BBCode

[Jen-in-Wellies]

After the forum update, BBCode doesn't seem to be supported, or recognised any more. I used it for subscripts and superscript. Is it planned to get it back? If not, is it possible to have sub and superscript in the editing options? It is very useful for techy discussions involving wire size in sq mm, or chemistry symbols amongst other things.

Jen

Edited January 20, 2021 by Jen-in-Wellies

[David Mack]

In the past I have typed such things in Word then copied and pasted into the forum input box, and sub/superscripts and other special characters appear as intended. Don't know if that still works now.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

18 minutes ago, David Mack said:

In the past I have typed such things in Word then copied and pasted into the forum input box, and sub/superscripts and other special characters appear as intended. Don't know if that still works now.

^Yes it does, or _no it doesn’t?

Let's find out.

Yes it does!

Thanks, a useful thing to know. Would still be better if it were directly supported by CWDF though. Especially for those using a mobile interface.

Jen

Edited January 20, 2021 by Jen-in-Wellies

[Hudds Lad]

i think BBCode is an optional feature of most forum software, so probably just needs toggling on?

 

at least it was years ago in phpBB & vBulletin

[DHutch]

Previously forums actually recorded the data in BB code, that's how they worked and any buttons just inserted the code.

 

Now, as of V3 the source is stored as HTML which allows more complicated formatting and WYSIWYG editoring. However we added the ability to convert typed BB code into HTML source on V3 using a 3rd party plugin application.

 

As this moved to V4.5 was slightly unexpected we did no testing and as yet have not implemented that functionally. We will add it if a suitable plugin exists for V4.

 

Thanks

 

Daniel

 

 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Thanks for looking in to it Daniel,

It doesn't necessarily need to be BBCode. The ability to insert html tags directly would work too and might be easier what with the forum now using html in general, rather than BBCode.  So would having super and subscript as editing options, along with bold, italic, underline and strike out.

Thanks,

Jenny

Edited January 21, 2021 by Jen-in-Wellies

[buccaneer66]

For messing with formats I'll use BBCodeditor or coffeecup.

[IanM]

Just using this thread to test a BBCode link to a Flickr picture.

 

[url=https://flic.kr/p/28FcvSk][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/1828/43106779971_c1ff32e577_c.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/28FcvSk]Braunston Historic Boat Festival 2018[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/imulford/]Ian[/url], on Flickr

 

If it doesn't work, is their any update on when it could be brought back as I want to link to a lot of pictures already on Flickr and I don't want to have to resize them and upload them individually if the linking doesn't work.

 

Edited to add: Obviously it doesn't work still.😠

Edited January 12, 2022 by IanM

[David Mack]

Just paste the Flickr url directly into your post. Like this.

 

[IanM]

Now I swear that didn't work yesterday...

 

Maybe because I was trying to do it in a post I was editing?

 

Thanks 😀

[Murflynn]

15 minutes ago, IanM said:

Just using this thread to test a BBCode link to a Flickr picture.

 

[url=https://flic.kr/p/28FcvSk][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/1828/43106779971_c1ff32e577_c.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/28FcvSk]Braunston Historic Boat Festival 2018[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/imulford/]Ian[/url], on Flickr

 

If it doesn't work, is their any update on when it could be brought back as I want to link to a lot of pictures already on Flickr and I don't want to have to resize them and upload them individually if the linking doesn't work.

 

Edited to add: Obviously it doesn't work still.😠

 

please don't introduce flickering images into the forum.  It can cause dizziness and delirium for many otherwise healthy beings.

[Rob-M]

 

I find I have to hit enter a couple of times after inserting the link for it to automatically switch the link to the image. 

[RichM]

In short BBcode is deprecated and should not be used. Here's the official response from Invision (the people who develop the forum software)

"We appreciate the feedback! I certainly understand there are still some niche sites - notably certain techy/dev sites that still rely on to BBCode both because they find it easier and it’s what they know. The (comparatively) few still using it are very passionate about using it and we can definitely appreciate that. 

