On Sat, 19 Jul 2003, Rotem Dan wrote:
I'm an adherent of uniqueness, diversity and individuality, but the responses here seem to show that there is a status quo on "how a wiki should look and feel" that is maintained and all wikis are forced to conform to, for some reason (with the exception of the Esperanto wiki, and the french logo). I find that repressive and creatively discouraging.
I think much of the reason Wikis are so similar is that wiki syntax sets a limit on the design elements you can use - outside the border/skin stuff.
Wiki syntax is essential to the purity of the content. And the purity of the content is essential to most Wiki sites. Especially to Wikipedia, where we want the content to be ready to use in print, on PDAs, for blind people, etc.
I'm not saying you weren't aware of it. :) It's just that I think it's so important, it has to be mentioned every time someone starts talking about design for Wikipedia.
-- Daniel