April 1st, 2007
Simplicity
I have been finding lately that the applications I enjoy using seem to loose something upon receiving an upgrade. New features are added, things I would never use (and sometimes wonder if anyone would use) and eventually the neat little application becomes this bloated thing that just doesn’t inspire me to use any more. I am sure I am not the only one who feels this, infact I know I am not, one of the key points to Zenphoto being created was an answer to the bloated gallery software you find floating around.
I have been having this issue with Wiki software, a lot of it is insanely bloated and just a pain to use. Now I can understand that Wiki’s can be complex in structuring and so you are probably going to get a lot of coding going on there, but there are some “light” versions around that don’t seem to fall prey to this issue. I have tried countless versions of Wiki software to find something that I like, I admit I am being a little picky but I need to know that it can do what I have in mind without hacking into 50 different php files to do so. Ideally what I would like to see is someone like Automattic take on the Wiki area. The format that they use for both WordPress and BBPress is something I would like to see in a Wiki. A simple installation and customization of themes, and the use of plugins for extra options. Especially with a rewrite for the urls, which has been the draw back of the light Wiki software I have used, I want more control over the urls.
A guy can dream.