95 replies to this topic

[securitybreach]

LilBambi, on 21 April 2012 - 01:22 PM, said:

I do the same thing "quick reply' box to compose (and it may be enough for short messages), and then click the more reply options to preview and edit as necessary (very much needed for many longer posts, especially with images and or more advanced formatting, etc.).

I also do the same exact thing when posting....

[LilBambi]

[Cluttermagnet]

Color test  Color test  Color test  Color test  Color test  Color test

Fran, I know you put a lot of work into this. Your response was very measured, considering that what I said was probably annoying.

FWIW, I found that if I chose the "Special BB Code", an option given among the many was html. How to actually apply that and get it to work eluded me during my first session, however. A window opens up and if one selects html, then opening and closing html tags in brackets do appear in that sub- window.

The colors above were generated using the Text Color button in the compose window. Thing is, I'm fussy about colors and I like to use oddballs like "d5beb2" and "cdaf75", not only the 'rounded' colors like "663399".

I'll keep playing with this...

[LilBambi]

Excellent, you already found the Special BBCode and were able to make use of it!



In addition to the Special BBCode icon (third one), there is a Light Switch (first one) and Eraser (middle one).

Light Switch - Toggles between the GUI Editor and the plain text editor (which will reveal any codes you have used already in the posting or a post you are editing from the past).

Eraser - Will remove all formatting from any highlighted text.

Special BBCode - Adds some BBCode that may or may not be available through the icons above the text area of the GUI Editor.

NOTE: As I mentioned earlier, HTML code is disallowed in the forums as it was before. Even though you see that 'option' in the Special BBCode, HTML code will not work as you already noted.

I see you obviously also found the fonts area; font, size, and color.



The Change Color icon above (third icon one) and the Light Switch can help us use your 'oddball' choices of colors:

d5beb2

cdaf75

I just made use of a 'normal' color, used the Light Switch to toggle between GUI Editor and Plain Text Editor to reveal the codes, copied the code, then simply plugged in your desired 'oddball' color codes and switched back to GUI Editor.

I did make use of the Eraser on the next line to remove the color code in the GUI Edior, or I could have used the Plain Text Editor to get beyond the closing color code and continued typing my text.

Hope that helps some.

You are a very intelligent person, a hacker/tinkerer engineering type. One of my most favorite types of people. I have great respect for you. I have no doubt you eventually would have figured this out for yourself but it was just so frustrating, annoying and appeared totally screwed up. And in someways, the old posts were sadly. I totally understand it.

Change can be a real pain in the neck. I hate change too sometimes. More often than I care to admit actually.

Please, feel free to post anything else that you need help figuring out, and I will see if there is a way to do it.

Thanks my friend for voicing your concerns and frustrations so we could help. I am sorry that this needed security upgrade caused you such aggravation.

I can't wait to read episodes of Dirk's story!

Edited by LilBambi, 22 April 2012 - 09:55 AM.
added some additional items

[Cluttermagnet]

I have a test thread going in the Testing sub-forum. Thanks, Fran. The light switch editor gives back some ability at least. Text formatting isn't going to be very flexible, looks like. I'll keep playing with it. My gut feeling so far is that this new software is more 'brute force' or 'heavy handed' in how it applies inputs, in terms of the formatting that results. IOW it's less flexible, less amenable to the application of various formatting 'english' by the user.

[Neil P]

Cluttermagnet, do you use word processing software? This WYSIWYG editor takes a lot from that. For instance, you can Ctrl+B to get bold text, without having to type the BBCode out (although you can, as [b and /b] will still work). You can also highlight words you've already typed to format them using the buttons. (Though not everything you use in a word processor will work. For instance, Ctrl+E would center your text in Word, and took me to my URL bar instead)

You also don't need to hit the light switch to type your BBCode manually. I didn't to bold this, for example. I'm more used to typing with BBCode because I do it all the time.

edit: although you can hit the light switch to see what BBCode the editor is applying, since it hides most of it.

[securitybreach]

That is pretty cool Neil, I did not know that

[LilBambi]

Yes, it is very cool what you can do. I have been trying out many new things. I also found that if I wanted to I could choose the t Twitter icon, and go down and choose the BBCode for Twitter from the list, to add my Twitter name: @bambismusings to a posting or my Sig.

I actually switch back and forth between the sides of the Light Switch so I can customize after choosing a general BBCode for the type of formatting I want. This is particularly helpful for getting beyond formatting in place, or alternatively, you can just use the Eraser at the end of a URL to end the URL formatting and continue typing normally.

Or as I showed in earlier posts, changing color codes to things you can't get with the default choices in BBCode Text Color changer in the GUI Editor such as this color of purple or the shades of beige/buff/cream/tan consistently that Clutter was talking about earlier.

It's great to have alternative ways to do things.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Yuppers... CTRL + shortcuts do work well in most WYSIWYG editors. They are fast for a touch-typer like myself because I don't have to take my hands off the keyboard.

[teacher]

I was trying to do some changes to my settings.  It said I had to "Check for Real Life Form" but there was no image anywhere I could find to put in this box.  What am I missing?

[LilBambi]

Hi Julia! Love your new look!

Yes, that's the 0K that is used for registration and apparently for some changes to the profile as well. It's the number and letter characters they are asking for ... not an image.

[crp]

Why is there still a link to the Blog , and as the first menu entry at that.

[LilBambi]

Because it was there before we upgraded and I haven't found the code to move it yet.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

It's probably in the overall header, Fran.

[LilBambi]

Actually, I have found and was able to add items to top navigation, determining the code they are using for that link is the issue. It's not the actual link.

[LilBambi]

Found it! It was not in the skin or navigation at all. It was in the configuration files.

So it's fixed! We will all be very happy to not be accidentally clicking it thinking it's the Home for the forums! Yea!

[securitybreach]

Thanks Fran

[LilBambi]

Happy to help. Just had to figure out where it was in the config areas since it was using codes to identify it.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Awww... I kinda' miss visiting Scot's inactive blog at least two or three times daily. I'll bet he's wondering where the increased visitor activity on his old site came from this past week or so.

[LilBambi]

Hey I can now add it back in, but further along the top navigation bar too now that I know where to put them manually.

[LilBambi]

OK, we just have a single entry for clicking on the forums along the top. I will add Scot's Newsletter Blog back further to the right on the top navigation.

Also, great news, we have our Upcoming Calendar Events and Birthday(s) Today back! You see those two entries above the Recent Topics in the Right sidebar on the main page of the forums!

Yea!

[V.T. Eric Layton]

[securitybreach]

Very nice Fran, I enjoy participating om the birthday thread. Nice to show our users that we care (as if they did not already know).

All joking aside, it does feel nice to have friends and other members wishing you a happy birthday and such.   That said, what are some of the other functions of the calendar? I know things like anniversaries are posted but what other things get posted?

[LilBambi]

Well, we can mark things like our Anniversary for the Forums or the passing of a great friend and SNF icon, Rest in Peace, Dear Friend, Bruno.

[securitybreach]

LilBambi, on 27 April 2012 - 07:20 AM, said:

Well, we can mark things like our Anniversary for the Forums or the passing of a great friend and SNF icon, Rest in Peace, Dear Friend, Bruno.

Yeah, I knew about those two but I would not think that we need a calendar for those dates as most of us know those anyway. I do understand what you mean though