However, as first-time user I was a little annoyed by the old-fashioned input box. It's too narrow

I agree, but you can make it bigger using CSS. In my Display Settings, I added 

/* Increase size of text input areas. */

textarea {
   width:            100%;
   height:           25em;
}

table.user-settings,
.user-settings textarea { 
   width:            100%; 
}

[download]

Not everyone is conversant with HTML

And even fewer with whatever wiki dialect you had in mind.

and, for the occasional posting, I don't want to go through the "approved html tags" list or the like.

You shouldn't have to ever look at that list. Only the exotic isn't allowed. The only special item you need to know is that it's much easier to use <c>...</c> to post code and data.

so it forced me to litter my text with cumbersome <br> tags. I find the wiki syntax easier to use (more intuitive).

Then you're doing something wrong. You should rarely have to use <br>. Just put a <p> at the beginning of every paragraph. I don't see how it could be more intuitive.

Update: Spelling fix

In reply to Re: Wiki-Style syntax for posting by ikegami
in thread Wiki-Style syntax for posting by Anonymous Monk

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
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  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
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            For:     Use:
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    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
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