Disagree with bold+italic and code tag guidelines

Revision as of 5 December 2011 at 16:51.
The [/index.php?title=Talk:Typographical_Guidelines&offset=20111205165104&lqt_mustshow=1573 highlighted comment] was created in this revision.

[edit] Only italic for replaceable and variable text

Use this combination [Bold and Italic Text] for replaceable or variable text.

I think that's overkill, it draws wayyy too much attention. Just use italics for variable and replaceable text, that's the convention used by O'Reilly books and most web sites. (The semantic HTML tag for variable text is <var> — enter your User Name. Note how it's just italic, not italic+bold.)

[edit] extend code tag to end of entry

Surely the <code> tag must extend over all the bits you type in, otherwise it's incoherent. The examples given are wrong.

current (2011-12-01): type ssh username@domain.name in Konsole
better, it's all stuff you enter: type ssh username@domain.name in Konsole
best (don't overstyle, variable text just in italic): type ssh username@domain.name in Konsole

[edit] kbd tag, not code, for user input

Besides, the correct tag for things you must type is the <kbd> tag. From the HTML 2.0 spec at w3.org, "The KBD element indicates text typed by a user." <code> should be for bits of config files, sample output, etc. Let's try kbd:

test using kbd tag instead: type ssh username@domain.name in Konsole

The steps to get there from here are:

Style kbd to have the same yellow background as current code and the input template.
Change these guidelines, start using <kbd> for user input, and over time convert markup for text entry in existing wiki pages to it.
Change the <code> tag to have the same violet-gray background as the output template.

skierpage‎

I generally have nothing against that. But...

We have already Parley/Manual that does not even follow the current guidelines. Can anybody be a volunteer and fix everything (well, as the only manual which is more or less up-to-date and complete now, at least Amarok/Manual) on manual pages?

It would also be good to present some table of correspondence. Ex.:

Description	Code	Code example	Result
Inline user input	<kbd></kbd>	<kbd>ssh -h</kbd>	`ssh -h`

Thanks.

Yurchor‎

"Only italic for replaceable and variable text" - I dislike the effect of the combination, but then Italic, standing alone, already has a defined role. In my opinion to give it this role as well will cause a great deal of confusion.

"extend code tag to end of entry" - I agree, but if we develop the additional tag there will be no point in starting such edits.

"kbd tag, not code, for user input" - I await Yurchor's comment as to whether, in the long run, this would help or not. I'm happy to go ahead, if he is, but his comment about getting people to follow rules does stand. We have seen a strong argument in the last week or so where a writer saw no reason to obey our rules.

This leaves us, I think, having to choose between discouraging writers or creating a team of editors to mark up every new page, as soon after creation as possible, with standardised markup. That's something of a thankless task, and I'm not even sure that the authors would accept it.

annew‎