OK, so as many of you know I'm working on ZSR. Once this is done, you guys will be able to make pages without having to know anything at all about FTP or PHP. I have some ideas that will make writing for ZSR easier, but I want to make sure you guys are comfortable with it before I go too far down one path. Here are the options that I'm thinking of:
HTML:
I'm sure some of you know enough HTML to write pages. For example, this is what the HTML for the Steal the Rod page might look like:
<h1>Steal the Rod</h1>
<p>Stealing the rod is how you get a bottle on B to start BA and RBA. Blah Blah Blah (words)...</p>
<h2>Method 1</h2>
<h3>Discovered by: Somebody</h3>
<p>Use the hover boots or jump off the rocks. (1.0 only)</p>
<h2>Method 2</h2>
<h3>Discovered by: Somebody Else</h3>
<p>Dive and cast. (all versions)</p>
Headers go in <h> tags with a number, paragraphs go in <p> tags. Embedding Youtube videos is a
little more complicated, but still pretty easy. This is a pretty good option.
Markdown:
Markdown is my favorite option. It has all the strengths of HTML to do complicated things, but is much more suited for writing. The full syntax can be read about
here, but a quick example of the Steal the Rod page would look something like:
# Steal the Rod #
Stealing the rod is how you get a bottle on B to start BA and RBA. Blah Blah Blah (words)...
## Method 1 ##
### Discovered by: Somebody ###
Use the hover boots or jump off the rocks. (1.0 only)
## Method 2 ##
### Discovered by: Somebody Else ###
Dive and cast. (all versions)
In addition to the simpler syntax, you can also use any regular HTML that you need within Markdown (for example, to embed a video). Honestly I think this is perfect, and if you prefer regular HTML you could write it too and everything would still work. I hope we go with this option.
BBCode:
This is what you normally use to write/edit posts on these forums (and SDA's). The Steal the Rod page would look like:
[size=14pt]Steal the Rod[/size]
Stealing the rod is how you get a bottle on B to start BA and RBA. Blah Blah Blah (words)...
[size=12pt]Method 1[/size]
[size=9pt]Discovered by: Somebody[/size]
Use the hover boots or jump off the rocks. (1.0 only)
[size=12pt]Method 2[/size]
[size=9pt]Discovered by: Somebody Else[/size]
Dive and cast. (all versions)
Personally I think this way is awful. It's a lot like HTML (without the <p> tags) except it's way more verbose and way less powerful. This way would also be a lot more work for me and I don't think it buys us anything at all. It's mostly only an option because you guys might already be really familiar with it from posting here.
Plain Text:
This would just be writing text. Anything you can do in Notepad, you could do here. Anything else (different text sizes, images, embedding videos), you could not. The ONLY reason we would do this is if you guys really couldn't figure out anything else.
(For the record, each of these options could have a menu of easy-to-use buttons that you can click on to add the tags for you, just like the buttons you can use to make text bold and different colors when you post on these forums.)
So... what do you think? My vote goes to Markdown, but I'm open to suggestions.