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What Are Microformats?
Microformats are a set of simple, open data formats built upon existing and widely adopted standards.
No, Really...
a way of thinking about data
design principles for formats
adapted to current behaviors and usage patterns
highly correlated with semantic XHTML, AKA the real world semantics, AKA lowercase semantic web, AKA lossless XHTML
a set of simple open data format standards that many (including Technorati) are actively developing and implementing for more/better structured blogging and web microcontent publishing in general.
"An evolutionary revolution" - Ryan King
all the above.
The Microformat Principles
solve a specific problem
start as simple as possible
design for humans first, machines second
reuse building blocks from widely adopted standards
modularity / embeddability
enable and encourage decentralized and distributed development, content, services
Why Microformats?
They provide consistency
They create semantics that provide meaning beyond the default set of XHTML elements.
They use existing markup standards, so no crazy XML.
Human-readable first, but allow for machine readable formats as well.
How Microformats Can Help You
You can create more consistent content.
You can share your microformat with content providers, ensuring that you'll get content in the right format.
You don't need to DO anything to that content before you present it to users.
And if you do, it's still valid, semantic markup, and you could transform it into whatever you need it to be.
The Basics
Find a problem. Without a problem to solve, there's no need for a microformat.
Research other solutions. Is there an existing XHTML element that solves your problem.
If not, will one of the existing microformats solve it?
Think of how it will look to a user with CSS turned off. Is it still acceptable?