Currently, shortcuts must have the url parameter, and can optionally
have the desc parameter. If the shortcut directive instead required at
least one of url or desc, then shortcuts could just supply a description
without an URL. Since desc can contain arbitrary wiki markup, this would
allow shortcuts with multiple links, such as the mmlist shortcut proposed on
simple text parsing or regex in template or shortcut, or a comprehensive
Debian package shortcut which linked to the package page and parenthetically
to the BTS and PTS.
It sounds like you're looking for templates, not shortcuts. --Joey
Perhaps true (see my issues with template syntax on shortcut optional parameters), but allowing a
shortcutwithout anurlstill seems reasonable, and simple. You could also use such shortcuts without markup at all, as an abbreviation mechanism:[[!shortcut name=spi desc="Software in the Public Interest, Inc."]]]. [[!shortcut name=sosp desc="Symposium on Operating System Principles"]]]. [[!shortcut name=cacm desc="Communications of the ACM"]]].