[Foundation-l] Big problem to solve: good WYSIWYG on WMF wikis

[Stephanie Daugherty]

On Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 7:12 PM, George Herbert <george.herbert at gmail.com>wrote:

> That is true - "We can't do away with Wikitext" always been the
> intermediate conclusion (in between "My god, we need to do something
> about this problem" and "This is hopeless, we give up again").
>
> Perhaps it's time to start some exercises in noneuclidian Wiki
> development, and just assume the opposite and see what happens.
>

We've got some serious thought going along three lines (with some crossover
between them.)


   1. Bolt WYSIWY* functionality on top of what we have that will just
   cordon off what it can't grok and let the user edit the rest.
   2. Strip out or restrict the use of some of the current wikitext elements
   to simplify the markup.
   3. Make a fresh start.

All of these are at least remotely feasible with a sustained effort and
commitment to implement a finished product. None of these results in an
optimal solution, but all of them result in a situation that is way ahead of
where we are now. Accepting a bad situation as "the way things have to be"
because the alternatives aren't perfect is foolish. Any measurable
improvement from where we are now would be just that - an improvement.
That's reason enough to go forward with something!!!!