long-form thoughtful documents a march-forth manifesto posted on march 4th, 2014 building a new global infrastructure for long-form thoughtful documents in a lifetime workflow dynamic by bowerbird intelligentleman table of contents long-form thoughtful documents table of contents introduction capturing the document workflow functional capabilities for now and later input that's efficient and deftly handled light-markup system considerations output for a wide variety of formats output considerations in general output destined for hard-copy viewer-apps native to the format editors available across all platforms editor tools for superior functionality converter-app general requirements considerations for the feedback system considerations for the archival system summary introduction we need a new global infrastructure for documents containing _thought_, documents that focus a view on an important topic. these documents, in the world of print, might have manifested as books, novels, atlases, short stories, magazine pieces, poems, coffee-table books, encyclopedias, journal articles, manifestos, etc., but i subsume them in the word "documents". our world today is swimming in ephemera. keep your tweets, your facebook updates, your fancy instagrams! fuck your tumblers, and your continual facebook updates, and erase everything that happens on snapchat. and lord knows we don't care about today's facebook updates. no, seriously, we don't. ok, maybe today. but certainly not next week. or next month. or a year from now. or 5 years. but if you've done some actual thought on an important topic, and taken the care to write it up, well, _now_ we want to listen. and we want to carve out a place for that, and make a good workflow for it, and give you the tools that you need to produce it. and we want to save your thought, long-term. we do. we really do. and yes, as of today, anyway, that is the "royal" we, because "we" is really just _me._ my name is bowerbird intelligentleman. and i'll create this new infrastructure all by myself, if i have to. in fact, i already have, to a very large degree. but i'll also welcome anyone who wants to help me with it, and i heartily invite you to do just that. if you're a coder, you can write new code, or improve my old code. if you are a writer or a thinker, you can simply use the system, and give feedback. likewise, if you're a reader, we'd _love_ to get your reactions, so please feel free to share them with us. we want to make this infrastructure work perfectly for you, to the point where you cannot even imagine that you would want it to do anything more. what follows is just a bullet-point listing of the overall plan for this infrastructure. each of the bullet-points has a ton of thought laying behind it, and/or actual running code, so we will be fleshing out this skeleton, but it's vital to get a feel for the whole thing. oh, and perhaps you think that it is _ironic_ that i have chosen to post this manifesto on long-form thoughtful documents in plain-text, as a set of bullet-lists. it might well be. or it might not. capturing the document workflow * outlining * writing * rewriting * polishing * release * feedback * refactoring * re-release * summation * archiving * remixing functional capabilities for now and later * all traditional book features * all traditional journal features * all traditional magazine features * any foreseeable possibilities input that's efficient and deftly handled * master-source * single-file * plain-text * light-markup * easily-created * cross-platform * easily-transported * easily-converted * flexible * powerful * uncomplicated * consistent * transparent * comprehensible * comprehensive light-markup system considerations * markdown -- too fragmented * textile -- too undeveloped * restructured-text -- too inflexible * asciidoc -- too heavy * z.m.l. -- just right, my choice output for a wide variety of formats * html * kindle * .epub * .pdf * slideshows * blogs * apps * browser plug-ins * new-media presentations * future formats * plain-text * round-tripping whenever possible output considerations in general * user-customizable readability * user-customizable presentation * user-customizable remixing output destined for hard-copy * books out of home-printers * routing to print-on-demand * routing to local print-shops viewer-apps native to the format * on all platforms * on all machines * easy to program * easy to customize editors available across all platforms * browser, textarea, supercharged * offline, desktop, mac/pc/linux * mobile, ios/android/webapp editor tools for superior functionality * supercharged editing field * writer-enabling * multiple-modalities * version-tracking * collaboration-friendly * editor-friendly * feedback-friendly * remix-capable * side-car live-preview (web) * side-car live-preview (offline) * pan-platform * developer-friendly converter-app general requirements * web converters, with a.p.i. * offline native converters * all common languages * easily-understood * easily-programmed * easily-ported considerations for the feedback system * thought inspires dialog * thought thrives on interaction * thought improves with feedback * thought strengthens via refactoring considerations for the archival system * stability * flexibility * power * multi-functionality * functionality * accessibility * longevity summary i have posted this today because i like to "march forth" every year on this day, to set a course. but i have been on this path now for well over a decade. i have done a ton of research and coding on the textual work-flow. i am now choosing to bring that work forward. pay attention if you like. i like attention. but i'm not doing this project for "attention". i'm doing it because i love books, and all the thought, knowledge, and wisdom contained therein.