I feel like rather hiding the complexity of TW, showing it in steps or levels would be a good way to ease users into learning more and being more capable at making TW their own. Rather than simplifying, we should compartmentalize into easy, digestible chunks.
We have all the necessary tools at our disposal already, it’s moreso a matter of presenting them in a more… approachable manner?
I play a good deal of videogames in my free time, and one of the things I notice when browsing indie and smaller titles, is that a tutorial is one of the most effective ways of showing the capabilities and mechanics of the game (on in this case, software), and I feel like TiddlyWiki can benefit from a similar approach as say, an open world based game?
With no set objectives or guidance to do what it is the user wants to do, they can feel overwhelmed or lost.
If we had a method of creating simple tutorials for the mechanisms of tiddlywiki to go along with the documentation already present, and a more dynamic layout to cater to the desires of the community (like sidebar on the left or right or an official mobile theme), it could, at least in theory, improve approachability to new users, especially if they don’t know about plugins or how to install them.
Like others have stated, tiddlywiki can do near everything, but this has caused choice paralysis and even some confusion as far as where to start. I’ve had that happen with friends I’ve tried introducing to the program in the past, unfortunately.
As far as redesigning the landing page, having preset guides of specific common use-cases would help. I know personally as a writer by hobby, showing TiddlyWiki as an alternative to sites like worldanvil for organizing my worldbuilding was a Big reason to tinker with it, but some people aren’t tinkerers by nature, so giving them something already designed by a fellow user with similar uses, would be good, I think.
I’m sure this is achieved already by user made editions, but having officially made ones would iron out any issues, and having proper documentation for each would also help greatly when that user decides they want to add to it.
Of course, we would still need to basic empty tiddlywiki too, for those who want to start from scratch. It’s like in games like dark souls where you pick a class, there is a class that has nothing, a blank slate- usually for veteran players who want the most flexibility.