Mahz's Dev Journal

[Mahz]

I'm using Firefox, Version 35

NuttsnBolts

Oh my, I'll fix it right now. Thanks for the screenshot.

Noticed one missing code from guild v2. using [img=http://student.umb.no/~henrgj/Relics/Angie] won't work now. oh, and if there's a broken BBcode inside another, it won't parse right.

Ellri

Yeah, [img=...] is strictly wrong now. Must be changed to [img]...[/img]. you can wrap BBCode in [noparse]...[/noparse] to tell the parser to skip over it. Bad BBCode is pretty infectious. If someone writes bad BBCode, it even breaks the [quote] if you try to quote them. I've only implemented an error system for the [color=...] tag so far, but I'll start implementing validation errors for other tags as well. Hopefully it will help people catch basic BBCode errors until I can hack on the parser some more.

[Ellri]

There's one feature we wonder if you're planning (for moderators)... The ability to change post authors. It would be very convenient for RPs when the one who posted the first IC/OoC/CS post leaves for some reason or other, as it means the remaining players can keep the RP running in the same thread. EDIT: Color codes when used after each other can erase spaces. for example, other than adding the color codes, the below line is an exact copy of the one above this: Colorcodeswhenusedaftereachothercan erasespaces. However, if the spaces are outside the color codes, they stick. As you can see below. Color codes when used after each other can erase spaces. Oh and one more thing. After editing in the above, saving the edit let the color code selector remain visible. Thats probably a bug, right?

[Mahz]

Think I fixed the smilies-not-wrapping issue in Firefox. At least, it now wraps in my Firefox. I'll check out the space-eating [color] tags. And yeah, I need to remove the color-picker when Save or Cancel are clicked. Thanks.

[Ellri]

it eats them when the space is like this: Texthere Texthere and not like this: Text here Just look at the raw code.

[Captain Jordan]

Holy BBCode Batman! I like that the Color Picker stays up so I can highlight and re-color another piece of text. Any thoughts about adjusting the hover so it doesn't obscure the text box (how about making it hover above the editor)? Error checker is subtle and nice. I didn't notice it until I tried to purposely screw up a tag.

Quoting the right way.

Can I quote Mahz?

Mahz

What about a quote with a link? Will it auto-link the text?

http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/2345802

Apparently not. I wonder if it'd be possible to add a linking function to quote, such as [quote name=Mahz link=2345802] to link directly to the post in question. Quotes are easy to modify on your own (especially if quoting across topics) and sometimes the original context is useful.

[Mahz]

it eats them when the space is like this: Texthere Texthere and not like this: Text here Just look at the raw code.

Ellri

I see that the problem is that I modified the parser to trim all prefix/suffix whitespace from the contents of tags. (Source) It turns out that trimming whitespace makes sense 99% of the time. When someone writes this:

[quote]

hello

[/quote]

They generally mean this:

[quote]hello[/quote]

Rather than this:

[quote]<br>
<br>
hello<br>
<br>
[/quote]

After writing this out, I think the solution is to trim prefix/suffix line-breaks as usual, but rather than trimming prefix/suffix spaces, just collapse them into one space if they exist. Maybe that will work. I'll let you know when I deploy a fix.

I like that the Color Picker stays up so I can highlight and re-color another piece of text. Any thoughts about adjusting the hover so it doesn't obscure the text box (how about making it hover above the editor)? Error checker is subtle and nice. I didn't notice it until I tried to purposely screw up a tag.

Quoting the right way.

Can I quote Mahz?

Mahz

What about a quote with a link? Will it auto-link the text?

http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/2345802

Apparently not. I wonder if it'd be possible to add a linking function to quote, such as [quote name=Mahz link=2345802] to link directly to the post in question. Quotes are easy to modify on your own (especially if quoting across topics) and sometimes the original context is useful.

