[wp-hackers] semantic web features?

[Roy Schestowitz]

___/ On Wed 17 May 2006 20:42:14 BST, [ AJ Chen ] wrote : \___

> I'm new to wordpress development. Surprise that the mailing list archive is
> not searchable.


The   archive  are  an  (static)  automatic  dump  from  mailman.   Unlike
dababase-bound   content,  you  can't  query  for  fresh  content  without
indexing. Use the following syntax in Yahoo or Google:

site:lists.automattic.com <search-phrase>

Alternatively, "wp-forums" or "wp-hackers" are unique enough to be used as
search terms, along with your search phrase.


> I did search in docs and support forum, but could not find
> much about any feature that supports the emerging semantic web.


There  are  plugins (Dougal's I believe) which handles metadata and  while
it's not truly semantics, let's not forget about microformats such as XFN,
which WordPress has incoroporated in its core.


> I have been engaged in W3C's semantic web interest groups concerning life
> sciences.  There are lots of research activities going on in the areas of
> ontology and its applications in semantic web.  I see a need for a
> user-friendly publishing tool for general users to publish data in ontology
> or rdf. (Ontology editor is more for specialist, I think)  After comparing a
> host of wiki tools and blog tools, I think Wordpress is a better platform to
> implement features supporting semantic web development. I saw lots of
> discussions on another thread concerning development slow down. I guess
> semantic web may be one place to find new trend/opportunity.


Only  as a specialised tool, in my humble opinion. The Joe Average blogger
is  neither  prepared nor willing to embed semantics. Most people  I  know
still  use editors such as Word, which leave out semantics, adhere to  the
pixel-perfect  paradigm, and will never approach anything like  SGML-based
composition  (LaTeX being an exemplary classic). I seem to be drifting off
topic, so I'll stop.


> Did anybody implement a plugin for supporting any ontology or rdf? I know
> RSS1.0 is in rdf. Because there are lots of ontologies and they keep
> evolving, I would like to know if wordpress is easy to be extended to
> support one specific ontology today but also many new ontologies as the
> semantic web advances.  Do you think anything is needed to add to the core
> code or simply adding new plugins is sufficient?


You  should  be able to use the existing hooks, but this may also  require
the  user  to  include  the necessary information  while  composing.  This
reminds me of a nice analogy from Alan Flavell. You can produce cheese and
cream  from from milk. Both are milk products. Yet, converting cheese into
cream  would  not be possible. You are better off starting from  the  fine
milk,  which  here is the analogy of semantics, provided by the user.  You
may  need  to introduce an extended SGML and I am not sure to what  extent
WordPress facilitates it.


> The features I have in mind will include:
> - GUI editor with multiple input fields
> - save/export input data in RDF/ontology
> - organizing data by categories
>
> Any comment is welcome.
>
> AJ


I  would love to see a larger proportion of the Web accommodating for  and
fostering   semantics.   This   way,   one  can   gather   knowledge   and
replace/enhance  text-based  search  engines,  which  is  something  I  am
particularly interested in.

Best wishes,

Roy

-- 
Roy S. Schestowitz
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