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This page (revision-5) was last changed on 26-Jun-2007 18:42 by 66.17.148.6  

This page was created on 01-Jan-2007 21:40 by RaphLevien

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At line 10 changed one line
Presentation markup has a certain //je ne sais qua.//
Presentation markup has a certain //je ne sais quoi.//
At line 13 changed one line
In HTML, the situation is considerably more complex. There are a number of simple tags that have the same presentation as above in standard display contexts, including the presentation markup <i>je ne sais qua</i>, but none of the semantic tags have quite the right meaning. Most typists will probably use <em>, under the belief that <em> is superior to <i> because it's semantic, but the phrase isn't necessarily emphasized, so this semantic markup isn't very accurate. None of <cite>, <var>, or <address> has the desired meaning either.
In HTML, the situation is considerably more complex. There are a number of simple tags that have the same presentation as above in standard display contexts, including the presentation markup <i>je ne sais quoi</i>, but none of the semantic tags have quite the right meaning. Most typists will probably use <em>, under the belief that <em> is superior to <i> because it's semantic, but the phrase isn't necessarily emphasized, so this semantic markup isn't very accurate. None of <cite>, <var>, or <address> has the desired meaning either.
At line 21 changed one line
Semantic markup lacks a certain <span lang="fr">je ne sais qua.</span>
Semantic markup lacks a certain <span lang="fr">je ne sais quoi.</span>
At line 37 added 18 lines
Matthew Paul Thomas has a pretty good [essay|http://mpt.net.nz/archive/2004/05/02/b-and-i] making similar points to what I was trying to say above. His concluding paragraph:
<blockquote>
So if you want to use bold or italics, and HTML doesn’t have a semantic element for what you mean, use b or i. If you’re not sure which semantic element to use, use b or i. And if you’re creating an authoring tool for people who won’t know or care about semantics, please leave the semantic markup alone, and just stick to b and i. Thankyou.
</blockquote>
In that essay, he mentions Markdown, and in a [followup|http://mpt.net.nz/archive/2004/05/09/semantic], he specifically addresses Wikis.
Paul Ford has some interesting things to say about pidgin and creole in a [piece|http://www.ftrain.com/WebPidgin.html] that apparently aired on NPR's All Things Considered, and expands on these ideas [here|http://www.ftrain.com/ProcessingProcessing.html].
And for some fun, Clinton Forbes goes after [semantic markup zealots|http://clintonforbes.blogspot.com/2006/12/rant-about-semantic-markup-zealots.html] here. I'm not sure whether he had [Faruk Ate|http://kurafire.net/log/archive/2006/03/31/semantic-markup-debates-b-vs-strong] in mind when he wrote that.
Jukka Korpela [makes a strong case|http://www.cs.tut.fi/%7Ejkorpela/html/em.html] that <em> and <strong> are little more than aliases for <i> and <b> to satisfy purists.
Lastly, I vote for [won't somebody please think of the gerbils?|http://diveintomark.org/archives/2003/08/29/semantics] (by diveintomark) as the appropriate response to mindless advocates of semantic markup.
-- [Raph Levien] 2007-01-07
Version Date Modified Size Author Changes ... Change note
5 26-Jun-2007 18:42 5.631 kB 66.17.148.6 to previous Corrected mis-spelling of "quoi".
4 08-Jan-2007 05:16 5.63 kB RaphLevien to previous | to last more links
3 08-Jan-2007 05:04 5.247 kB RaphLevien to previous | to last add a bunch of links
2 02-Jan-2007 05:16 3.958 kB 70.52.99.62 to previous | to last
1 01-Jan-2007 21:40 3.956 kB RaphLevien to last respect the presentation flavor of wikis
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