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Let's Learn Forum HTML

GreatTeacherMacRossGreatTeacherMacRoss
edited October 2011 in Technology
Okay, so with the upgrade to Vanilla 2 we've lost all previous plug-ins that did useful things like the buttons inserting links and videos, changing font color, etc. Scott's opinion seems to be that if you don't know enough HTML to do it on your own, you shouldn't be allowed to post anything but text.

My opinion is that if there are those of you (and by you, I mean me too) who are not well-versed in the HTML that you need to pop into forum posts and still want to post images and videos and whatnot, should create a thread to help the less code-savvy amongst the forum readers and posters. This thread could become a sort of quick-reference guide instead of having to search around the internet for the appropriate html code.

Hilariously, I tried in this very post to give an example of the code needed to bold text, as in the second paragraph, but the HTML reads as it is 'supposed' to, and vanishes. So, there's the first question I suppose:

How do I give examples of code without the forum making it actual code?
Post edited by GreatTeacherMacRoss on
«13456

Comments

  • a1sa1s
    this is code: <a href=about:me>I'm not a link </a>
    that wasn't helpful, was it? (actually there's a way to lear it just from that, but I'll lave that as an excercise for the punks in the audience)
    here's how I actually did that:
    <code> this is code: <a href=about:me>I'm not a link </a> </ code>
  • AprecheApreche
    edited October 2011
    http://lmgtfy.com/?q=html+tutorial

    The only HTML you need to know for this forum is the img tag.

    <img src="http://your.jpg" />

    Honestly, even if you have always relied on the buttons, all those buttons did is paste HTML into the text area! Did you not even bother to look at the comment you were posting? You surely had to notice a pattern over the course of five years!
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • BronzdragonBronzdragon
    You do it with the code tag. Here's an example:
    this is how you <b>bold</b> words
  • a1sa1s
    Moving on,
    <b> bold </b> bold
    <em> italic </em> italic
    <i> emphased </i> emphased
    <s> wrong </s> wrong
    <u><s> wrong and needs to die </s></u> wrong and needs to die
    <font color=red> red </font> red
    <font face="system"> systematic </font> I can't let you write this, Dave

    come back tommorow, and we'll embed a motion picture into your page.
  • ApsupApsup
    edited October 2011
    Honestly, even if you have always relied on the buttons, all those buttons did is paste HTML into the text area! Did you not even bother to look at the comment you were posting? You surely had to notice a pattern over the course of five years!
    You don't think that there will be new members joining the forums in the future?

    Remember to think of the children and newbs.
    Also:
    To link something, just write the url.
    To put Youtube video on the comment just copy-paste the url.
    image <img src="http://picture.jpg" />
    green<font color="green">sarcasm</font>

    Edit: als was faster.

    Post edited by Apsup on
  • JasonJason
    Seriously, Scott, you're acting like there's a moral virtue to knowing HTML. You're acting as arbitrarily as a mechanic who rigs your car to only go 35 mph unless you learn how to change your own oil.
  • RochelleRochelle
    This would be nice if it was all included in the Forum Rules and Hints thread so we don't have to sticky another thread.

    Also, I know it was linked before but a tutorial on basic commands of improved searching within the forum would be nice as well.
  • GregGreg
    http://lmgtfy.com/?q=html+tutorial

    The only HTML you need to know for this forum is the img tag.

    <img src="http://your.jpg" />

    Honestly, even if you have always relied on the buttons, all those buttons did is paste HTML into the text area! Did you not even bother to look at the comment you were posting? You surely had to notice a pattern over the course of five years!
    Over the course of a five months I learned blockquote, and I already knew bold/italics, but I never learned links, and that is needed for some things on this forum.
  • a1sa1s
    edited October 2011
    blockquote is horrible! why is it 2 tags instead of one?!
    edit: nevermind, it's one tag now. All the learnage down the drain.
    Post edited by a1s on
  • AriaAria
    edited October 2011
    I mostly side with Scott, but teaching people bold, underscore, strike-through, and image-embedding in the rules topic can't do harm.
    Post edited by Aria on
  • AprecheApreche
    I think it's actually best if a complete nub is restricted to posting just text. Someone who is smart enough to HTML/BBCode without buttons is probably not going to clutter up the forum with ridiculous colors and font sizes and other stupidity. It's an intentional high barrier to entry.
    Seriously, Scott, you're acting like there's a moral virtue to knowing HTML. You're acting as arbitrarily as a mechanic who rigs your car to only go 35 mph unless you learn how to change your own oil.
    HTML is the language of the web. The fact that you people don't already know it is really sad. You have been on this forum for years. You have been on the web for longer. Whenever you clicked buttons on the old forum it pasted the HTML right where you could see it. You even need to know HTML to blog! I really don't understand how you people could go for so many years looking at so much HTML in your posts without learning a single tag. Did you not even look at your posts before posting them? If so, you deserve it.
    This would be nice if it was all included in the Forum Rules and Hints thread so we don't have to sticky another thread.

