Removal of Manual BBCode

[Joe]

Did the shift in forum architecture necessitate the removal of doing BBCode manually? It's mildly frustrating to see it gone.

[Brother Tyler]

The removal of the text-based editor was a software change, not a policy change. Similarly, the loss of custom BBCode was a software change. As someone who composed posts using the text-based editor, and whose posts frequently incorporated a significant amount of custom BBCode, I definitely feel your pain.

 

BBCode can still be entered manually, but only those that are still supported (i.e., standardized BBCodes) will function, leaving any unsupported [custom] BBCode attempts appearing unformatted when content is submitted.

 

[button]Custom BBCodes like buttons no longer work.[/button]

 

[BBCode]Standard BBCodes like code still function.[/BBCode]

 

Sibomots can provide a more complete technical answer to your question.

 

If I were to re-phrase your question as a suggestion, is it accurate to say that you're asking for the text-based editor option to return? If it turns out that we can bring the text-based editor back, we will.

 

Extending your point, the BBCode Guide has been hidden for now. It will return in revised format once we get a handle on which BBCodes still work (and we have the time in our long list of things to do).

[Joe]

Aha, thank you for the clarification Brother Tyler - I thought it might have been a software change. Apologies if my post came off as a bit snippy.

It is definitely frustrating to see the text-based editor go the way of the dodo - B&C was the last forum I frequented on a regular basis that still used it, so I imagine in a few years time I'll start to forget how to use it.

That said, aye - I would definitely love to see it make a return. There's definitely a few functions such as tables and the like that were heavily reliant on BBCode.

[sibomots]

I agree with @Brother Tyler  in terms of preferring an editing experience that was tailored to the instincts and prior habits.    I abhor editing with a system that requires the use of the mouse.

Having said that, we got here through the upgrade.    In this upgrade BBCodes work, to a degree.  BroT is right that custom codes ala B&C are deactivated -- they simply won't work.  The engine underlying the editor here doesn't comprehend them.   There are no extensions currently installed in the software that comprehend them.

But the "vanilla" BBCodes do work, and will continue to work until IPS decides to discontinue their support.  From what I can discern from their Forum, that may be sooner than later.

So, what does "vanilla" mean. I'll demonstrate.  (Bold, Italic and Underline, for example)

Deleniti architecto dicta ex facere. Optio in nihil dolorem eligendi. At est ut totam.

Aut et dolor necessitatibus saepe. Dolorum molestiae qui repellat ad. Hic incidunt accusamus natus quos modi.

Est ex beatae eaque aut. Odit modi ut saepe. Dolor et beatae dolorem corrupti quia ducimus officia.

Etc.

The Vanilla codes -- a reference: https://www.bbcode.org/reference.php

• You can type in BBCode (most from the Vanilla list) and they work.  Use the current site Editor Preview button to see.
• The current site will not save (persist) the literal code in the post -- as soon as you submit the post, the code are transformed into their HTML/CSS rendering.  What was once BBCode, after submitting is now HTML/CSS.  You'll never see the BBCode again.
• The legacy site persisted the Code.. You could re-edit the post based on the literal codes.   Not anymore.

BBCodes that are B&C creation -- those will end up being Built-In Editor buttons

1. Select Text
2. Press the button
3. Presto, you win.

 

[Kastor Krieg]

Core issue with this removal is not just UI/UX issues and people's habits, but also loss of important functionality.

It's now impossible to respond with Quote and split quotes manually. It's a lot of awkward clicking if you have several things to comment about several aspects of a post you reply to or need to collect several replies. I resort to quoting in new tabs and cutting the quotes down manually and repasting again. It's a chore to respond like that, tbh.

What's worse, it's now impossible to adjust the post when you see that the automatic format interpreter does something weird / unexpected like adding a new nested quote, fudging up a list because of breakable / unbreakable spaces or various hard or soft line breaks used, etc.

If there is a plugin that could return this functionality, it would surely be a very welcome return.

[Brother Tyler]

4 hours ago, Kastor Krieg said:

Core issue with this removal is not just UI/UX issues and people's habits, but also loss of important functionality.

Indeed, the custom BBCode was great.

Quote

It's now impossible to respond with Quote and split quotes manually. It's a lot of awkward clicking if you have several things to comment about several aspects of a post you reply to or need to collect several replies. I resort to quoting in new tabs and cutting the quotes down manually and repasting again. It's a chore to respond like that, tbh.

You can split quotes manually, as I've done here. It's simply a matter of highlighting the text you want removed from the first quote, pasting it into the workspace, then highlighting the sections that you want to quote and use the quote formatting tool. The limitation, however, is that you lose the attribution to the author/post, as you can see from the quote immediately above and those below.

Quote

What's worse, it's now impossible to adjust the post when you see that the automatic format interpreter does something weird / unexpected like adding a new nested quote, fudging up a list because of breakable / unbreakable spaces or various hard or soft line breaks used, etc.

Yes, this is annoying. However, one of the icons allows you to remove formatting from a section of your post. For example, I turned the word blue into blue text, then used that icon to remove that formatting, then underlined the word so you'd know which one I'm talking about.

Quote

If there is a plugin that could return this functionality, it would surely be a very welcome return.

There is no plugin for BBCode available.