This is less Spiral Knights related, and more technical on the Wiki side of things.
I've heard in the past that it's typically frowned upon to use HTML on Wiki pages. However, is it acceptable to use HTML for templates? I've been looking through a lot of templates and many of them have HTML elements. In fact, some templates are almost completely built from HTML (aside the {, }, |, and |- combinations for table creation).
Furthermore, is it acceptable to construct (the functionality of) templates purely from HTML? The code, as I have seen, can get horrendous, and since Wiki Code is overly sensitive to whitespace, it makes organization (e.g. indentation) impossible without rupturing the layout of the page itself. :s
For example: is it possible to surround an entire template, built from HTML, with the "nowiki" tag, and only "un-tag" necessary pieces (e.g. variables and logical statements)? This (I'm assuming) would make indentation allowable, since the whitespace will actually be within the "nowiki" tags and not be rendered. Would this also make CSS allowable? For example, if we have a certain type of table cell we use multiple times, instead of making a new template/page for it, could we not just utilize the almighty power of CSS classes? (Usually the CSS reference/tag goes in the header of an HTML file, so I'm not sure how it would work on a wiki template page...)
I'm not sure if anyone else shares the same "frustration" as I do. I'd just like to be able to consistently create templates without having to worry about the sensitivity Wiki Code shows with whitespace. (Admittedly, this could get a bit tricky with logical statements and other Wiki-specific components, but I'm sure there ways around it which could prove to be much cleaner than the original pure-Wiki Code version would have been anyways. :/ )
I'm relatively new to this Wiki stuff, so maybe I'm just missing something?
Any thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? (Equinox? xD )
Thanks. :)
Generally we use wiki markup whenever wiki markup for something exists. HTML isn't frowned upon.
There is no creating your own CSS for individual pages on the wiki. The CSS used on the wiki is only edited by those in Three Rings with admin access. It's not going to be something that will be edited for each individual user's desires for their userpage, but I am open to suggestions that have broad wiki use. However, using templates is easier on a wiki because you can tell what uses the template and therefore what may be affect by what change either to the wiki skins, MediaWiki plugins or even a MediaWiki upgrade. For a number of templates with tables, we don't use CSS because the table code has variables as part of the template.
The key thing to remember is that this is a wiki meant to document information. It's not a web host where you use a ton of markup. Visuals are here in support of encyclopedic-style information; rather than this just being an exercise in design, it is meant to be a practical, user-friendly information source.
I previously came from a web background with no wiki experience until about 6 years ago. After getting used to it, I have found that wiki markup has certain charms in being more accessible to those not familiar with any sort of code. Even with the simplification, there is still a fair hurdle for users shy to give wiki editing a try.
Surrounding a template with nowiki tags will make the wiki not render any markup (both wiki and straight HTML). I think my real question here is what is it that you are trying to do?