[pmwiki-users]SEO: Avoiding Headings in the SideBar

[Patrick R. Michaud]

On Mon, Aug 15, 2005 at 02:27:19PM -0700, H. Fox wrote:
> > and I really don't want to do
> > program a lot of sidebar-specific monkey-business into the core.
> 
> That's a matter of perspective. Some would say that using XHTML
> headings, especially H1 headings, for site navigation is *already*
> sidebar monkey business in the core.
> IOW, it would be working around previously-established monkey business
> with additional monkey business!  :-)

I think I've already indicated that we should eliminate the use of
!'s for headings in the sidebar (thus getting rid of the "existing
monkey business"), I don't see any good to be gained from adding new
monkeying around in its place.

> > > Come to think of it, paragraphs should be the default and there should
> > > be a $SidebarHeadingsAreNotParagraphs setting.  :-)
> > 
> > Sorry, you lost me on this one.
> 
> I was suggesting that ! generates paragraphs (or some other block
> markup) in the sidebar by default, and there would be an option to
> revert to the current behavior.  Maybe $SidebarHeadingsAreNotSpecial
> would have been clearer.

I'm suggesting that we not use ! in the sidebars at all.  Existing
sites can continue to use them (and skins can continue to style
them), but PmWiki's default sidebar and settings won't use ! for
sidebar headings.

> In the Light and Lean skins I have special CSS properties for <strong>
> in the sidebar.  I'll experiment with something like
>     #sidebar strong { display:block; }
> Maybe that's not so good.  Maybe some other less-used markup, like
>     #sidebar sup { display:block }
> Perhaps better yet, we could use some existing block markup that
> wouldn't be useful in a sidebar, like outdent or some such.

In general I don't think it's a good idea to re-use existing 
markups for a different purpose.  We either create a new one,
or define a wikistyle that means what we think it should mean.

Pm