AIM Pages ModuleT Microformat

Steven G. Chipman

Principal Software Engineer, AOL

Microwhat?

"Designed for humans first and machines second, microformats are a set of simple, open data formats built upon existing and widely adopted standards."

-- microformats.org

Microwhat?

"Designed for humans first and machines second, microformats are a set of simple, open data formats built upon existing and widely adopted standards."

-- microformats.org

A few examples:

hCard: A simple, open, distributed contact information format for people, companies, and organizations, which is suitable for embedding in (X)HTML, Atom, RSS, and arbitrary XML.
XOXO: A simple, open outline format written in standard XHTML.
rel="license": A simple, open format for indicating content licenses.

Simple, Open...

"The need to syndicate distinct pieces of content and functionality has led to several complex XML schemas and web services. We feel they're all too complex for the "average" developer to create. We need something simpler, that will lead to a larger adoption by the internet at large, not just CMS developers.
This is our attempt at doing that."

-- ModuleT Profile

Just the Stuff You Already Know.

XHTML
CSS
Javascript

Just the Stuff You Already Know.

XHTML
CSS
Javascript

In other words, if you can build a web page, you can build a module.

The ModuleT Structure

Module Title & Version:: Two <span> elements that are the children of an <h1>, each with a class of "module-title" and "version".
The Edit Interface:: A <div> element that contains the edit controls of the module. Has a class of "edit module-name"
The View Interface:: A <div> element that contains the markup that makes up what the module will look like when published. Has a class of "view module-name".
Module Description: A <p> element with a class of "description"

The ModuleT Structure Continued...

Module Detail: A <p> element with a class of "detail" with a lengthier narrative on the module's function.
License Information: An <a> element using the rel-license microformat to describe the module's licensing info.
Author Information: A vCard microformat with the module author's contact details.
Documentation: An <a> element with a rel of "documentation" that points to documentation for the module.
Module Properties: A XOXO definition list of framework specific details of the module, such as its width, if multiple instances of it are allowable and a URI to a thumbnail image.