Captain Jordan

- I used to have the color-picker on top but ran into a few minor issues. I'll put it back on top and just tackle the issues now that I have time to deal with them. Don't remember what the issues were. - I'm going to modify the color-picker to drop in the color's name instead of the color's hex value. It's nicer to see color=Goldenrod and color=Tan instead of color=daa520 and color=d2b48c. Especially since we don't have a WYSIWYG editor. People will even have a shot at memorizing colors that they like to use. - The error system is weak and is barely out of proof-of-concept phase, but I think I see a route to hacking in some line+column numbers which would set the stage for error highlighting (like underlining the problem). I have a proof of concept working by just counting newlines in a post-process step. But man, this bbcode parser file is getting nasty. - I do want to extend quotes to include more optional metadata like [quote=Captain Jordan post=391823]...[/quote]. In that case, as you'd expect, it'd link to the origin post. I'll have a better sense of priorities once Sunday picks up and I see what people are struggling with. Maybe I can put a dent in the notification system today.

[hellrazor]

Finally BBCode, great!

[Captain Jordan]

- I used to have the color-picker on top but ran into a few minor issues. I'll put it back on top and just tackle the issues now that I have time to deal with them. Don't remember what the issues were. - I'm going to modify the color-picker to drop in the color's name instead of the color's hex value. It's nicer to see color=Goldenrod and color=Tan instead of color=daa520 and color=d2b48c. Especially since we don't have a WYSIWYG editor. People will even have a shot at memorizing colors that they like to use. - The error system is weak and is barely out of proof-of-concept phase, but I think I see a route to hacking in some line+column numbers which would set the stage for error highlighting (like underlining the problem). I have a proof of concept working by just counting newlines in a post-process step. But man, this bbcode parser file is getting nasty. - I do want to extend quotes to include more optional metadata like [quote=Captain Jordan post=391823]...[/quote]. In that case, as you'd expect, it'd link to the origin post. I'll have a better sense of priorities once Sunday picks up and I see what people are struggling with. Maybe I can put a dent in the notification system today.

Mahz

Good, good. I figured most issues were already known, just wanted to point them out if not. Same with suggestions. You got this, Mahz.

[Mahz]

Here's my attempt to put together a color palette using only colors that have names in the html/css spec: http://jsfiddle.net/danneu/284p9qp9/1/ Unfortunately the color names are kinda unwieldy: I like the simplicity of just using hex values and named colors as they appear in html/css. But another idea is to allow hex values but come up with my own color names: red1, red2, red3, orange1, orange2, orange3, aqua1, aqua2, aqua3. You'd be able to make sense of the colors. And I could map them to hex values instead of approximating a palette with named colors (slim pickings). A third option is to stop obsessing over colors as a form of procrastination.

[Ellri]

hex values do look cleaner than those names. And each color could potentially have multiple names based regionally.

[Captain Jordan]

Here's my attempt to put together a color palette using only colors that have names in the html/css spec: http://jsfiddle.net/danneu/284p9qp9/1/ Unfortunately the color names are kinda unwieldy:

Mahz

Is that it? Really? I thought there were lots more.

[Mahz]

Yeah, I was just trying to arrange them into a sensible palette. Like this: Anyways, I'm moving on to notifications. Update: Made the color-picker appear above the editor instead of to the right of the button.

Mahz, may I ask why you decided to remove BBCode tabs? Was there some pesky bug that you didn't want to make the entire BBCode system wait for, or something? I was looking forward to using them, but if they were causing a problem somehow then that's fine. Good work, I'll try to track down my error (again) later today, once I have some spare time. EDIT: Also, when you highlight text, add a BBCode tag to it (was pleasantly surprised that it automatically wrapped the tags around the selection) and then Ctrl+Z, it highlights the entire post. Completely random and not really worth worrying about, but thought I might as well note it. EDIT 2: When you preview your post, you lose the ability to undo/redo - the editor seems to forget all previous actions. Again, not very important, but noteworthy.

