[uf-new] The Process (was: hAudio case study)

[Manu Sporny]

Tantek Çelik wrote:
>> http://wiki.digitalbazaar.com/en/haudio-case-study
> 
> Manu, that's an exceptionally thorough write-up.

Thanks :). One of the goals was to lay some more ground work for others
that may want to create new Microformats or contribute to semantic web
projects, but didn't know where to start.

> I've captured the issues you noted (or at least a pointer to them) here:
> http://microformats.org/wiki/process-issues

Great! That is very helpful as it makes us feel like issues with The
Process are being heard outside of the mailing list.

I've added an issue that is subtly different from #3:

# Issue 4: There is no clear order of operations for "The Process". This
makes uF creation a trial-and-error process that can frustrate new
members, that may waste time on things that don't matter. It also annoys
old members of the community, that have to answer the same questions
over and over again.

In an attempt to address this issue, Brian Suda and I have been working
on a New Microformat HOW-TO document. It gives a straightforward set of
steps for anybody that wants to create a new Microformat to follow:

http://microformats.org/wiki/how-to-start-a-new-microformat

The last three steps aren't completed yet, it's a work in progress that
I hope will be completed later this month. The goal of the document is
to not only outline the steps, but the logic behind each step.

I hope the document will do the following:

 1. Give newcomers to Microformats a straight-foward, step-by-step
    guide on how to create a new Microformat.
 2. Explain the logic behind each step, in an attempt to counter-act the
    notions that a "Cabal" is in charge of Microformats. If we can all
    agree on the logic behind each step of The Process, then I hope that
    we can improve cohesion in this community.

Thoughts/feedback?

-- manu