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Forum functions explained

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 4:05 pm
by Karathyriel
Text styles | Text size options | Text color options | Images | Links | Quotes | Lists | Code

A lot of todays forums do use PHPBB3, a program environment made for forums, easy to access and to configurate.
Depending on which functions have been unlocked or added by the admins, you have to use the corresponding commands usually refered to as BBCode.

BBCode has always the same syntax. It's the command in square brackets. And you always need a start and end bracket so the forum knows when to apply a certain command and for what.The end bracket is usually the same as the start command but with a slash in front: [command]text[/command]

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The Petopia forum lets you apply 7 different styles to your text. These are:
  • bold text (command: b)
  • italics (command: i)
  • underline (command: u)
  • superscript (command: sup)
  • striked text (command: strike)
  • text color (command: color)
  • text size (command: size)
Here are some examples and how to achieve them:

This line will be printed bold.
This line will be printed in italics.
This line will be printed underlined.
This line will be printed striked.
The last word in this line will be printed superscripted.
This line will be printed in red.
This line will also be printed in red.
This line will be printed with smaller characters.
This line will be printed with larger characters.

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[b]This line will be printed bold.[/b]
[i]This line will be printed in italics.[/i]
[u]This line will be printed underlined.[/u]
[strike]This line will be printed striked.[/strike]
The last word in this line will be printed [sup]superscripted.[/sup]
[color=red]This line will be printed in red.[/color]
[color=#ff0000]This line will also be printed in red.[/color]
[size=70]This line will be printed with smaller characters.[/size]
[size=140]This line will be printed with larger characters.[/size]
Please note that the style will only be applied to the text between the bracket commands!

Of course, styles can be combined. You can have a bold text in red that is striked! Look: You can have a bold text in red that is striked!
But you have to make sure the end commands are in a reverse sequence than the start commands. If you start with a bold command, you'll have to end with a bold command too.

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Look: [b][strike][color=red]You can have a bold text in red that is striked![/color][/strike][/b]
While bold, italics, underline, strike and supersript are just basic functions, some commands do have the possibility to add some options, like color or size do.

Image

If you add "=xx" to the size start command (where xx is a number), you'll tell the forum how large you want the characters of your text to be.
Basically you're using percentage numbers. size=100 is the normal font size of the forum. size=200 will double the font size while size=50 will half the size of the charakters.
Size=200 is the maximum set for these forums.
You can actually make text grow in one line if you use the size command correctly!

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[size=50]You[/size] [size=70]can[/size] [size=90]actually[/size] [size=110]make[/size] [size=130]text[/size] [size=150]grow[/size] [size=170]in[/size] [size=190]one[/size] [size=200]line[/size] if you use the size command correctly!
Image

Colors can be chosen in three ways: Click on the color you want to use in the color table on the right when you write a post, type in the name of the color or type in the exact color code in hexadecimal numbers with the color command.

Color by Names
There are about 140 different names of colors that modern browsers will interpret. The full list can be seen here: w3schools: color names
Examples: color=red, color=blue, color=lightgreen

Color by Numbers
The chosen color can be decribed by a hexadecimal number. This may sound odd to some but with hexadecimal numbers you have more than just 10 digits. You have, in fact, 16 digits. They start with 0 and go up to 9 as usual but then extend to the letters A to F. So counting in hexadecimal goes like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 20 and so on.
Colors are chosen by a form called RGB, standing for RED|GREEN|BLUE. Other than colors on your palette when painting, with computers you mix light instead of colors. While you mix blue and yellow to get green, with light you mix red a green to get yellow. It's easier to understand if you look at this diagramm:

Image

The number you will use to choose colors consists of six digits, 3 2-digit groups telling the forum which amounts of red, green and blue light to mix on your display. 00 is no amount of the color and goes up to FF for the full amount of the color. If you use 000000 you'll have no amount of any light which results in black. FFFFFF instead is the full amount of all three colors and results in white. I know, this is very complicated if you're not used to it. But it's not that hard to understand, I promise! ;)
If you are using RGB codes, you have to have a # in front of the number, so the forum knows that an RGB command will follow.
color=#00ff00 is the syntax.
Some examples:
color code - result
000000 - XXXXXXXXXXX | 7030A0 - XXXXXXXXXXX
FFFFFF - XXXXXXXXXXX | 308010 - XXXXXXXXXXX
FF0000 - XXXXXXXXXXX | C0C0C0 - XXXXXXXXXXX
00FF00 - XXXXXXXXXXX | FF00FF - XXXXXXXXXXX
0000FF - XXXXXXXXXXX | FFFF00 - XXXXXXXXXXX
00FFFF - XXXXXXXXXXX

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There is a command called IMG. Between the start and end command must be the URL or link to the picture you want to post.
So the command

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[img]http://mms.businesswire.com/media/20160418006389/en/34034/21/blizzard-logo-large.jpg[/img]
will display the image found on this link between the brackets.
Image

How do you get the link to a picture? Well, whenever you see a picture you want to post here in your browser, just right-click it and choose "Copy image adress" (Or Copy image location? My WIndows is in german!) This is the link you will need. Just insert it between the IMG-commands by having your cursor there and press CTRL-V or right-click between the commands and choose "Paste".

