Creating a Sidebar

Current Option "Counterpoint" Image

For now, the easiest way to insert a sidebar is simply using the FILE:sidebar.jpg command to insert the "Counterpoint" image above the text of the counterpoint.

File:Sidebar.jpg

This is the comment. But instead of appearing as a reference at the bottom of the page, <sb> and </sb> bracket the text to appear as a sidebar comment next to the paragraph in which it is contained.

In this workaround, we are really just using the space reserved for a description of an image to insert the text of the counterpoint beneath an "fake" image file that is the header for the Sidebar Counterpoint.

Future Improvements

In the future, I would like to see a better solution specifically designed to make it easier to create and manage sidebar comments. This would include options for collapsing a sidebar to a specific number of lines, in order to minimize the visual disruption of the main article by long sidebar comments. In addition, the extension should provide an alternative for limiting the number of characters allowed in the sidebar, as another means of preventing overly long sidebar comments.

Here are two demo sites for Wordpress Plugins that place comments next to a specific paragraph in an article

• https://futureofthebook.org/commentpress/
• http://www.kweber.com/greenbird/inline-comments-demo/

Other notable examples include https://web.hypothes.is/ This is a service that allows annotating of any webpage, which can then later be served up with annotations. Similar web apps include chrome extensions: Pundit Annotator Pro, Roam Highlighter, Annotate the web, Roam Toolkit, etc

Here's another sample with a preview of endnotes shown on the left: https://www.cairn.info/revue-internationale-de-philosophie-2005-4-page-491.htm#no7

Notes Regarding Future Extension

When a comment is created and associated with a specific paragraph in the wikitext of the individual page, a hook like <sb:xxxxx> is inserted in the text, where xxxxxx points to the sidebar revision ID tag used to retrieve the sidebar text for rendering on the displayed page. (The xxxxxx may be replaced with a user provided text which is actually linked to the equivalent of the sidebar-rev_text_id).

File:Sidebar.jpg

This is the comment. But instead of appearing as a reference at the bottom of the page, <sb> and </sb> bracket the text to appear as a sidebar comment next to the paragraph in which it is contained.

The mediawiki extension Cite is a model of how inline text is rendered elsewhere in the page. There is also a discussion of how Cite is rendered in visual editor which may give some insight into managing sidebar comments within VisualEditor.

We may want to be in communication with the Wikimedia} staff in charge of [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Parsoid parsing and VisualEditor since we want our extensions to work with both.

Opponents, or questioners, would leave the main article alone (allowing it to evolve as proponents see fit) but would be able to insert their counterpoint arguments (length limited, but hyperlinks allowed to direct interested readers to more details). The history of how specific propositions evolve or abandoned would itself be a helpful lesson in identifying the facts and arguments that are most successfully defended.

The core idea is that good debaters help each other to focus and improve their arguments. By providing a website that encourages collaborative debate, while also providing a release valve for people to create a link to their favorite/stupid arguments, overtime the best arguments and presentations of fact should receive the most support.