Forum Q&A

Sylandra

I have noticed that there is a general trend of not understanding basic concepts behind using the forums. Hence, I am opening this as a thread where we can demystify this strange experience for everyone else. Feel free to add tips of your own! I thought I'd address the two biggest questions I've fielded regarding the forums.

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Q: How do I post a picture or a gif in a post?

A: First please turn your gaze to the grey tool bar above. There is a specific button you'll want to pay attention to here.

Click this button that looks like a picture box. It will prompt you to fill in a link to your image. (Note: the other option for a picture box doesn't seem to work for some reason. I don't know why. Just be sure you're using the button I circled on the right, and not the button on the upper left.)

This is where most people get confused!

To obtain the link you need, look at the picture you're trying to use (presumably one found on a website; if you have something in your files you want to upload, I recommend putting it on imgur or tinypic). RIGHT CLICK THE PICTURE.

Pick the "Open image in new tab" option. Copy paste that link and put it in the section the picture box button gives you.

Presto! Picture posted.

Sylandra

Q: How do I post a video directly to the forums?

A: I only know how to do this with youtube videos! But here is my answer. It is actually very, very simple.

Go to the youtube video you're looking for and click the "Share" button below it. If you're having trouble finding that button, it is here:

Clicking the share button will lead you to a section with a link that looks like this:

Copy this link and just paste it directly into your post. Then post it, and voila, you have a video on the forums!

Phoebus

Sylandra said:

I have noticed that there is a general trend of not understanding basic concepts behind using the forums. Hence, I am opening this as a thread where we can demystify this strange experience for everyone else. Feel free to add tips of your own! I thought I'd address the two biggest questions I've fielded regarding the forums.

---------

Q: How do I post a picture or a gif in a post?

A: First please turn your gaze to the grey tool bar above. There is a specific button you'll want to pay attention to here.

Click this button that looks like a picture box. It will prompt you to fill in a link to your image. (Note: the other option for a picture box doesn't seem to work for some reason. I don't know why. Just be sure you're using the button I circled on the right, and not the button on the upper left.)

This is where most people get confused!

To obtain the link you need, look at the picture you're trying to use (presumably one found on a website; if you have something in your files you want to upload, I recommend putting it on imgur or tinypic). RIGHT CLICK THE PICTURE.

Pick the "Open image in new tab" option. Copy paste that link and put it in the section the picture box button gives you.

Presto! Picture posted.

You could simply right click the image and choose "Copy image URL" (or I suppose it's "Copy image address" in your browser!) to save the tab opening step.

Phoebus

I have a tip for these forums also! This is less about intended functionality and more about fixing one of the many, many ways the board can and will break your posts. I've posted this a few times since I discovered it, but now I added more colors, because I can.

Q: I quoted a post, but the quote boxes didn't show up when it posted and now my reply is a formatting nightmare! How can I fix this?

A: I don't know how to stop this from happening, but you can fix it by following these simple steps!

1) Edit your post.

2) Click the "Show Source" button, noted in orange.

3) Locate the bit of text circled here in blue. This should be the very first thing in the box.

4) Add the closing tag, circled in red, directly after it.

5) Save your post.

Tada! Now everything looks the way it's supposed to. 

Lerad

Also, a more casual tip for the more casual user - if the quoteboxes problemy thingamajig happens to you, you can also resolve it by using firefox instead. Not sure exactly what goes on in there, but firefox tends to handle the forum shenanigans better (including, or especially, with things like spoiler tags and manual html codes etc)

Sylandra

Q: Why can't I post from mobile to the forums?!

A: I have no idea, but a common way of fixing this problem is to type from "Show Source" directly. This means you have to manually format your posts, so be aware! For reference, this is the Show Source button:

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Q: Help! I can only post from "Show Source" on mobile, and it won't let me click the picture button! How do I post a picture from here?!

A: Fear not, forum-goer, this is also a simple task!

1) Once more, you must attain the web address for the image you wish to post. We detail this process in the first post of the thread.

2) Having gotten that link, go to the post and click "Show Source." (It is the button illustrated in the question directly above this one.)

3) Type the following into your text box like so:

Then post, and tada! You should have an image posted to the forums.

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Q: Why is it every time I copy and paste text from another website, the whole formatting goes crazy on the forums? I edit and edit, but it doesn't seem to post the way I format it in the box!

A: This is a battle I've been fighting in the Shakespeare mafia thread for awhile, and here's how I've learned to cope with the smallest amount of fuss:

1) Copy paste your text in "Show Source" instead of the normal text box post option. This will strip your copied text of any existing formatting on it. (Note: even though there is a button that supposedly will do this for you in the post toolbar, I've learned it still tends to miss a lot of formatting if you're posting from another website! "Show Source" is a much more efficient way of removing it.)

2) Now go to the normal text box, and edit it as normal. All the weirdness should vanish!

Riluna

Phoebus said:

EDIT: Ok, this time I had to put </blockquote> between your reply and the quoted post. If I had to guess, you probably were typing a reply and deleted the first character of it, which threw you back into the content of the quote box, so it got rid of the closing tag for the quote and combined your post with theirs. Adding it back fixes it.

I'd just like to put this here so it's easy to find later.

Phoebus

Forum emoji info for those interested.

We seem to have gone from the Yahoo emoji plugin to the Twitter emoji plugin. As far as I can tell the Twitter list has all the options currently available to us listed on it, even if they look a tiny bit different. You may also notice that it is objectively inferior to our old ones. But this lets you check what your options are, unlike the limited selection dropdown on the bar. Enjoy.

Luce

Dear Estarra,
Can we politely request that B    ) be nuked from orbit?
Sincerely,
Those of us who like ordered lists.