[w3ctag/design-reviews] Proliferation of manifests at W3C (#423)

Here at #w3cTPAC 2019 I’m learning that there are quite a few different manifest file format efforts by different groups for different specifications with different but often similar use-cases. Filing this design issue per @hober’s request to track the growing number of manifest formats and approaches to hopefully collapsing and reducing them.

Here is a few I know of along with their individual TAG review issues.

  * [Web App Manifest](https://www.w3.org/TR/appmanifest/) ([W3CTAG #30](https://github.com/w3ctag/design-reviews/issues/30))
  * [Payment Method Manifest](https://w3c.github.io/payment-method-manifest/) ([W3CTAG #162](https://github.com/w3ctag/design-reviews/issues/162), [Payment Method #27](https://github.com/w3c/payment-method-manifest/issues/27), [W3CTAG #231 Payment Handler](https://github.com/w3ctag/design-reviews/issues/231))
  * [Audio Book Manifest](https://w3c.github.io/wpub/#audiobook) ([W3CTAG #345](https://github.com/w3ctag/design-reviews/issues/345))
  * [Publication Manifest](https://w3c.github.io/wpub/#webidl) ([W3CTAG #344](https://github.com/w3ctag/design-reviews/issues/344))



And one apparent need for a manifest: [W3CTAG #218](https://github.com/w3ctag/design-reviews/issues/218). There are likely others, please add more below.

From a web author, developer, publisher perspective, it would be great if we could simplify the number of manifests, ideally one, perhaps with core properties, optional properties for specific use-cases, and a method of expanding each of those by separate working groups for maximum re-use and avoiding collisions / duplication of slightly different properties.

This issue is intended as a meta-issue just to track the growing number of manifests.

For specific proposals to provide guidelines to both spec and web authors about how to create some data and provide it in a manifest file, see: [W3CTAG #95](https://github.com/w3ctag/design-principles/issues/95) (please do not mark as duplicate, I think these serve two different purposes). Thanks for your consideration!

(Originally published at: https://tantek.com/2019/261/b1/proliferation-manifests-w3c)

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