If you want to post a picture that is on your hard drive and not on the web, it get's a bit more complicated. Your computer isn't accessible by the internet so the picture has to be uploaded to the web. You can host your pictures on countless pic hoster services, most of them are free. Or you can upload it directly with your post.

To do that, there is a possibilty to attach the file to your post. Below the textbox there is a section where you can browse your computer and when you've chosen the image, click on "Add the file". There should be a popup window showing the upload. The file is then attached to your post and hosted on Manias server and webspace. If you preview your post, you'll see the attachment at the end of your post. If you right-click the attachement link, choose "Open in new window" the image will be displayed in a new browser window. In the adress bar will be the link. Just copy it and insert it between IMG commands and you'll see it in your post.

I have described all three posibilities in a YouTube video I made for this. Plase keep in mind that I'm a German and english is not my first language. Click here to see it: Image How to post pictures in the forums

Image

Usually, forums are able to identify a link you entered in your text and will display them as links. They will work when you click on them. The correct way to add a link to your post would be by using the url command.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/ | http://www.wow-petopia.com/

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http://www.wow-petopia.com/ | [url]http://www.wow-petopia.com/[/url]
As you can see, both ways will have the same result. So why even bother to use the url command? Because it has more up it's sleeves than you might think!
You can actually hide the sometimes very long links and have instead a word displayed. just add a = and the link to the start command and you will get something like this: PETOPIA

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[url=http://www.wow-petopia.com/]PETOPIA[/url]
So only the word between the commands will be displayed but will still be a working link.
But wait, there is more! If the forum will display everything between commands and still make it a clickable link, would this also work with images? Of course it does! Click the heart! Image

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Click the heart! [url=http://www.wow-petopia.com/][img]http://forums.wow-petopia.com/images/icons/better/heart_1.png[/img][/url]
Please note that you may use an image and text together for a link, just like I did with the link to my video in the images section of this post. And of yourse you may apply all style commands to textlinks as well!
Please also note that you can always see the link you're gonna click on in the bottom left corner of your browser window while hovering with the mouse ponter over the link but not cklicking it. This should also work on any oher website, not only these forums.

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Sometimes you want to reply to a post and to make sure that everyone knows what you talk about, you want the other post completely or partly qutoed in your post.
Usually, you would use the 'QUOTE' button instead of the 'REPLY' button and the forum will already have the quote in your new post. But sometimes you may want to quote only parts of another post or maybe quote something you found on a completely different website. You can choose to have the original author of the quote shown and even write in there whatever you want by add text in quotation marks to the quote command. Like this: quote="Whoever wrote this" will result in
Whoever wrote this wrote:
Here are some more examples of quotes and how to make them.
I am writing a technical help for forum use.
Karathyriel wrote:I am writing a technical help for forum use.
Wikipedia wrote:Mount Vesuvius (pronunciation: /vᵻˈsuːviəs/; Italian: Monte Vesuvio [ˈmonte veˈzuːvjo], Latin: Mons Vesuvius [mõːs wɛˈsʊwɪ.ʊs]; also Vesevus or Vesaevus in Roman sources [1]) is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Naples and a short distance from the shore.

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[quote]I am writing a technical help for forum use.[/quote]
[quote="Karathyriel"]I am writing a technical help for forum use.[/quote]
[quote="Wikipedia"]Mount Vesuvius (pronunciation: /vᵻˈsuːviəs/; Italian: Monte Vesuvio [ˈmonte veˈzuːvjo], Latin: Mons Vesuvius [mõːs wɛˈsʊwɪ.ʊs]; also Vesevus or Vesaevus in Roman sources [1]) is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Naples and a short distance from the shore.[/quote]
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Sometimes you want to make a list of stuff. The forum knows two kinds of lists: Unordered and ordered lists. While unordered lists will only display a small dot for each new entry, the ordered list will use some kind of counter. For the unordered list, you will use the list command, for any ordered list you need to use the list= command and add the sort of counter you want to use in your list. The forum software will identify the proper kind of counting while you use numbers, letters or roman numbers. Each list item will be defined by placing the * command in front of it. Please see the examples:
  • Alpha
  • Beta
  • Gamma
  1. Alpha
  2. Beta
  3. Gamma
  1. Alpha
  2. Beta
  3. Gamma
  1. Alpha
  2. Beta
  3. Gamma

