[pmwiki] Re: [Pmwiki-users] Whitepaper about markup strategy

[Bernhard Weichel in pmwiki-users]

kinhost wrote:
> However, I'd like to note that most writers won't be putting code
> into their documentation -- and those who are going to are probably
> able to handle XML-style [[feature]]...[[/feature]] markup.  This
> implies that if there's absolutely any place in the wiki markup that
> *can* have XML style markup without confusing the general writing
> public, it would be this particular feature. :P

I agree with this. My paper targets mainly authors of the second category.
Even if I feel that for thos who won't put code into the documentation,
the existing Wiki Markup (which I called Fuzzy) is not really intuitive.

>
>
> I found most of your document interesting, there were a few errors,
> spellings, and links I fixed.  Some of it I see as taking the wiki

Thanks a lot. You see most of the errors come from the difficulties
I have with the markup. As a fluently XML writer I really have problems
with the text being messed up with characters of different behavior.

> into a more complex or advanced area unless you're proposing changes
> that would be additional to current markup schemes, rather than
> replacing them.  If you're talking about a complete reworking of how
> the wiki marks up text into something more complex then I disagree
> with the proposal: one of the reason

I do not propose a complete reworking. I propose a strategic complementation
of the current schemes.

> I like the wiki is that there's a chance that my more computer
> illiterate relatives can use it ;)  It's going to be difficult enough
> to let them know that they can use 3 apostrophe to get bold and doing
> it again turns the bold off.  Explaining that they can do ".b bold"
> ".e bold" or something like that would be too much.

I agree:

Yes, so it should be /italic/ *bold* _underline_ */bolditalic/*

!Headline1 would IMHO be easier to recognize as

.H1 headline1

  indented paragraph
  which is simply indented

would be easier to recognize than

: :indented paragraph which is simply indented

is not more difficult to read as it is now

.b_pre
 this is program code
    and this is also program code
.e_pre

Similar applies to lists. It drives me crazy, that

* item1
* item2

and

* item1

* item2

produce different results.

.b_list bullet="#"
.b_item
this is my list item

it can comprise of multiple paragraphs

.e_item
.b_item
and this is the second item

.e_list

would help out for advanced list requirements.

So Wiki markup is simple for trivial stuff like bold. But SpecialMarkup has
much more
which does not really follow a regular scheme which is again easy to
remember.

eg. I never know is it one [ or is it two [

> I don't think the idea here is to make a full content management
> system...though it's certainly getting there (LOL).

There are some whitepapers in German, which compare Wiki with content
management systems. Interestingly, the major difference is the worfklow
missing in Wikis.
And of course complexity and cost ;-)

So for medium complex web sites, IMHO PmWiki is a much better approach than
full blown CMS.

Bernhard