Shoutbox commands?

[Nanor]

IF you look at the shoutbox, you will notice a gap:

Also if you look when you are posting a forum you will notice those buttons:

As you know, those buttons produce a command, press the

and you get a (b) and a (/b) but with square brackets. These also work in the shoutbox, yay! Sure (b) and (/b) are easy enough to remember but some other complicated ones require you to look to the forums. Awkward, eh?

How about putting some of those buttons and putting it in that gap. This makes it easier than memorising the codes or having to look at the new post window.

C'est simple?

 

[Fi$hy]

C'est une grande plan

Mais.....

Half the reason some of those buttons arn't there, is to "discourage" the use of some of those fancy buttons, e.g putting photo's and the like in the shoutbox. There's not much room for text as it is

But, a nice idea

 

[Pestcontrol]

Hmm, i find that conflicting with the nature of the shoutbox, which like any textbox is designed to put text in without markup, after all, it's not the forum.

But besides all that, it may be difficult to implement as the buttons are part of the WYSIWYG editor, whereas the shoutbox is just a text field, but you'd have to hear Ronin on that. There may be a plugin for it - who knows.

 

[Fuzzy Bunny]

Wait... you can put images in the shout box?
Where's the evil smiley face!

 

[Nanor]

C'est une grande plan

Mais.....

Half the reason some of those buttons arn't there, is to "discourage" the use of some of those fancy buttons, e.g putting photo's and the like in the shoutbox. There's not much room for text as it is

But, a nice idea

I don't mean putting images. I mean the bold command, hyperlink etc.

 

[Ronin Storm]

How about putting some of those buttons and putting it in that gap.

it may be difficult to implement as the buttons are part of the WYSIWYG editor

Interestingly, I've turned "those" buttons off. They're there by default. I say "those" because they're similar but slightly different -- ultimately, similar functionality.

The shoutbox supports much of the vBcode lexicon but generally I'd prefer people to keep it simple. That said, it's easy enough to give it a try.

I'll turn the buttons on for a trial period of, say, a week. Then I'll put up a vote to see what people think.

 

[Pestcontrol]

Heh, it's even easier than getting a plugin then.

Hmm, my first impression is that they take up rather a lot of space, especially compared to the icons of the WYSIWYG editor. Is it possible to remove the Font field? It's the largest and the least relevant.

 

[Ronin Storm]

Is it possible to remove the Font field?

Mmm, probably is. I'll leave it as-is just for now and possibly change it sometime tomorrow.

 

[thatbloke]

I think having the buttons in the shoutbox is a bad idea... I feel it detracts from teh point of actually having it there in the first place. The shoutbox isn't a place to put complex formatted messages, it's a place to put short messages and to essentially chat, and post up random spam so that it avoids spam in threads.

If you wan't to be using formatting options in a shoutbox message then the shoutbox probably isnt the place for it.

 

[BiG D]

ick. I've gotta say, it looks absolutely horrible. The other thing I'm getting a hint of is that the people who know how and when to use such features responsibly seem to be the exact same ones who don't need to look up the tags anyway...

 

[Haven]

I appreciate the reasons why some people want these present but they really spoil the ergonomics of the page. Big white clunky nastiness certainly when using the amber theme. Personally I prefer my pages minimalist and as button free as possibly whilst still being user friendly.

 

[pHatBambi]

Yeah I'm with you on this haven.

Go for the minimalist approach. Keep it simple, stoopid is always a good rule.

Please ditch the buttons.

 

[Ronin Storm]

I've just dropped all but four buttons. One was there already ("Shout"). The other three are for bold, italics and smilies.

Currently, I've only made the change in the 2-series styles. That any better?

 

[thatbloke]

Ok shoutbox button version 2 is actually a bit better. Smilies are a good thing, and so is bold and italic. I think if any buttons are left, it should be these and these only

 

[Haven]

Those of us using the Amber template can still experience the full horror of all the buttons ...

*spray paints his eyes black to save him from the pain*

 

[Twisto]

I personally dont like it.
The shoutbox seems to be becoming more like MSM every day.
What next..A nudge or tilt feature?

I would prefer the shoutbox to be exactly what it says on the tin..A shoutbox.
We have enough ways of getting information out to each other i.e. PMs, Xfire, Teamspeak, Emails.
We also have the Hive link, Chat room, and the Soap box, for lengthier posts.

If I need to add a link in a shout, or draw attention to it, its easy and quick enough to simply edit my shout after posting.

It was a decent idea, that in practice doesnt work.
Get thee gone I say

 

[Pestcontrol]

Indeed. As nanor suggested the buttons to save typing VBcode, why not just disable the VBcode for the shoutbox instead, with the exception of url autoparsing. And stretch up the text box or "shout" button to leave no unused space were buttons could have been.

In the meanwhile, there is now a poll, and i'm preparing to launch a "just vote no!" election campaign. Donations from "No" camp supporters and sympathisers to the campaign fund are welcome.

The majority will decide. Both kinds of Yes votes will be combined for the final count.