We explain how our priorities have displaced many givens of usability of the modern web especially on mobile devices. We trust our decisions wise, and temporary.
Aside: the plural 'we' stands for the original author here and others who may align and contribute hence.
Wells' time traveler discovered the idyllic life of the future Eloi was that of livestock for the similarly disempowered Morlock ranchers. Conversely, wiki unites producer and consumer with idealistic aspirations for both.
We will recall and explain features of the federated wiki user interface that remain important for and perhaps even essential to the interactions and experiences we anticipate. We may even discover in this process deeper principles than those with which we started.
# Proliferative
We seek proliferation of thought and reason. Thus we choose mechanisms for discrimination rather than a single source of truth.
Lineup. Pages appear side by side, citation and cited, current and earlier revision, one's work and another's.
Resolution. Pages preserve history that provides a context for interpreting links.
Twins. We acknowledge alternatives above the title in the highest position on the page.
Chronology. We sample twins bounding the number of older and newer to those chronologically adjacent.
Correspondence. Item identity persists through relocation and modification. Shift-hover highlights correspondence.
# Accessable
We favor acquisition of mastery over reverence for masters. Thus we choose plainness over style so long as the medium remains expressive.
Linear. Items appear in a single sequence easily modified and modifications recorded. Only links with their implied change of context alter this flow.
Markup. We author in plain text with minimal pluggable markup specific to and fit for purpose.
Economy. We employ simple mechanisms close to native capabilities until they are shown to be insufficient.
Open. We publish all of our source and suggest others do likewise with embedded documentation of its location.
# Interoperable
We operate on the public internet using mechanisms available to all implementers. We expect to be clone and consider that progress.
Login. We authenticate only owners and then only to protect the longevity of their work. Anyone can edit and store their own copies elsewhere.
Local. We preserve even unauthenticated users ability to edit by saving their work in their own browser. This like any content anywhere can be exported into private files.
Calm. We enable and respond to users but we do not presume to know what they are doing. We offer many ways to pull but refuse to push.