Proposal:Inline SVG preference

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Summary

Bypass the problem of poor SVG rendering via librsvg and allow modern browsers to render SVG content for themselves.


Proposal

Use a MediaWiki extension (Extension:Inline SVG?) to allow MediaWiki markup ([[File:Image.svg|thumb|right|400px]] to render as properly sized SVGs in the browser without MediaWiki converting the SVG into PNGs. Do this via a preference similar to how math formulas are shown.

Motivation

  • Bypass problems of poor rendering in librsvg
  • Provide a sizable base of users who can provide feedback, ready for the day when this will become default because all browsers will have SVG support.
  • Enable advanced SVG features such as animation (replacing the current use of animated GIFs) and text label substitution (making multilingual SVG diagrams possible).
  • Possibly enable SVG scripting features (see en:SVG animation), providing an alternative to Proposal:Java applet support.

Key Questions

  • What needs to be done to bring the extension into a releasable form?
  • Do current browsers render SVGs well enough to make this an improvement for a sizable number of users?
  • What is shown to the default users (those who have not switched on this preference) in case of a multilingual svg (probably more important than the case of animation)?

Potential Costs

  • Development costs for improving the extension

References

Community Discussion

Do you have a thought about this proposal? A suggestion? Discuss this proposal by going to Proposal talk:Inline SVG preference.

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