[showell]

SHPAML replaces angle brackets and close tags with space-based indentation and pipes. The CSS sugar for #id and .classname is completely optional, and obviously if you know CSS, then the syntax should be familiar.

I agree that there are plenty of other useful ways to represent XML/HTML.

SHPAML does require or even support tabs. The "|" is not for line continuation; it is to separate markup from content.