[Wikipedia-l] Re: Parsing

[Hr. Daniel Mikkelsen]

On Tue, 30 Jul 2002, Steve Callaway wrote:

> > > I don't understand. What about the
> > > = Header 1 =,
> > > == Header 2 ==, and
> > > === Header 3 === etc.
> > > markup
>
> er. and H4 - H8? I can see why you want it. It's very idiosyncratic,
> nevertheless. HTML is //much// simpler. And the stuff you learn is
> //portable//. The way the wikis are going, you're going to need to know a
> raft of different flavours of markup.

I disagree that HTML is simpler at all. At my company, we've adopted wiki like
syntax for letting people/customers edit simple articles at web applications,
because it's easier for them to learn, and easier for them to type.

(We export to both HTML, XML and RTF, btw.)

Also, by using HTML, you create an expecation that a full set of HTML markup is
supported. Which we can't have, of course, if we ever want to export to XML.

The concept of a limited markup is important for Wikipedia, exactly because the
content counts, not the presentation. Wikipedia and other wikis represent the
original dream of the web - marred by foul extensions to HTML and proprietary
plugins. Wiki syntax must stay.

Using HTML for markup at Wikipedia is like pissing in your pants to keep warm.

-- Daniel