At the same time, the BB in BBCode stands for Bulletin Board. It was created long before WYSIWYGs in the 90’s by UBB. The web has since long evolved and with the advance of proper WYSIWYG technology, so BBCode is really rare to encounter. Be it Google Docs, email or virtually any modern editor, we all use buttons or shortcut keys like command-B as second nature, which works even with markdown. 

The real issue is the fact that it’s simply not native to any modern editor (that I am aware of) - including the one we integrate with, CKEditor. We have a backend “parser” that converts your BBC tags to HTML upon submission, but there is no way to convert that back for editing or any other purpose. To maintain overall stability as well as compatibility with editor updates, our only intention with Invision Community 4 was to ensure some degree of backwards compatibility for those who still use tags when submitting content. The software in fact does that and while BBCode will be deprecated (which simply means it will not be further developed) in a future release, we have no immediate plans to remove it entirely.

While there are still traditional software packages that have legacy BBCode support, you will find that most modern community platforms have no native (built-in) support for BBCode and I think it’s extremely unlikely we will ever see it make a comeback (although I said the same thing about bellbottoms.) "

 

Source: https://invisioncommunity.com/forums/topic/453380-complete-bbcode-support/?do=findComment&comment=2795482

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Thanks for the update and explanation. Makes sense why BBCode has been put in the bit retirement home.

Is there any chance of adding sub and superscript to the standard post editing toolbar? Alongside Bold, Italic, Underline and Strikethrough? That would make some techy posts a lot easier to write without having to resort to compose keys, or copy/paste from another app, particularly for those on mobile gadgets.

Jen

[David Mack]

9 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

 Alongside Bold, Italic, Underline and Strikethrough?

 

I don't even get strikethrough on my phone.

[andyberg]

Deleted

 

 

 

Edited March 17, 2022 by andyberg
Trying to post pic

[MtB]

So, is the general opinion that the only way to do strikethrough and superscript now is to format it in MS Word first, then copy-N-paste it into the "Reply" box? 

 

How about Mac users?

 

<Strikethrough… just testing>

 

Doesn't work using "Pages" (the Apple version of Word). Huh. 

[buccaneer66]

8 hours ago, MtB said:

Doesn't work using "Pages" (the Apple version of Word). Huh. 

 

You really expected an Apple product to be compatible with the rest of the world 🤣

[MtB]

3 hours ago, buccaneer66 said:

 

You really expected an Apple product to be compatible with the rest of the world 🤣

 

 

No, I expect the rest of the world to fall in line with (far superior) Apple technology.

 

 

But more seriously, is it really Invision policy that only people with a licensed edition of M$ Word can use sub/superscript etc on the forum?

 

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by MtB
To finesse a point.

[buccaneer66]

It does seem odd that they haven't considered this.

[Richard Fairhurst]

It works ^if _you copy and paste from TextEdit on a Mac.

[Hudds Lad]

12 hours ago, MtB said:

"Pages" (the Apple version of Word).

Which was the M$ version of MacWrite  

[MtB]

4 minutes ago, Richard Fairhurst said:

It works ^if _you copy and paste from TextEdit on a Mac.

 

Thanks. I've only been using Macs for five years and I know nothing about this! A Mac version of "Notepad" I guess. It does not appear in "Launchpad" so I'll goggle how to find it. Thanks again.

 

 

[alias]

23 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

No, I expect the rest of the world to fall in line with (far superior) Apple technology.

 

 

But more seriously, is it really Invision policy that only people with a licensed edition of M$ Word can use sub/superscript etc on the forum?

 

Microsoft Word doesn't have a monopoly on word processing apps. LibreOffice is free, makes a Mac version, and displays cut and pasted strikethrough text here. Or at least the version for Windows does so YMMV but possibly worth a try.

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by alias

[M_JG]

4 minutes ago, alias said:

 

Microsoft Word doesn't have a monopoly on word processing apps. LibreOffice is free, makes a Mac version, and displays cut and pasted strikethrough text here. Or at least the version for Windows does so YMMV but possibly worth a try.

 

 

Ive never understood why anybody still pays for MS products given the existence of Libre Office.

 

Its excellent and as you say free.