    Also, I know it was linked before but a tutorial on basic commands of improved searching within the forum would be nice as well.
    Again, it's intentional. The Internet has literally a hojillion such tutorials. There's no reason to be redundant. The ability to do a Google search is also an intentional prerequisite. If you can't do a Google search when you need help, you probably shouldn't be posting fancy shit here.
    http://lmgtfy.com/?q=html+tutorial

    The only HTML you need to know for this forum is the img tag.

    <img src="http://your.jpg" />

    Honestly, even if you have always relied on the buttons, all those buttons did is paste HTML into the text area! Did you not even bother to look at the comment you were posting? You surely had to notice a pattern over the course of five years!
    Over the course of a five months I learned blockquote, and I already knew bold/italics, but I never learned links, and that is needed for some things on this forum.
    Links are no longer necessary. You can just paste a link without HTML and it will work. The same goes for Youtube or Vimeo videos. Just put in a link to the video and it will automatically do the embedding and everything.

    The only tag you need is the img tag. And you know what, if you use imgur.com, like a good netizen, it writes the img tag for you to copy/pasta! So you don't even have to learn it.

    Lastly, despite all your whining like babies, you should thank me. Why? Because now all of you who somehow miraculously avoided learning HTML are learning it! Great success. You are now as good at computers as I was in middle school with the Geocities and such.
  • CremlianCremlian
    Scott, I think it's more of a convenience factor. I can write some basic HTML, but not without significantly adding to the time to post. Fortunately I don't need to bold and italics things much so it doesn't come up. The buttons shortcut the action and make it so I don't have to worry about that.

    I would note that most of the most simple blog editors have buttons that bold and italic things like word press.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Scott, I think it's more of a convenience factor. I can write some basic HTML, but not without significantly adding to the time to post. Fortunately I don't need to bold and italics things much so it doesn't come up. The buttons shortcut the action and make it so I don't have to worry about that.

    I would note that most of the most simple blog editors have buttons that bold and italic things like word press.
    Exactly, I am teh lazy. What's technology for if not to do dull and repetitive actions for me?
  • ApsupApsup
    I think it's actually best if a complete nub is restricted to posting just text. Someone who is smart enough to HTML/BBCode without buttons is probably not going to clutter up the forum with ridiculous colors and font sizes and other stupidity. It's an intentional high barrier to entry.
    Give me a one case of olden days of forums with the buttons where a newb came in and started to throw unnecessary formating and colors everywhere. Isn't it good thing that you have to take off your shoes to board into a plane because someone might have a bomb in there? Seriously, when I first read that paragraph I thought you were joking, sadly you aren't.
    Lastly, despite all your whining like babies, you should thank me. Why? Because now all of you who somehow miraculously avoided learning HTML are learning it! Great success. You are now as good at computers as I was in middle school with the Geocities and such.
    I never thank anyone for making a decisions that lead to a more difficult user experience. You are just a mean person.

    Also where is said that you are supposed to use HTML of the comment box, how can a new user know that links can be linked just by writing them? How can a new user know that Youtube video embeds automatically? Because let me give you a future telling. I see a future where a new user joins to the forums, so far in to the future that this thread is no longer on the first page. The user will wonder how to do pictures or youtube videos. The user will see the rules and tips thread, but finds no help and in the end ether makes a new thread asking it, or PMs somebody. That future could be averted, but you don't want to.

  • AprecheApreche
    Scott, I think it's more of a convenience factor. I can write some basic HTML, but not without significantly adding to the time to post. Fortunately I don't need to bold and italics things much so it doesn't come up. The buttons shortcut the action and make it so I don't have to worry about that.

    I would note that most of the most simple blog editors have buttons that bold and italic things like word press.
    Exactly, I am teh lazy. What's technology for if not to do dull and repetitive actions for me?
    If it really takes you that long, then you need typing lessons. I guarantee I can type an img tag faster than you can click one.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Scott, I think it's more of a convenience factor. I can write some basic HTML, but not without significantly adding to the time to post. Fortunately I don't need to bold and italics things much so it doesn't come up. The buttons shortcut the action and make it so I don't have to worry about that.

    I would note that most of the most simple blog editors have buttons that bold and italic things like word press.
    Exactly, I am teh lazy. What's technology for if not to do dull and repetitive actions for me?
    If it really takes you that long, then you need typing lessons. I guarantee I can type an img tag faster than you can click one.
    I bet you can. I run servers and do tier 3 support all day. You code websites.

  • ApsupApsup
    Scott, I think it's more of a convenience factor. I can write some basic HTML, but not without significantly adding to the time to post. Fortunately I don't need to bold and italics things much so it doesn't come up. The buttons shortcut the action and make it so I don't have to worry about that.

    I would note that most of the most simple blog editors have buttons that bold and italic things like word press.
    Exactly, I am teh lazy. What's technology for if not to do dull and repetitive actions for me?
    If it really takes you that long, then you need typing lessons. I guarantee I can type an img tag faster than you can click one.
    You work with computers everyday, not everyone does.

