[Home]GaGaParser

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See http://devel.linuxwiki.de/gaga/GaGaEn (BrokenLink) if you want to try an enhanced wiki markup parser

It doesn't need CamelCase them because it does generate most links automatically, even if there is no exact match but only a case-insensitive match.

It also can easily handle page names with visual blanks in the name without the need for FreeLinks.

Please put comments, wishes, problems you see, etc. there.

Other examples

I am wondering how links can possibly be made without any grammatical specification? For instance, if I wrote takuya murata is a computer programmer, what happens? takuya murata became a link to TakuyaMurata or computer programmer turned out to a link too? --TakuyaMurata

If you follow the link, you fill find a description of the code. Basically, the underline is displayed as a space within words, so you would write "takuya_murata". If this is the name of an existing page, then it will be linked. More interesting, however, is how to turn "computer" into a link. First click a button to make every word linkable, then click on computer to create the new page, and once the new page "computer" exists, every occurrence of "computer" is linked. Interesting idea, but I am not sure whether I like the mechanism for creating new page names. To me, the LinkPattern is an easy to learn text formatting rule, and its effect is obvious (unless you start messing with the nowiki, pre, and code tags in UseModWiki). The GaGaParser, on the other hand, requires a more complex mental model of how linking works. And that seems to be a less HumaneInterface. -- AlexSchroeder

Sorry, but having a "LinkPattern" is IMHO not more humane or easier than simply typing text. BTW: in the previous version of GaGaParser, there were no different modes "linkall" and "show" - the parser was in linkall mode at any time it showed a page (but style of these links was not underlined, so they appeared like normal text), so you could have clicked on any word at any time to generate a new page. This mode was split into "show" and "linkall" because it bloated HTML and might be very confusing for e.g. blind people if every word is a link any time. -- ThomasWaldmann

Many people hate the LinkPattern because it is too "programmatic." I find that "automatic" usually also means "programmatic." However, the benefits of the GaGaParser may not be easier use. If automatic discovery of relationships between concepts is more interesting to you, this may be useful as a supercharged AccidentalLinking. -- SunirShah

GaGaParser was developed to make linking easy (and mostly automatic). The problem with WikiNames is that they are often unnatural (how do you make a WikiName out of "samba"?) and that you have to think about how to name a page that the name becomes a WikiName. Or you have to use free links and then you often have a problem with case-sensitiveness. I was told that in some languages (swedish) XxxxYyyy? can even mean something different as Xxxx Yyyy (with blank in between). With GaGa you just name things as they are and they get links nevertheless, even if upper/lowercase does not match. Being precise helps in both cases, of course. Some wikis allow to automatically show spaces between WikiWords, but that sometimes simply doesn't fit. With gaga you can put spaces (as _) where YOU want to have them. -- ThomasWaldmann

I mean I don't see the difference between GaGa and the LinkPattern where case is insensitive and _ between words. If you ignore case, it makes easier to remember the name like Wiki WiKi but you also lose some distinction like China and china. If you get some, you lose some, or just a configure matter. Maybe I am not so sure I understand the mechanism of GaGaParser. I say for me, it sounds this. --TakuyaMurata

Maybe it is best for you to compare the above mentioned URL in show and edit mode. The main point of GaGa is that it checks each word against the list of already present page-names and automatically links them if it detects a match. -- ThomasWaldmann

Personally, I found that I do not rely on AccidentalLinking at all, when I edit wiki pages. Therefore, all I really need are good page names. To me, making a link is a conscious decision, and I will often check the content of the linked page to verify my assumption. Therefore I want links to be easy to type, and "obvious". It should be obvious to the author, wether something is a link or not. That is what I call "humane" -- people know what to expect when they write a WikiName. Thus, the LinkPattern strikes an elegant balance. It is easy to remember, it stands out visually, it requires no additional markup -- and yet it is constrained and artificial enough. I fear that the easier linking gets, the higher the count of shallow pages. But perhaps this should be discussed on the AccidentalLinking page. -- AlexSchroeder

Shameless Plug: If someone really wants these features, UseMod:DynamicLinkSuggester can be very easily extended or used as it is with UseMod Wiki to provide all of the GaGaParser functionality too.

Oddmuse now also offers an implementation of the GaGaParser. [1] -- AlexSchroeder

CategoryIndexingScheme CategoryWikiTechnology

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