Please note: This is an unpublished site and we are making changes - glitches still!!!

HTML5 and SkoopCMS

There is a lot of buzz about HTML5 and its "wonderful" features. There are, however, quite a few misconceptions about what HTML5 can do and what its current status is. Let us see what effects it may have on any CMS as of writing this (December 2011).

No HTML5 standard exists yet!

HTML5 has not been standardized and only a Working Draft exist. So there is no point in claiming any "HTML5 compliance" as there is not even even a recommendation yet! It is to be noted, however, that some parts supported by many browsers are already working pretty well and will probably go to the standard as such. One of these is the canvas functionality.

HTML5 is NOT a programming language

HTML and HTML5 are only about representing media (text, images, and since HTML5 sound and videos). The presentation language itself does not offer ANY tools for interaction. The interaction is programmed by using ECMAScript (better known as JavaScript) that makes controls and elements responsive and can also generate and modify content.

HTML5 will NOT run advanced 3D games

There is nothing inherent in HTML5 that would make it suitable as an advanced gaming platform. Yes, some browsers do and will support hardware acceleration and things like WebGL. Some browser manufacturers are more cautious, anticipating security problems. From Wikipedia "Notable independent graphic and security experts have weighed in reinforcing that WebGL is a severe security risk and will be hard to secure." It remains to be seen what the result will be.

It is possible that WebGL will get more support than we anticipate but it is not part of the HTML5 specification. SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) may also provide some extra functionality and has already been used in some projects. It is not 3D, however.

The most hyped features

The `canvas` tag

The canvas tag which defines a bitmap drawing area for JavaScript is one of the most important additions. It will probably bring a multitude of games and possibly quite a few other applications. It is already working pretty well in most modern browsers, including IE from version 9 up.

Requiring special programming skill the canvas tag is of no importance to a normal web site administrator or a web designer - until somebody comes up with an idea how to make use of it in page designs. It requires advanced programming skills, you see.

A great number of games will, however, be available some time and it remains to be seen what sort of plug-in or module SkoopCMS will offer.

The `audio` and the `video` tags

These tags have caused a lot of hype like statements "from this on we will not need Flash any more, media can be played by any browser".

Wrong wrong wrong.

The tags only specify an inclusion of media of some sort. Well, it may describe some its properties for it but there are no standards or rules as to what format the media should be in or what format the browser should support. None. By format we refer to the encoding of the media.

As for sound there are a few alternative formats like wav,mp3,ogg,flac and so on but only two big ones: ogg and mp3. The trouble is that mp3 is a patented, commercial format and will not be supported by Firefox, for instance, the decoding license being very pricey. So we will need a browser extension (like Flash) for Firefox and currently for Opera as well. As for ogg it is not supported by Apple and Microsoft so we will need something for IE and Safari. Adobe has announced that it will drop Flash for all handheld operating systems so their future is very unclear. Some browsers for Android will support both ogg and others mp3 but support for ogg in Apple iOs is a total mystery.

Out of the popular video formats Firefox and Opera do not support mpeg as it is - once again - a commercial format and has a high price tag. The free video format theora they support is not supported by Microsoft and Apple. Here we go again - see the pattern?

What this means is that we have few alternatives/combinations and they are all bad ones. Also, bear in mind that switch to HTML5 will not take place in an instant. There will be non-compatible browsers for years to come and lots of people who use them. As of writing this IE6 is practically dead in many countries whereas it is the top browser in others like China and some African countries.

If we decide to jump to the audio and video tags and wish to support non-html5-compliant browsers we must have two versions of our media pages: one for older ones and another for the modern ones. For the old ones we must use the Flash player and for the new ones we must support two formats of media. Very nice indeed. Ready to do a double job?

So these two tags will be a pain in you-guessed-where, at least as long as the patents restrict the free use of some media formats. Anyhow, we hope somebody will find a simple solution for the problem.

And please note: We do not love Flash. We simply know that it has the largest installation base and it remains a practical alternative for that very reason. And we having written software for the media industry for more than two years now we have seen everything, tested everything and got very frustrated.

Structure tags

There will be a number of structure tags that will have a considerable effect on our way of writing websites. We believe that these tags will make writing well structured pages a lot easier than it is today.