Creole (markup)
Encyclopedia
Creole is a lightweight markup language
for formatting wikitext
, aimed at being a common markup language
for wiki
s, enabling and simplifying the transfer of content between different wiki engines.
Originally conceived during a workshop at the 2006 International Symposium on Wikis
, the goal of Creole development is to "create a common markup that was not a standardization of an arbitrary existing markup, but rather a new markup language that was created out of the common elements of all existing engines." To achieve this, different existing variations on wiki markup were analyzed and the most commonly used elements included into the specification. An EBNF grammar and XML
interchange format for Creole have also been published. Creole was specified by comparing major wiki engines and deciding on the most common choice for a particular wikitext element. If no commonality was found, the wikitext of the dominant wiki engine MediaWiki
usually was chosen.
On July 4th 2007, Version 1.0 (final) of Creole was released, and a two-year development freeze
was implemented to allow time for authors of wiki engines to adopt the new markup. Although development to the standard itself is frozen, discussion in the developer community regarding good practices in wiki markup design and about possible additions and changes for future Creole versions continues.
//emphasized// (e.g., italics)
**strongly emphasized** (e.g., bold)
Lists:
* Bullet list
* Second item
** Sub item
# Numbered list
# Second item
## Sub item
Links:
Link to wikipage
link text
Headings: (closing equals signs are optional)
= Extra-large heading
Large heading
Support in engines
As of early 2011, wiki engines that have implemented full or partial support for Creole include Oddmuse
, MoinMoin
, DokuWiki
, TiddlyWiki
, JSPWiki
, PmWiki
, PodWiki, XWiki
., EuWiki, Ikiwiki
, Hatta and PhpWiki
.
However, Creole is not necessarily the default syntax in these wiki engines.
External links
Lightweight markup language
A lightweight markup language is a markup language with a simple syntax, designed to be easy for a human to enter with a simple text editor, and easy to read in its raw form....
for formatting wikitext
Wikitext
Wikitext language, or wiki markup, is a lightweight markup language used to write pages in wiki websites, such as Wikipedia, and is a simplified alternative/intermediate to HTML. Its ultimate purpose is to be converted by wiki software into HTML, which in turn is served to web browsers.There is no...
, aimed at being a common markup language
Markup language
A markup language is a modern system for annotating a text in a way that is syntactically distinguishable from that text. The idea and terminology evolved from the "marking up" of manuscripts, i.e. the revision instructions by editors, traditionally written with a blue pencil on authors' manuscripts...
for wiki
Wiki
A wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
s, enabling and simplifying the transfer of content between different wiki engines.
Originally conceived during a workshop at the 2006 International Symposium on Wikis
WikiSym
WikiSym is a short hand for International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration, or the Wiki Symposium, a conference dedicated to wiki research and practice. Its proceedings are published in the ACM Digital Library.-Overview:...
, the goal of Creole development is to "create a common markup that was not a standardization of an arbitrary existing markup, but rather a new markup language that was created out of the common elements of all existing engines." To achieve this, different existing variations on wiki markup were analyzed and the most commonly used elements included into the specification. An EBNF grammar and XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
interchange format for Creole have also been published. Creole was specified by comparing major wiki engines and deciding on the most common choice for a particular wikitext element. If no commonality was found, the wikitext of the dominant wiki engine MediaWiki
MediaWiki
MediaWiki is a popular free web-based wiki software application. Developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, it is used to run all of its projects, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Wikinews. Numerous other wikis around the world also use it to power their websites...
usually was chosen.
On July 4th 2007, Version 1.0 (final) of Creole was released, and a two-year development freeze
Freeze (software engineering)
In software engineering, a freeze is a point in time in the development process after which the rules for making changes to the source code or related resources become more strict, or the period during which those rules are applied...
was implemented to allow time for authors of wiki engines to adopt the new markup. Although development to the standard itself is frozen, discussion in the developer community regarding good practices in wiki markup design and about possible additions and changes for future Creole versions continues.
Creole syntax examples
Emphasized text://emphasized// (e.g., italics)
**strongly emphasized** (e.g., bold)
Lists:
* Bullet list
* Second item
** Sub item
# Numbered list
# Second item
## Sub item
Links:
Headings: (closing equals signs are optional)
= Extra-large heading
Large heading
Medium heading
Small heading
Linebreaks:
Force\\linebreak
Horizontal Line:
----
Images:
Tables:
|= |= table |= header |
| a | table | row |
| b | table | row |
No markup:
Support in enginesAs of early 2011, wiki engines that have implemented full or partial support for Creole include Oddmuse
Oddmuse
Oddmuse is a wiki engine. It is free software, licensed under the GNU General Public License. Oddmuse is based on UseModWiki version 0.92, and many patches published on the UseMod site. The programs have diverged since the fork...
, MoinMoin
MoinMoin
MoinMoin is a wiki engine implemented in Python, initially based on the PikiPiki wiki engine. The MoinMoin code is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2, or any later version .A number of organizations use MoinMoin to run public wikis,...
, DokuWiki
DokuWiki
DokuWiki is a wiki application aimed at small companies’ documentation needs. DokuWiki is licensed under GPL 2 and written in the programming language PHP. It works on plain text files and thus needs no database. Its syntax is similar to the one used by MediaWiki.-History:DokuWiki was created by...
, TiddlyWiki
TiddlyWiki
TiddlyWiki is an open source single page application wiki. A single HTML file contains CSS, JavaScript, and the content. The content is divided into a series of sections, or Tiddlers. A user is encouraged to read a TiddlyWiki by following links rather than sequentially scrolling down the...
, JSPWiki
JSPWiki
JSPWiki is wiki software built around the standard J2EE components of Java, servlets and JSP. It was written by Janne Jalkanen and released under the LGPL. It is currently undergoing incubation with Apache and its license has been changed to the Apache License. The Sun Java System Portal Server...
, PmWiki
PmWiki
PmWiki is wiki software written by Patrick R. Michaud in the PHP programming language. It is free software, licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.-Design focus:...
, PodWiki, XWiki
XWiki
XWiki is a free wiki software platform written in Java with a design emphasis on extensibility. XWiki Enterprise, the enterprise wiki edition, includes WYSIWYG editing, OpenOffice based document import/export, semantic annotations and tagging, and advanced permissions management.As an application...
., EuWiki, Ikiwiki
Ikiwiki
ikiwiki is a free, open source wiki application, designed by Joey Hess. It is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 2 or later...
, Hatta and PhpWiki
PhpWiki
PhpWiki is a web-based wiki software application.It began as a clone of WikiWikiWeb and was the first wiki written in PHP.PhpWiki has been used to edit and format paper books for publication.-History:...
.
However, Creole is not necessarily the default syntax in these wiki engines.
External links