Sand Box (Try out the forum Software sandbox)

[ivar]

Dear all,

[@SYates set up this SandBox thread a few days ago... I just tried to merge the posts over to this new thread.. and it all went horribly wrong.. so here we go... a blank new thread where you can try out some forum features]

First of all, thank you to @SYates for taking the initiative to set this up.

This Thread is set up to help people when they want to test a link/video/pic/etc before they post them on the regular forums. Once you have sorted out your post please copy it and post it to the relevant forum.

If you do not delete your test one of the moderators will clean things up after a few days.

This is NOT a place for people to have random conversations.

Please still be respectful of others, and do not expect replies to questions asked here.

Enjoy!
Ivar

 

[SYates]

Ok, time to give the sand box a push up ;-) It is a great tool to try out forum post options like posting from your phone - Don't be shy - use it! And if anybody laughs - so what? You mades omebody laugh/smile which is a good thing to do .... BC SY

 

[dougfitz]

Ok, time to give the sand box a push up ;-) It is a great tool to try out forum post options like posting from your phone - Don't be shy - use it! And if anybody laughs - so what? You mades omebody laugh/smile which is a good thing to do .... BC SY

If you are interested in seeing how things look before you post them, use the More Options ... button below and to the far right of the text edit box. A new screen will be loaded, and below the text edit box will be a new button, Preview ... which will show then show how your post will look on-screen if you do post it in its current form.

There is a common trap when replying to a post or quoting another post, and that is that the closing square bracket at the end of the quoted text gets removed during editing. Here is an example:

Ok, time to give the sand box a push up ;-) It is a great tool to try out forum post options like posting from your phone - Don't be shy - use it! And if anybody laughs - so what? You mades omebody laugh/smile which is a good thing to do .... BC SY[/QUOTE


The closing square bracket has been removed, so now this new text looks like it is part of the text being quoted. You will also see that the text [/QUOTE appears because the forum software now thinks this is normal text.

You will not be able to see it, but a new 'end quote' instruction has been inserted just before this line, and this text now appears outside the quote box. If you do want to see how this works, you will have to play around with it yourself. Press the Post Reply ... button now, then press the Preview ... button and have a look at how this text is bracketed at the beginning and end by the start and end quote codes in square brackets.

You will find that the instructions are not case-sensitive, although by convention, these codes are normally typed in all caps so that they can be easily found, and checked for correctness.

So if you do find that when you reply or quote, and the message you have typed appears to have disappeared, you may find that you have removed the closing square bracket during editing. The easiest way to fix this is to select Edit under your post, and replace the closing square bracket if that is the problem.

 

[Bala]

I wasn't aware of this preview option. Helpful to know. Thanks!

 

[dougfitz]

There is a common trap when replying to a post or quoting another post, and that is that the closing square bracket at the end of the quoted text gets removed during editing.

A similar problem can occur when you want to remove some text from a section being quoted, and the closing square bracket is removed from the start quote code.

This is a far longer code sequence, because when you press the Reply button, the forum software adds two other things:

1. one is the little up-arrow that is a link to the place where the quote was sourced, and
2. the name of the poster.

You will see these in the slightly darker bar above the rest of the quote.

If you accidentally fiddle with these, you will find that the link will not be to the material you have quoted, which rather ruins its usefulness.

If you do remove the closing square bracket from the start code, your post will look like this:

[QUOTE="dougfitz, post: 455530, member: 10982" There is a common trap when replying to a post or quoting another post, and that is that the closing square bracket at the end of the quoted text gets removed during editing.[/QUOTE]

And this is an example of how text that you now add looks.

This can be easily fixed. If you already posted by pressing the Reply to Thread button, at the bottom of your post there will be an Edit option. Once in the edit text box, it is then possible to replace the missing closing square bracket, and the pressing Save Changes.

If you haven't already posted your response, just find the place where you need to re-insert the closing square bracket, do that, and then go on editing your text.

 

[SYates]

As there were recently a few "how do I do that on the forum" threads around, I thought I give the sand box another "push up". BC SY

 

[trecile]

full-size
View attachment 85241

What's the difference between "drop in" and "insert?"

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

What's the difference between "drop in" and "insert?"

See https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/forum-upgrade-hiccups.68676/#post-878540

 

[trecile]

See https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/forum-upgrade-hiccups.68676/#post-878540

I really just wanted to know which method you were calling drop in vs insert.

 

[peregrina2000]

I have always been able to use the little link icon above to embed links into text. AT least I have been able to do that since some forum member patiently taught me how to do it, maybe it was @mspath. ANYWAY... it doesn’t work for me now. Nor can I directly paste in a link. It looks like this, so you can’t click on it. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/detailed-stage-planning-—-camino-de-levante-cam%C3%AD-de-llevant.68299/

Any ideas about what could be happening? Is anyone else having that problem? It is pretty consistently not working but every now and then I am able to produce a message with the blue text. Thanks, amigos.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I have always been able to use the little link icon above to embed links into text. AT least I have been able to do that since some forum member patiently taught me how to do it, maybe it was @mspath. ANYWAY... it doesn’t work for me now. Nor can I directly paste in a link. It looks like this, so you can’t click on it. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/detailed-stage-planning-—-camino-de-levante-cam%C3%AD-de-llevant.68299/

Any ideas about what could be happening? Is anyone else having that problem? It is pretty consistently not working but every now and then I am able to produce a message with the blue text. Thanks, amigos.

I haven't had any problems with the link tool since the big upgrade and I have used it several times.

I have had problems with the bold and italics tools though. I hit one, type in text and then hit the tool again to mark the end of bolding/italicizing and that removes everything that was working ok until then. I know how to use Bulletin Board Code to work around this. BBC could fix your problem too Laurie but it is rather complex for doing links.

 

[peregrina2000]

Well, I don’t have that problem, so I am not sure what is going on. And I just tried embedding on my phone and I can’t do it there, either, so it isn’t my device, I think. I will put my phone on data and try from there just in case the wireless may be the problem. Be right back!

 

[peregrina2000]

Trying to embed here

 

[peregrina2000]

Eureka! It must be my wifi. How is that possible? I was able to embed using the phone but only if the phone was on data. Weird.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Eureka! It must be my wifi. How is that possible? I was able to embed using the phone but only if the phone was on data. Weird.

FYI, even before the upgrade I have been only using my Android phone connected to wifi to make my posts. That includes the links. Maybe with a good night's sleep I might figure out what might be going on.