Scratch

sparks · 2010-12-14 05:19:39

One of the things I love about the Scratch forums are the amount of things you can do with the bbcode. It certainly makes a post more engaging to read than just text, and allows you to create titles and divisions easily.

I have an I-topic'd forum thread in the advanced topics section where I almost have more bbcode than visible text, and the heavy editing really makes the topic easier to follow and more aesthetically pleasing. Take this post in my block library for instance! If you quote the post, you'll see what I see when I add a new block, and it's nowhere near as easy to read as before. This is where my first new bbcommand comes in.

[note]A note is a piece of text only visible to the person editing a thread. I could use this to put spaces between long pieces of bbcode so that it's easier for me to see where something goes without disrupting the layout of the finished, viewable post.[/note]

Using a lot of images, my second problem is that images shared with the "img" tag always float to the left.

[centre]using tags like centre[/centre]

[right]and right, people should be able to choose how text and images are presented on their post[/right] with left as default.

Currently I have to post a fullstop using the transparent tag, add a load of spaces and then post the image to centre it or make it float right.
________________________________________________________________________________
my two main, desperate suggestions then, are position tags and invisible comment tags.
________________________________________________________________________________

Here are a few less needy, yet surely still useful suggestions:

A collection of fonts would allow people to write using a font that they think reflects their personality or the message behind their post, with just a quick edit, all the fonts supported in HTML for all the major browsers would let us do this!

[font=timesNewRoman]like this![/font]

Font size would also allow users to create title in their posts or show how loudly they're talking when they post.

[size=40]Hi everyone![/size]

Stop shouting!

[size=8]Sorry...[/size]

Let me know what you think, I reckon they'd all be very useful!

mathematics · 2010-12-14 06:08:45

If [note] existed, the mods would be very busy... (You know how people try to hide text, right?)

If [centre] really existed, it would be [center], because the BBCode uses American English. tongue (Take [color=red] as an example.)
But I think [center] and [right] can be useful...
(The transparent tag doesn't work on IE, by the way.)

I don't really like the [font] and [size]... that just destroy the 'beauty' of the Scratch Forums. I actually like this font, and [size] can be abused easily...

EDIT: Kind of pointless but just saying: I've found out the font that the Scratch site uses. It's Trebuchet.

Last edited by mathematics (2010-12-14 09:04:51)

Paddle2See · 2010-12-14 06:13:44

Good ideas! I would certainly like to see some new functionality in BB code - I could really use that font setting code.

helltank · 2010-12-14 06:40:08

This new code is just begging to be abused, but provided the mods manage to keep the abuser count down, then this would be awesmoe.

BaronVonBlade · 2010-12-14 07:38:37

[s][/s]
Strikeout for when you want to check off ideas on a game tp-do list

sparks · 2010-12-14 11:14:28

helltank wrote:
This new code is just begging to be abused, but provided the mods manage to keep the abuser count down, then this would be awesmoe.

Not sure how any of the above bbcode could be abused. I specifically didn't suggest ones I thought could be abused, like embedding files.

The [note] tag could add abusive comments that a mod wouldn't spot, but unless the notes appeared in a quote, that wouldn't be a problem, and if it was quoted and seen to have an abusive note, only the quoter would see it and be able to report it.

Large fonts or very small fonts have the potential to make trollers more annoying, but that does not make them any more dangerous. I'm sure people can use font settings responsibly.

ScratchReallyROCKS · 2010-12-14 17:16:17

mathematics wrote:
If [note] existed, the mods would be very busy... (You know how people try to hide text, right?)

It's the same thing as doing [color=transparent]hidden text![/color] except it doesn't leave a space.

Last edited by ScratchReallyROCKS (2010-12-14 17:16:43)

Jonathanpb · 2010-12-14 20:06:49

YES YES YES YES YES big_smile

But as mentioned above, the note feature could be abused very easily (and I'm sure it would)... I don't think it should be added.

