Re: Replaceable element for parameterising pages (was: Proposal for small enhancement)

Jim,

I'm not making a website, but a documentation. I am using (or abusing) the web page concept just because it fits better to my purpose. I know my audience and am addressing only it, so I don't try to respect standards, assure accessibility etc. That's why I (clearly) abuse the abbr element - it doesn't clarify an abbreviation, it rather shows a text when the mouse hover over the image.

My table is defined with border=0 and the <hr> is left only on the right cell on purpose - that's the look that I want.

Having said that, I don't have a "server-side" solution (I would know how to do that). I am delivering all the files in a zip, the user unpacks it and starts index.html. Of course, I can use JavaScript, but I found to be too much work vs the benefit.

I solved my problem by typing and copying-and-pasting, but my suggestion came as a way to solve the more general problem of repetitive content. If it will be implemented, for my documentation it will be too late anyway.

So, that's what and why am I proposing, and looking for your feedback.

Btw, with every answer I learned a bit more, so thank you all, and am looking forward for more reactions. If the conclusion is that such a preprocessor + substitution makes sense, we may end up with a better development environment. If, on the other hand, there is not much enthusiasm for such a thing, there was still a healthy debate with learning opportunities for all of us.

Regards,
Sorin Schwimmer