[wp-hackers] Post style buttons

[Mark Jaquith]

On Feb 26, 2007, at 11:31 AM, Dougal Campbell wrote:

> So we compromised by using the semantics that are correct 99% of the
> time but with the labels that 99% of users are comfortable with.  It
> might be an ugly compromise, but it works for most cases.

That's correct.  The target for these buttons isn't HTML-jockeys who  
know when to semantically use <em>,<i>,<strong> and <b>.  Our goal  
isn't to make people more geeky.  Having "em" and "str" (or even  
"emphasize" and "strong") confuses people.

Here's how the thought process goes:

1. User thinks "I want to emphasize this word."
2. User immediately moves to "emphasis means italics"
3. User looks for "i" button like in their word processor

They move seamlessly from 1 to 2.  And they don't move backwards.

Most of the time, <em> and <strong> are the right things to use.  "i"  
and "b" are what people think of when they contemplate concepts like  
emphasis and strength.  Nothing we do is going to change that, and  
nothing we do is going to teach Joe and Josephine User about HTML  
semantics if they don't want to learn.

--
Mark Jaquith
http://markjaquith.com/

Covered Web Services
http://coveredwebservices.com/