The different texts seem a bit useless... hmm

Size would be cool, but there should be a limit on the size BBCode.

Harakou · 2010-12-14 20:15:37

I like the first two ideas, but I'm not so sure about the font ones. The problem I see with a [font= ] tag is that the various different fonts in posts would be very jarring and not aesthetically pleasing. hmm I'm sure everyone knows how annoying it is when someone decides they're going to make all their posts in red. As for font size, I'm a little undecided. There's not a whole lot of uses, but it would be nice to have.

kimmy123 · 2010-12-14 20:20:19

I disagree with everything, I don't think the bbcode should be changed sad

Last edited by kimmy123 (2010-12-14 20:20:26)

ESN · 2010-12-14 22:39:12

And the [email]tag should be removed. We aren't even allowed to use it, seeing as we can't post our email.

[Edited by moderator to fix typo by request]

Last edited by fullmoon (2010-12-14 23:14:00)

Jonathanpb · 2010-12-14 22:44:37

ESN wrote:
And the [[b]email] tag should be removed. We aren't even allowed to use it, seeing as we can't post our email.

Oh yesh smile

BaronVonBlade · 2010-12-14 22:44:54

ScratchReallyROCKS wrote:
mathematics wrote:
If [note] existed, the mods would be very busy... (You know how people try to hide text, right?)
It's the same thing as doing [color=transparent]hidden text![/color] except it doesn't leave a space.

Yes it does

ESN · 2010-12-14 22:45:12

(Oops)

And the [email] tag should be removed. We aren't even allowed to use it, seeing as we can't post our email.

sparks · 2010-12-15 14:49:36

Ok, I think that [note] tag can't be abused any more than the transparent tag.

there's no problem with the centre and float right tags.

I think that fonts may have been a bad suggestion, they're not particularly necessary, but I stick with the idea of at the most 7 font sizes (same as HTML, headings 1-6 and normal text) though three or four would probably be pleanty.

Yes, font size could be made annoying, but people use the existing bbcode to make strange, hard to read edits to posts - like randomly adding a block at the end of a post or writing in red. I think the benifits will outweigh the possible abuse.

I agree that the [email]tag is also not really worth having when we're not allowed to give emails out.

Furthermore, I would like to suggest an [alt=image][img]image.png[/img][/alt] (or [alt=image]) tag, so that people who find their computer blocks images on their computer can at least (supposing the person who shared the picture provided an alt code) tell what the picture was of (same as HTML).

Last edited by sparks (2010-12-16 04:24:56)

pika100chu · 2010-12-16 00:21:02

I think the [email][/email] tag should be removed. I also think that all those mentioned should be added, along with a feature that converts youtube links to youtube repeat or quietube links. smile

Hardmath123 · 2010-12-16 05:17:56

sparks wrote:
but I stick with the idea of at the most 7 font sizes (same as HTML, headings 1-6 and normal text) though three or four would probably be pleanty.

Yes, font size could be made annoying, but people use the existing bbcode to make strange, hard to read edits to posts - like randomly adding a block at the end of a post or writing in red. I think the benifits will outweigh the possible abuse.

Maybe [size=big],[size=small],[size=normal],[/size] instead.

helltank · 2010-12-16 07:53:38

sparks wrote:
Yes, font size could be made annoying, but people use the existing bbcode to make strange, hard to read edits to posts - like randomly adding a block at the end of a post or writing in red.

Rubbish! Who would want to add random blocks and write in red anyway? [blocks]<when green flag clicked>[/blocks]

sparks · 2010-12-16 16:12:47

Stop spamming, Helltank! It's not contributory to a learning environment! wink

helltank · 2010-12-16 19:50:31

sparks wrote:
Stop spamming, Helltank! It's not contributory to a learning environment!

