Formatting in descriptions

Hi,

On our new Burngreave Messenger MKDoc website, I've noticed that text 
in descriptions can be formatted in the same way as text in a text 
component (with bulleted lists etc.).

However, this is not the case on the older BNDfC site. Here the 
formatting just doesn't work.

As both sites run on the same server, and presumably run off the same 
MKDoc installation, I'm assuming this is somehow related to information 
somewhere in the templates - I'm just not sure where to find it!

Could you let me know if I'm right in thinking this? If not, what would 
be the way to 'upgrade' an older site to do this, or is it not possible?

Jamie