Merge Semantic Linkbacks into this plugin

[dshanske]

I know there is a reason it was separated, but I want to discuss if that should be revisited.

[dshanske]

dshanske@c23c434 - The original noted reason for removal of microformats support was the specification.

The specification now notes that "When a Webmention implementation does support updating (i.e., a "Webmention update implementation"), it MUST support updating data from properties of the primary object of the source. (e.g. properties of the [h-entry] of the page)." This would be an endorsement of microformats within the plugin to a greater degree than now.

The biggest issue is that the php-mf2 parser has a PHP 5.3 dependency. But the plugin could be set to degrade in the event that this occurred. The individual files could be loaded separated.

I cannot see a scenario where someone would want webmentions and not at least some of Semantic Linkbacks.

[dshanske]

As this is a controversial issue, I am expressing a hope for an eventual reunification but accepting that a lot of things that might not be possible at this time would have to be addressed for this to be a reality. I suggest we keep this issue open as a discussion point.

[dshanske]

The first question is if separate comment types should be used for like, etc. The comment comment type is the equivalent of reply.

[tantek]

TBH I think this is one of the most important improvements to make for the Webmentions plugin. This is key to how Webmentions (as a protocol, web standard, and ecosystem) are so much better designed and implemented than Pingbacks/Trackbacks etc. that the WordPress plugin by the same name should really reflect the full promise of what Webmentions do in practice on the indieweb, and more importantly what a typical user of Webmentions expects that they will do (provide actual rich reactions like comments, likes, etc. not just junky pingback links)

[gRegorLove]

Some reasons I think they should be merged:

• Easier setup, fewer steps. "Install this one plugin, then..."
• Nice presentation of webmentions should be a core part of the plugin. Installing the plugin should give the functionality and improved look of comments (vs pingbacks/trackbacks)
• In Better Spam and Moderation Handling #87 (comment) I realized that some of the data I'm suggesting working with (canonical URL) is provided by Semantic Linkbacks, so would require both plugins. I think canonical URL should be part of the webmention comment meta.
• I don't have a citation handy, but I've seen incidents in #indieweb chat and IndieWebCamps over the years where people are confused by there being two plugins, sometimes installing just Webmention
• The name "Semantic Linkbacks" is jargony, doesn't tell you what it does

[dshanske]

@pfefferle and I discussed finally addressing this issue. This will require a new data structure as a first step and a migration function. The brainstorming for this is on the wiki at https://indieweb.org/WordPress/Data

[snarfed]

friendly nudge. could be a good project for summit!

[pfefferle]

I do not think it is that easy, because I would recommend to rewrite the SL code! The actual version feels really hacky!

[dshanske]

@pfefferle Is it better to merge the code and then rewrite, or only incorporate the new non hacky version?

[pfefferle]

I would prefer to not merge the code as is, because otherwise it is harder to rewrite it, without the limitations of the old structure...

[dshanske]

I will continue with pulling in pieces of infrastructure.

[snarfed]

Still seeing confused users file bugs elsewhere due to the bad UX of having these two plugins separate, eg snarfed/bridgy#1355 (comment). Hope the merge refactoring work is coming along ok!

[dshanske]

Resolved via version 5.0.0