tracker, though.

Answer 2

I am afriad that this plugin deems the $ in curly braces as a text which should not be affected. To numerate your Item $ list, you can try this command
:let #a=1 | %s/\$/\=(#a+setreg('a',#a+1))/g
or for selected block in visual mode
:let #a=1 | '<,'>s/\$/\=(#a+setreg('a',#a+1))/g

Answer 3

I accepted an answer to the question as I asked it, but I'm adding this to show an alternate approach for a slightly different requirement. I needed to add a nested tag along with the text, which Sparkup does not support. So I found a single 2-step solution to this that also solved the original item number problem (more complex in my real world solution but simplified here).
This sparkup:
ion-content > .list > a.item.item-icon-left.Item$[href=#/items/$]*3 > i.icon.ion-email
generates this:
<ion-content>
<div class="list">
<a href="#/items/1" class="item item-icon-left Item1">
<i class="icon ion-email"></i>
</a>
<a href="#/items/2" class="item item-icon-left Item2">
<i class="icon ion-email"></i>
</a>
<a href="#/items/3" class="item item-icon-left Item3">
<i class="icon ion-email"></i>
</a>
</div>
</ion-content>
Then after I select the lines in visual mode, running this:
:'<,'>s/ Item\([0-9]*\)">/">Item \1/g
produces my desired result:
<ion-content>
<div class="list">
<a href="#/items/1" class="item item-icon-left">Item 1
<i class="icon ion-email"></i>
</a>
<a href="#/items/2" class="item item-icon-left">Item 2
<i class="icon ion-email"></i>
</a>
<a href="#/items/3" class="item item-icon-left">Item 3
<i class="icon ion-email"></i>
</a>
</div>
</ion-content>