[uf-discuss] Multiple vote-links

[Toby Inkster]

On Mon, 2009-06-08 at 18:17 -0300, Bruno Barberi Gnecco wrote:
> We are using vote-links extensively in our new site (likeorhate.com)

And doing so wrongly. VoteLinks are a badly named microformat. They are
*not* for polling. They are for linking to articles about stuff you like
or dislike.

e.g.

	I like <a rev="vote-for" href="/cheese">cheese</a>,
	but not <a rev="vote-against" href="/broccoli">broccoli</a>.

That means that this page counts as a "vote for cheese" and a "vote
against broccoli". Although votelinks is unclear on the semantics - do I
like cheese, or do I like that particular page about cheese?

VoteLinks are quite muddy and their meaning is pretty unclear. With
RDFa, you can state each of those meanings unambiguously.

If you like cheese (the page), then:

	<p about="#me" xmlns:like="http://ontologi.es/like#">
	  I like <a rel="like:likes" href="/cheese">cheese</a>.
	</p>

If you like cheese (the food), then (a little more complicated):

	<p about="#me"
	   xmlns:like="http://ontologi.es/like#"
	   xmlns:foaf="http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/">
	  I like
	  <span rel="like:likes">
	    <a rev="foaf:primaryTopic" href="/cheese"
	       property="foaf:name">cheese</a>
	  </span>
	</p>

However, for a polling site, neither votelinks nor the example above are
appropriate. You're not trying to capture the meaning that "this page is
about something I like" - you're trying to capture the meaning of "this
link is for voting". I don't know of a microformat, or indeed an RDF
vocabulary, that covers that meaning, but I can certainly see value in
creating one.

-- 
Toby Inkster <mail at tobyinkster.co.uk>