[pmwiki-users] pmwiki-users Digest, Vol 9, Issue 118

Fri Mar 17 10:24:30 CST 2006

My vote is the same as Hans.  I like the third option best. And for
the same reasons.

I have not yet done anything with uploads, and those who use
Attach:image.jpg"Tooltip" might find that option more familiar,
intuitive, or at least more consistent.  On the other hand, why
couldn't we add an alternative option like Attach:image.jpg|"ToolTip"
that way new users could just get use to the idea of Pipes being
associated with anything involving links, external files, etc.

On this note, I think again it would be helpful to have a introductory
page explaining what various types of coding symbols are used for (of
a more general nature than specific details).   For example:

(:whatever:)  These are called either Directives or Markups, and are
inserted in a page to call some function in a recipe or PmWiki Script.
 Common ones include...  See Page directives page.

>>Various parameters<<   These introduce a styling span (?) with
various styling characteristics.  Used in a wiki page. Closed with
>><<. For more info see a CSS guide.

%attribute%  Similar to above, but sets various characteristics in a
page to some predefined style till the end of the line (?)  Possible
attributes include

[@ [[ [+ [- [=  Special markups used by PmWiki for special purposes
(maybe a list).  closes with @] ]] +] -] =]

' '' ''' , ~~ ~~~ ~~~~, ! !! !!! !!!! etc.  More special PmWiki
shortcuts for bold/italics, author signing, h1, h2 h3, etc.

$Variable  Php variables used in PmWiki or a recipe.  Some can also be
used in a page such as...  When added in a page they require
{$Variable}

These are special controls that are used in
a PmWiki Skin (template) that cause certain things to happen in PmWiki
on a page, such as...  For examples, see whatever page.

<html><table><b><i>...  These are basic html codes.  These are used in
a PmWiki Skin (template) but not in a PmWiki page.  The page codes
used above are automatically translated into html for you by the
PmWiki engine (tractor).  Couldn't resist again.

I suppose the list could go on but my point is, such a list would be
extremely useful to help a non-programmer sort out all the kinds of
code one runs into here and there in PmWiki, get a clue what purpose
it's serving, and point them to more detailed documentation. It need
not be much longer than this, but maybe a bit more comprehensive, and
written by someone who knows what they are talking about.  PmWiki is
not too hard to figure out, but an introduction of this sort would be
a great first step towards helping non coders who don't mind getting
their hands dirty figure out how to dive in. It would have saved me a
good deal of perplexity.

Caveman

P.S.  On thinking about it a bit more, one might organize this page
into sections such as stuff used in wiki pages, stuff used in skin
templates, stuff used by php (recipes, config files, and scripts), and
stuff used in (css) styling sheet files.