[ML]

OMG BBCODE Okay, so this is something for further down the line, but would it be possible to put keyboard shortcuts for the various BBCode things? Like how CTRL+B on other platforms makes Boldtext code appear?

[Mahz]

Mahz, may I ask why you decided to remove BBCode tabs? Was there some pesky bug that you didn't want to make the entire BBCode system wait for, or something? I was looking forward to using them, but if they were causing a problem somehow then that's fine. Good work, I'll try to track down my error (again) later today, once I have some spare time. EDIT: Also, when you highlight text, add a BBCode tag to it (was pleasantly surprised that it automatically wrapped the tags around the selection) and then Ctrl+Z, it highlights the entire post. Completely random and not really worth worrying about, but thought I might as well note it. EDIT 2: When you preview your post, you lose the ability to undo/redo - the editor seems to forget all previous actions. Again, not very important, but noteworthy.

TheMaster99

- The tabs had some basic issues that aren't hard to solve, but I just wanted to reduce the surface area of the first release. - I actually started playing with my editor buttons to see if I could support native browser Undo/Redo, but the naive implementation had browser inconsistency issues. Not an impossible feat, but more effort than I'm willing to stop the world for. - Can't reproduce the Preview mode messing with native undo. The BBCode editor buttons themselves mess with undo because they don't trigger "InsertText" events. So interleaving manual writing with BBCode buttons will hose the undo system.

[Mahz]

OMG BBCODE Okay, so this is something for further down the line, but would it be possible to put keyboard shortcuts for the various BBCode things? Like how CTRL+B on other platforms makes Boldtext code appear?

Mercenary Lord

I'll give it a shot right now.

- Can't reproduce the Preview mode messing with native undo. The BBCode editor buttons themselves mess with undo because they don't trigger "InsertText" events. So interleaving manual writing with BBCode buttons will hose the undo system.

Mahz

Just tried without any BBCode, still can't undo. (also, .gif is supported. Nice)

[Muttonhawk]

Bahahahaha! Oh my goodness, I made the Boganhawk user in the old test site to try it out, but using bogan ipsum was originally a joke. It's made my day to see it in the formatting cheat sheet. Great work on the BBCode, Mahz!

[LegendBegins]

At some point, will the nesting quotes be disabled?

There's one feature we wonder if you're planning (for moderators)... The ability to change post authors. It would be very convenient for RPs when the one who posted the first IC/OoC/CS post leaves for some reason or other, as it means the remaining players can keep the RP running in the same thread.

Ellri

I agree with this. It would be quite helpful.

[Mahz]

OMG BBCODE Okay, so this is something for further down the line, but would it be possible to put keyboard shortcuts for the various BBCode things? Like how CTRL+B on other platforms makes Boldtext code appear?

Mercenary Lord

You can now hover over the buttons to see their hotkeys (if they have one). I haven't given them all hotkeys yet. Ctrl-b works, for example.

- Can't reproduce the Preview mode messing with native undo. The BBCode editor buttons themselves mess with undo because they don't trigger "InsertText" events. So interleaving manual writing with BBCode buttons will hose the undo system.

Mahz

Just tried without any BBCode, still can't undo.

TheMaster99

Oh. Works in latest Chrome and Firefox on my machine. Not sure what I can do about that at the moment.

At some point, will the nesting quotes be disabled?

There's one feature we wonder if you're planning (for moderators)... The ability to change post authors. It would be very convenient for RPs when the one who posted the first IC/OoC/CS post leaves for some reason or other, as it means the remaining players can keep the RP running in the same thread.

Ellri

I agree with this. It would be quite helpful.

LegendBegins

I don't see myself disabling nested quotes, but there are probably some better defaults. Maybe by default "Reply" doesn't grab any of the nested quotes and there's a "Full Reply" button that does. Or maybe there's a "Toggle Advanced Mode" user-option that adds buttons beyond "Reply" and "Edit".