wysiwyg and light-markup are oil and water

mofo syne mofosyne at gmail.com
Fri Sep 12 00:32:32 EDT 2014


I think a mark down wysiwyg would still be very useful, even if not perfect
(as long as all outputs is consistent between computers)

Take for instance Adobe dreamweaver . It can edit both in output mode and
in source code. The ability to switch between two views is a lifesaver.

Plus this is a good opportunity to push the idea of separation between
presentations and text for typical non tech savvy office workers. By
perhaps a centralized repository of css styles for each type of documents.
On 12/09/2014 2:16 pm, "bowerbird via Markdown-Discuss" <
markdown-discuss at six.pairlist.net> wrote:

> there is a lot of surface appeal to a system
> which combines wysiwyg and light-markup.
>
> and one can do a few simple combinations.
>
> but before long, and certainly once you try
> to tackle some more-complicated features,
> you find yourself torn by an inherent conflict.
>
> starkly put, there is a _difference_ between
> what you put in, and what you get out, and
> the question is which one you want to "see".
>
> by definition, wysiwyg pictures the "output".
>
> but an inability to "see" your input means it
> can become very difficult to edit that input.
>
> the inclination, upon that realization, is to
> attempt to show "enough" of the input that
> it becomes possible to do your editing, but
> that just turns the wysiwyg into cruel illusion.
>
> i'm not gonna say that it's "impossible", but
> i will advise anyone who is tempted to try it
> to carefully map everything you need to do
> before you even start to think about coding.
>
> if you want to take on the hardest thing first,
> figure out how to successfully allow a paste
> from an arbitrary ms-word file...  good luck...
>
> -bowerbird
>
> p.s. even if you solve that fundamental gap,
> you will also discover that "wysiwyg" carries
> excess baggage, in that some people think
> it entails one thing, and other people another,
> so you're never gonna make everyone happy.
>
> p.p.s.  all this also applies to contenteditable,
> in case anybody is mulling that as a solution.
>
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