I fail to see the usefulness of a footnote in a highly hyperlinked environment such as a wiki. Aren't they just poor excuse for hyperlinks on mediums that don't support real linking, like paper books? What's more important, you don't really see many footnotes in the wikis out there, except for a certain encyclopedia. I don't think that Creole should be a vehicle for adding new and original features to wikis, don't you? If you don't agree, maybe we could start by collecting some real use cases of footnotes and wiki engines that have them, and then look if there are some common features that could be standardized? -- RadomirDopieralski 2009-11-12 21:17:40
Radomir, many people go through their whole lives without using footnotes or references so according to your argument all wordprocessors should remove footnotes and references in order to standardise with only the features that everyone uses. What a strange idea! Do you really believe creole will get any widespread acceptance if you use it as some kind of way force wikipedia to fit in with your notion that wikis shouldn't have references?
Not including footnotes in the WikiCreole standard doesn't force anybody to do anything. Including them forces everyone who want to be compatible with WikiCreole to implement them. In addition to making it harder to implement (potentially impossible on many wiki engines that don't have the notion of footnotes), slowing down the adoption of this standard, footnotes make it also harder to teach the whole markup to new users. Besides, Wikipedia is not going to implement WikiCreole anyways, so you can rest reassured. -- -- RadomirDopieralski 2009-11-17 11:19:21
RadomirDopieralski, what on earth are you talking about? I'm not aware of a single standard that tells people: "you must implement this standard in full", instead they all say: "if you do this then this is how it should be done". The wiring code, e.g. doesn't say "A 3phase fuse box is wired as follows..." because every single household must have a 3phase fuse box. NO NO NO NO! The standard is there for those who happen to need a 3phase fuse box, and anyone who needs a 3phase box doesn't likewise have to include a 2phase fuse box so that they "comply" with the full standard. So, if you don't have a need for footnotes in your wiki, please respect the fact that others do and stop being so negative about those who do need a standard for footnotes. ~~
You are right, I know nothing about standards, I'm hereby stopping being negative. Thank you for opening my eyes. -- RadomirDopieralski 2009-11-18 21:47:40
RadomirDopieralski - whilst I continue to use markup for applications and even tend to follow the broad outline of Creole, I've basically given up any idea of there ever being a Creole "standard" because too many people like you refused to allow it to adapt to the real world where people need various markup to fit various types of editing. It was always like a one-size bridge: far too dogmatic for many simple applications, but worse - it simply failed to reach the other side of the river in anything but a simple application. Or to put it another way: a bridge that those involved refused to make adaptable to fit anything but your specific crossing -- and it should be obvious why it hasn't been taken up by anyone but those people! Mike