Wikibooks:Reading room/Proposals/2017/November

Comparison of versions
Hello, I wonder about a variation of the comparison of versions in the history. In the extant comparison, markups are compared. For "preformatted text" or fixed format, another possibility is to compare the displayed form rather than the markup. In that case differences in whitespace would be ignored. For example a blank in one version and tab in the other would not be evaluated as a difference. Has this ever been considered? Is it a possibility? Thanks, ... PeterEasthope (discuss • contribs) 15:40, 9 November 2017 (UTC)
 * My own position is that wiki markup is the technical triumph that makes wikis possible, and must be the central focus of user writing; so I wouldn't want users to be confused by being offered what you're describing since it has an essentially WYSIWYG focus. But, to answer your question, I don't know whether that's been considered.  --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 16:28, 9 November 2017 (UTC)
 * I imagined browser view comparison as a user selectable option and not the default case. In that way it can have benefit with the only "harm" being an unobtrusive switch on a page.  If a reader is interested in essential differences of text, markup is a distraction.  Particularly when elaborate styling is involved.  No argument with markup being a technical triumph.  Regards, ... PeterEasthope (discuss • contribs) 17:23, 20 November 2017 (UTC)