BlogWikiDiscussAboutCode & ToolsGet StartedLatest microformats newsmicroformats.org turns 9 — upgrade to microformats2 and moreNine years ago we launched microformats.org with a basic premise: that it is possible to express meaning on the web in HTML in a simple way—far simpler than the complex alternatives (XML) being promoted by mature companies and standards organizations alike.Today microformats.org continues to be a gathering place for those seeking simpler ways to express meaning in web pages, most recently the growing IndieWeb movement.Looking back nine years ago, none of the other alternatives promoted in the 2000s (even by big companies like Google and Yahoo) survive to this day in any meaningful way:Google Base Google Data Yahoo’s CommonTag.org too many XML approaches to countFrom this experience, we conclude that what large companies support (or claim to prefer) is often a trailing indicator (at best).Large companies tend to promote more complex solutions, perhaps because they can afford the staff, time, and other resources to develop and support complex solutions. Such approaches fundamentally lack empathy for independent developers and designers, who don’t have time to keep up with all the complexity.If there’s one value that’s at the heart of microformats’ focus and continued evolution of simplicity, it is that empathy for independent developers and designers, for small consulting shops, for curious hobbyists who are most enabled and empowered by the simplest possible solutions to problems.We now know that no amount of large company marketing and evangelism can make up for a focus on ever simpler solutions which take less time to learn, use, and reliably maintain. As long as we focus on that, we will create better solutions.Community ChangesSpeaking of taking less time, we’ve learned some community lessons about that too. Perhaps the most important is that as a community we are far more efficiently productive using just IRC and the wiki, than any amount of use of email. In fact, the microformats drafts that were developed wtih the most email (e.g. hAudio) turned out to be the hardest to follow and discuss (too many long emails), and sadly ended up lacking the simplicity that real world publishers wanted (e.g. last.fm).Email tends to bias design and discussions towards those who have more time to read and write long emails, and (apparently) enjoy that for its own sake, than those who want to quickly research & brainstorm, and get to actually creating, building, and deploying things with microformats.Thus we’re making these changes effective today:IRC for all microformats discussions, whether research, questions, or brainstormingemail only for occasional announcements and to direct people to IRC.wiki for capturing questions, brainstorming, conclusions, and different points of viewWe’re going to update the site to direct all discussion (e.g links) to the IRC channel accordingly.Ho