Pluggable markup engine to supporting other markups

However, other markups could be useful:

1. Help communities transition from another wiki by supporting the other wiki's markup
   
2. Test other TML syntaxes, e.g. a TML2 that could be more LikeEMail

• How tightly coupled is TWiki to TML?
• Is the TML parser all in one place?
• How easy would it be to substitute?

-- MartinCleaver 02-Jun-2006

The only issue with TML are plugins. A pluggable renderer should be easily plugged, changing the Renderer module (I think).

-- RafaelAlvarez - 05 Jun 2006

Put on your asbestos suit, Raf. Kenneth thinks that 50% of TWiki's value is in its plugins and he's probably not the only one who will take umbrage with your statement.

-- MeredithLesly - 05 Jun 2006

I have flame inmunity, but I don't see why I'll take any.... well, now I DO see it. Let me explain better, and to point out that I agree with Kenneth (I would have said 70%, actually).

The only "coupling" between TWiki and TML that prevent us from just "plugging in" a new rendrerer are the plugins. Most Plugins are designed to work with a TML-like syntax.

If we define that TML don't include the macro-like function-variable-preferences in the form of %!VAR{}%, then a new syntax using the same macro language can be plugged by changing the Renderer module. Then only WysiwygPlugin is the only one at loss.

-- RafaelAlvarez - 05 Jun 2006

Clarification: Do there currently exist Plugin's which return TML, which needs to be translated?

And the existing (or equivalent) macro-like plugin expansion needs to be supported.

-- CraigMeyer - 05 Jun 2006

Good point, many plugins do return TML. So... TML should include a preamble to specify which TML it is, so that TWiki can transform TML 1.0 from a plugin into TML 2.x without the requiring that plugin to be recoded.

-- MartinCleaver - 06 Jun 2006