It was a joke... hmm

Anyway, I think the above BBCode will be implemented as Special BBCode. This means New Scratchers aren't allowed to use it. big_smile

sparks · 2010-12-17 14:50:40

I know you were joking, hence the wink as I was joking too! tongue

Yes, maybe for font size and notes, but I can't see the harm in having [alt] tags for pictures and centring options either. maybe transparent colour should not be allowed for new scratch users either?

meowmeow55 · 2010-12-17 16:47:13

Actually, if the [note] tag was indexed by the forum search, it could be used to put keywords in forum posts so they could pull in people who were searching for something, even if their keywords weren't in the visible text of the post. It could be used kind of like SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and that would be cool! Then again, people could put unrelated keywords in and clutter up search pages... hmm

sparks · 2010-12-17 17:26:49

meowmeow55 wrote:
Actually, if the [note] tag was indexed by the forum search, it could be used to put keywords in forum posts so they could pull in people who were searching for something, even if their keywords weren't in the visible text of the post. It could be used kind of like SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and that would be cool! Then again, people could put unrelated keywords in and clutter up search pages...

A valid point! I think you're right, scratch search engines might have a problem with it, if it's misused... or even used properly. A note-to-self could be slightly irrelevant, as no one can see it.

So I suggest that note tags are completely ignored by other users (this includes quoting and searching), and only appear to that user. Then there's no reason for people to write innapropriate things as they (and possibly the scratch team) are the only ones physically able to see it. I don't know how easy it would be to implement!

meowmeow55 · 2010-12-17 18:44:10

sparks wrote:
meowmeow55 wrote:
Actually, if the [note] tag was indexed by the forum search, it could be used to put keywords in forum posts so they could pull in people who were searching for something, even if their keywords weren't in the visible text of the post. It could be used kind of like SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and that would be cool! Then again, people could put unrelated keywords in and clutter up search pages...
A valid point! I think you're right, scratch search engines might have a problem with it, if it's misused... or even used properly. A note-to-self could be slightly irrelevant, as no one can see it.

So I suggest that note tags are completely ignored by other users (this includes quoting and searching), and only appear to that user. Then there's no reason for people to write innapropriate things as they (and possibly the scratch team) are the only ones physically able to see it. I don't know how easy it would be to implement!

Well, people could still quote the post and see all the BBCode, including what was in the [note] tags...

sparks · 2010-12-18 14:43:31

sparks wrote:
I suggest that note tags are completely ignored by other users (this includes quoting and searching)

Last edited by sparks (2010-12-18 14:44:03)

Scratch

archived forums

#1 2010-12-14 05:19:39

Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

#2 2010-12-14 06:08:45

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

#3 2010-12-14 06:13:44

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

#4 2010-12-14 06:40:08

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

#5 2010-12-14 07:38:37

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

#6 2010-12-14 11:14:28

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

helltank wrote:

#7 2010-12-14 17:16:17

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

mathematics wrote:

#8 2010-12-14 20:06:49

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

#9 2010-12-14 20:15:37

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

#10 2010-12-14 20:20:19

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

#11 2010-12-14 22:39:12

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

#12 2010-12-14 22:44:37

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

ESN wrote:

#13 2010-12-14 22:44:54

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

ScratchReallyROCKS wrote:

mathematics wrote:

#14 2010-12-14 22:45:12

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

#15 2010-12-15 14:49:36

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

#16 2010-12-16 00:21:02

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

#17 2010-12-16 05:17:56

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

sparks wrote:

#18 2010-12-16 07:53:38

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

sparks wrote:

#19 2010-12-16 16:12:47

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

#20 2010-12-16 19:50:31

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

sparks wrote:

#21 2010-12-17 14:50:40

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

#22 2010-12-17 16:47:13

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

#23 2010-12-17 17:26:49

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

meowmeow55 wrote:

#24 2010-12-17 18:44:10

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

sparks wrote:

meowmeow55 wrote:

#25 2010-12-18 14:43:31

Re: Some changes to the BBcode I really think should be done:

sparks wrote:

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