version=pmwiki-2.2.0-beta68 ordered=1 urlencoded=1
agent=Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.8.1.19) Gecko/20081216 Ubuntu/8.04 (hardy) Firefox/2.0.0.19
author=Petko
charset=ISO-8859-1
csum=see also Cookbook:PageCreator
host=81.65.14.164
name=PmWiki.AuthoringPhilosophy
rev=5
targets=Profiles.Radu
text=(:Summary:Patrick Michaud on the reasons behind Author variables:)%0a%25green%25Patrick Michaud on the reasons behind Author variables:%0a%0aI have trouble with the idea that PmWiki can automatically designate %0athe "original author" -- many times pages are created as simple %0aplaceholders, which other authors then come and fill in.  So, I%0athink $Creator is probably better name than $Author for this, if%0awe were to add it.  But overall I think it's a mistake to try to get %0aPmWiki to automatically determine "primary" authorship.  Sometimes%0apages are completely reworked; and some authors will start deleting and%0are-posting pages just so they can get a perceived status or ego %0aassociated with some "primary author" designation.  I think it's %0abetter if the appropriate credits for contributions appear in %0athe content (either as prose, signatures, citations, or directives), %0athan to have PmWiki impose a particular model on its authors.%0a%0aLastly, PmWikiPhilosophy #1 is "favor writers over readers",%0aand somewhat fundamental to that concept is that any reader%0acan also be an author, thus $Author instead of $User or $Reader.  %0aWhile I recognize this idea of "readers are authors" isn't%0auniversally true for many sites that will use PmWiki, as well%0aas an extreme case of wishful thinking, the truth is that%0ain PmWiki the only way someone gets a value into the $Author%0avariable is to actually *be* an author.  %0a%0a(In case any are wondering, "authorship" and "identity" are two%0adifferent things in PmWiki.  The variable used to track the%0a"reader" or login is $AuthId, and it really stands for "authenticated%0aidentity", as opposed to "author identity" or "author".)%0a%0a[[~Radu]]: %25green%25The idea of 'readers as authors' is somehow negated by the existence of separate 'read' and 'edit' password sets.%0a%0aI somewhat disagree.  First, the 'read' password has nothing to do with %0athis-- a read password doesn't separate a population into readers and %0aauthors, it separates them into readers and non-readers.%0a%0aSo, it's only the edit password that tends to separate things -- but even%0athere, an edit password doesn't have to be site-wide.  The edit password%0acan be used (and often is used) simply to say "you can author any page%0aon the site except the ones protected by this password".  Generally%0athe edit password is used as a security measure, not as a classification %0aor caste system.%0a%0aBut in the final analysis, just because PmWiki promotes a particular%0aview of the world doesn't mean it has to be totally consistent with it,%0aor enslaved by it.  In the "favor writers over readers" case, I'm%0arebelling against the traditional web maintenance architecture%0athat limits pages to only one author (typically called the%0a"webmaster"), and constrains everyone else to submitting their changes%0athrough that author.  The philosophy isn't saying that everyone%0amust be an author, it is saying that we should remove the barriers %0athat prevent more people from becoming authors.%0a%0aSee also: [[Cookbook:PageCreator]] - recipe allowing to store, access and modify a Creator variable.
time=1231031290