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[list][*]Alpha[*]Beta[*]Gamma[/list]
[list=1][*]Alpha[*]Beta[*]Gamma[/list]
[list=A][*]Alpha[*]Beta[*]Gamma[/list]
[list=I][*]Alpha[*]Beta[*]Gamma[/list]
Of course, you can stack multiple lists into each other if needed:
  1. Alpha
  2. Beta
    1. One
    2. Two
    3. Three
  3. Gamma

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[list=A][*]Alpha[*]Beta[list=1][*]One[*]Two[*]Three[/list][*]Gamma[/list]
Image

In order to show you how to achieve all these styles and commands, I used a special command: code.
This command will tell the forum to not actually use the commands but display them as text in a box, as seen above.

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everything between the [b]code commands[/b] will [u]not be interpreted[/u] but shown as [i]plain text.[/i]

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[code]everything between the [b]code commands[/b] will [u]not be interpreted[/u] but shown as [i]plain text.[/i]
[/code]
This should be covering the functions of the Petopia forums. I really hope this helps a couple of people out there.
If there is something unclear or you got some more question, please feel free to post your question here or PM me.

Re: How to post pictures in the forum (incl. YT video)

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 2:59 am
by Karathyriel
I was thinking...

Maybe I should make this thread about forum functions in general?
Show how to do all kind of stuff?
Would that be helpful?


DONE! :mrgreen:

Re: How to post pictures in the forum (incl. YT video)

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 3:21 am
by Rawr
I like f(x) f(x) :D :mrgreen:

Re: How to post pictures in the forum (incl. YT video)

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 4:00 am
by Karathyriel
Rawr wrote:I like f(x) f(x) :D :mrgreen:
You like... what? Image

Re: How to post pictures in the forum (incl. YT video)

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 1:32 pm
by Rawr
Those are functions in math, I feel so nerdy now :oops: I was saying I like functions. :| :mrgreen:

Re: How to post pictures in the forum (incl. YT video)

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 1:48 pm
by Karathyriel
I know what f(x) meant but I didn't make the connection to the word 'function', although it's the same in german: Funktion.

Did you read what I was adding so far?
Any suggestions, ideas or critisism yet?

Re: How to post pictures in the forum (incl. YT video)

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 2:18 pm
by Rawr
Yeah, looks good. Very in-depth, nothing that was confusing. I like the layout. :D :mrgreen:

Re: Forum functions explained

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 4:39 pm
by Karathyriel
Okay, I did it. I covered all the usual forum functions.
I did add kind of a menu so you won't have to scroll wildly up and down.

Feel free to ask if something is unclear or further questions arise.

Re: Forum functions explained

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 5:31 am
by Wain
Great work on those, thank you! :)

Re: Forum functions explained

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 5:48 am
by Karathyriel
Well, I guess if you have the title "community resource", you should live up to it! ;)
Maybe a sticky would be nice... kind of... So people will not ask questions again when this slowly goes down to page 2.

Re: Forum functions explained

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 11:32 am
by Wain
Done! Thanks again :)

Re: Forum functions explained

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 1:39 pm
by Karathyriel
You're welcome.

Re: Forum functions explained

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 2:19 pm
by Karathyriel
So many views and not one comment...
Is it that bad? :lol:

Re: Forum functions explained

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 2:36 pm
by Rawr
*grumbles* :P :mrgreen:

Re: Forum functions explained

Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 10:29 am
by Karathyriel
400 views now...
This seems to be useful for some people.
I'm glad I didn't do this for nothing, really.

Re: Forum functions explained

Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 3:15 pm
by Teigan
Hey, thanks for taking the time to do all this. Very helpful :)

Re: Forum functions explained

Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 4:01 pm
by GormanGhaste
Now I know how to do lists! Thank you.

Re: Forum functions explained

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2017 6:12 pm
by Karathyriel
Over 800 1000 views now... :headbang:
Makes me wonder what people are coming back for...

Re: Forum functions explained

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 11:23 am
by Wain
Great job. Thank you again :)

Re: Forum functions explained

Posted: Tue May 30, 2017 6:09 am
by Karathyriel
Forgot about the possibility to stack lists into each other and added that to the initial post.

More than 1100 views?
Why do people keep coming back? What is the most useful part of this?