While I was researching the HTML site from wikipedia I found this button too so I thought I would like to know the answer to this question too.  However, after reading this I'm not sure it was that helpful to me at least. However, it might be to  you so I'm going to leave it here.

My first and ONLY internet language I have learned is HTML. Before that I have programmed in Cobol and Fortran in College and in Business and I also taught myself BASIC language and used it starting on my first home computer since 1978. About 10 years later I bought my first IBM Clone which was a color AT from Silicon valley with an Epsom Printer for about $2500 total. My first computer in 1978 was made by Tandy called a TRS-80 and only had 4 k of memory and only when it was turned on and you saved your programs on a cassette tape that you played into the computer any time you wanted to run that computer when it was on. Also, it was only black and white. We've come a long way since then. I taught my older children now 42 to 45 years of age to program in basic and then taught them MS DOS on the AT IBM Clone from Silicon Valley when they were teenagers and then Windows 95 and all the rest. I didn't switch to Apple computers until about 2005 when I just got tired of my IBM clone computers crashing from viruses. Now we are only into IMacs, Macbook pro laptops, Ipads and Iphones and my wife has a Samsung 6 smartphone.

Why Doesnt Wiki Do Html

Why Doesnt Wiki Do Html

"Why doesn't Wiki do HTML?" is a question often asked by people new to Wiki. It has many answers:

1. Wiki's emphasis is on content, not presentation. The simple markup rules make people focus on expressing their ideas, not making them pretty. Some people have found that working in this minimal medium improves their writing.
2. Wiki's TextFormattingRules were designed to DoTheSimplestThingThatCouldPossiblyWork.
3. Typing HyperTextMarkupLanguage tags breaks the flow of one's thoughts, particularly for complex tags such as tables. (See example below.)
4. Part of WikiNature is that the code should be readable; that extends to the raw text of WikiPages. When editing, content should be instantly identifiable, not lost in a sea of angle brackets.
5. Allowing the full range of HTML tends to turn pages into bewildering mess of multiple fonts, colors, etc. If you just want to communicate an idea, YouArentGonnaNeedIt.
6. Allowing all HTML opens security holes through JavaScript exploits, etc (although this is easy to fix; see discussion on JavaScriptEnabledWiki).
7. Converting 25,000+ pages and the scripts that run the site would be a major undertaking without equivalent benefit. In other words, ItJustWorks. IfItAintBrokeDontFixIt.
8. Many people don't know HTML. Wiki markup is easier to learn. [CitationNeeded]
9. Some other wikis in fact do HTML, e.g. http://www.wikihtml.com [Doesn't work 9 July 2012.]

There are some more reasons at http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?RawHtmlWiki. See WikiDesignPrinciples which is a statement from the early days.

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An Example of HTML vs. Wiki Syntax A table formatted so:

 

X
Y
1
2
3
4

is a lot uglier (and takes more time to type) than a simple

 X  Y
 1  2
 3  4

Until TabMunging farks it up. However the markup for WikiTables used on other wikis retains the benefits of HTML tables without the noise:

 | X | Y |
 | 1 | 2 |
 | 3 | 4 |

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