  • AprecheApreche
    Also where is said that you are supposed to use HTML of the comment box, how can a new user know that links can be linked just by writing them? How can a new user know that Youtube video embeds automatically? Because let me give you a future telling. I see a future where a new user joins to the forums, so far in to the future that this thread is no longer on the first page. The user will wonder how to do pictures or youtube videos. The user will see the rules and tips thread, but finds no help and in the end ether makes a new thread asking it, or PMs somebody. That future could be averted, but you don't want to.
    Actually if you go back and look at the first posts by most nub users, they mostly do exactly that. They just paste in links to youtube or other places with no tags whatsoever. Then they wonder why they aren't automatically turned into links or embeds and they had to ask how to do it. This was on the old forum that did have buttons for such things.
  • AprecheApreche
    You work with computers everyday, not everyone does.
    Do you post on this forum every day? Congratulations! You work with a computer every day!
  • RochelleRochelle
    Again, it's intentional. The Internet has literally a hojillion such tutorials. There's no reason to be redundant. The ability to do a Google search is also an intentional prerequisite. If you can't do a Google search when you need help, you probably shouldn't be posting fancy shit here.
    You make a point and I don't disagree that people should make an honest effort to learn new things. However, it would be nice to have it conveniently in the same website you want to post in. Also, I would assume that most people aren't accustomed to Vanilla but rather phBB.

    If someone made a decent post showing how to do certain things so you don't have to do it, would you add it to the Forum Rules and Hints thread?
  • AriaAria
    I don't want such buttons cluttering the posting field though. Why don't you people use Greasemonkey and just put those buttons there?
  • ApsupApsup
    I don't want such buttons cluttering the posting field though. Why don't you people use Greasemonkey and just put those buttons there?
    That's because I don't need the buttons, I do know HTML. I'm just thinking about future newb users who could find some kind of help, helpful.

  • LyddiLyddi
    I know HTML very well, its my job after all. Sometimes (all the time) I feel lazy, however, and I like just clicking a button. For stuff like links and images, my fingers automatically just type it out (AND I add target="_blank", to not be a jerk and take you away from the forum like everyone else :-P). Stuff like YouTubez and quoting, eh, button is easier.
  • AriaAria
    It's reasonable to expect links to show up as links. If you don't know how to format your text; Chances are you're gonna do it wrong and make me frown. I don't want to frown. I want to smile and look at pictures of ponies.
  • GreatTeacherMacRossGreatTeacherMacRoss
    edited October 2011
    Here's a question:
    The quote tags have changed slightly from
    <blockquote></p></div></blockquote> to
    <blockquote rel="Person's Name"></p></div></blockquote> if I am correct.

    This eliminates the need for the <cite></cite> tags around the person's name in the quote.

    However I have noticed that when I go to preview my post, the person's name does not appear and it does not seem to separate the quote into a blue field like it does on other posts. For example, if I type
    <blockquote rel="Apreche">
    and attempt to quote Scott below and close with <
    code>, I get this:
    Apparently, the quotee does not show up in formatting until the actual post is made. Also, see that crazy giant line of text? That was weird. The "rel=" bit added that line and made it go way out of the post boundary.
    Lastly, despite all your whining like babies, you should thank me. Why? Because now all of you who somehow miraculously avoided learning HTML are learning it! Great success. You are now as good at computers as I was in middle school with the Geocities and such.

    Congrads, Scott. You spent years more than most normal people learning a code that most people don't need to know. Good for you. Now, if you're not going to be helpful instead of lording greater knowledge over people and acting like a giant asshole, you obviously don't need to look at this thread ever again since it is beneath your god-like knowledge.


    Post edited by GreatTeacherMacRoss on
  • AprecheApreche
    edited October 2011
    Yes, the quote extension does not work with the preview functionality.
    Congrads, Scott. You spent years more than most normal people learning a code that most people don't need to know. Good for you. Now, if you're not going to be helpful instead of lording greater knowledge over people and acting like a giant asshole, you obviously don't need to look at this thread ever again since it is beneath your god-like knowledge.
    Also, this isn't even coding. HTML is just a simple markup language. I strongly believe that every human being on earth does, and should, understand how to program computers and how they work. I've said it before, and I'll probably die saying it. Computers control every aspect of our society. No matter what your calling in life, you must learn computers in depth. If you do not do so, your life will be controlled by those who do. Program or be programmed. Oh, and I'm not talking about the future, I'm talking about the present.
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • jmermjmerm
    edited October 2011
    I don't want such buttons cluttering the posting field though. Why don't you people use Greasemonkey and just put those buttons there?
    Some quick googling didn't turn up any greasemonkey scripts that do that.
    Post edited by jmerm on
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    You know where buttons are useful? Mobile devices. It's more of a pain to type HTML on a gimpy keyboard.
  • AprecheApreche
    You know where buttons are useful? Mobile devices. It's more of a pain to type HTML on a gimpy keyboard.
    What significant forum post are you making on your phone that even needs HTML?
  • GreatTeacherMacRossGreatTeacherMacRoss
    edited October 2011
    You know where buttons are useful? Mobile devices. It's more of a pain to type HTML on a gimpy keyboard.
    Clearly you should thank Scott for forcing you to create new software for your smartphone that would allow you such functionality, or alternatively evolve better thumbs.
    Post edited by GreatTeacherMacRoss on
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