[Pmwiki-users] Categories instead of hierarchies?

[John Rankin]

On Tuesday, 26 October 2004 2:55 PM, Patrick R. Michaud <pmichaud at pobox.com> wrote:
>> 5. if so the choices are:
>>  a) a directive keyword, such as (:category XYZ:)
>>  b) a shortcut character (cf [[~Pm]]), such as [[!XYZ]]
>>  c) an inline markup (cf <<|TrailPage|>>), such as 
>>    <<!XYZ!>>
>
>Of course, these choices aren't entirely mutually exclusive.  My
>personal preference is something along the lines of [[!XYZ]],
>as long as we recognize that this also implies that every page
>in a category therefore has a link to that category's page.

I agree totally that [[ ... ]] is always a link.

>The link could be hidden via a variety of mechanisms, however,
>including %comment% and (:comment:).  If [[!XYZ]] doesn't normally
>produce a link of some sort, we shouldn't be using double brackets 
>here.  (What a site-admin chooses to do is up to him/her,
>however.)

The style could even allow categories to show on screen while 
not showing them in print.
>
>I don't have strong feelings in favor of any particular 
>prefix character with (b), but I'm not fond of either '&' or '*'
>('*' looks too much like a query string parameter or an HTML 
>character entity, and '*' is too "wildcardish"  Sorry, Scott. :-)

We should also think about what else a particular prefix
character might mean and whether it would be better reserved
for future use.

For example:
[[*XYZ]] might indicate a reference to a subpage 
(see earlier post) if a site needs subpages.

And [[?XYZ]] might indicate a reference to a Glossary entry.

And [[^XYZ]] might indicate the home group, if there is one.

Not that I'm advocating that we head down this particular
slippery slope, just keeping as much powder dry as possible
(mixing my metaphors).

...
>Other possibilities just so we don't overlook a possible winner:
>   [[@XYZ]] as in C at egory ?

    [[_XYZ]] as in subject (think the markup for <sub>)

(that last one is a joke, by the way -- sorry, it has been
a long day)

I still think I like [[!XYZ]], for a subject heading,
using 'like' in the sense of can't think of a clearly
superior alternative or a better meaning for [[!XYZ]]
markup.

-- 
JR
--
John Rankin