On Saturday, 21 February 2009 2:38 AM, DaveG <pmw...@solidgone.com> wrote: > >john.ran...@affinity.co.nz wrote: >> If, for example, we were to add a link to say "View the wiki source for >> this page" (as I think we should), the newcomer would get no surprises. >Good idea.
Done. > >> Continuing the "no surprises" theme, if EditingForNewcomers uses >> markup that is not defined on the page, the page text needs to >> acknowledge the fact and link to a page (DirectivesForNewcomers) >> that explains the undefined markup. This is why the current >> EditingForNewcomers page explicitly states that it is built using >> only the markup described on the page. >Personally, I think the visual clarity or the markup format to the >newcomer reader out-weighs the possibility that the same newcomer reader >looks at the source and gets confused by the (:markup:). > > ~ ~ Dave > I *do* agree about the visual clarity point that several people have raised, although I'd still like to explore some improvements to the default pmwiki css. But I also consider that the page should err on the conservative side in its use of markup. Most of the newcomers I deal with come from a word processing background and their number 1 objection is "It's not WYSIWYG". With the page as it's currently constructed, viewing the source gives a recognisable representation of the final page. Once (:markup:) is introduced, this relationship is lost until one understands what (:markup:) is doing. This is not really representative of pmwiki behaviour -- many wiki source pages have a close correspondence with the displayed page. To me, viewing the source of the newcomers page is a natural and safe last step for the newcomer to take. However, this is just my anecdotal evidence. I cannot offer any usability studies to support my position, so could well be wrong. JR -- John Rankin Affinity Limited T 64 4 495 3737 F 64 4 473 7991 021 RANKIN john.ran...@affinity.co.nz www.affinity.co.nz _______________________________________________ pmwiki-users mailing list pmwiki-users@pmichaud.com http://www.pmichaud.com/mailman/listinfo/pmwiki-users