http://qs1969.pair.com?node_id=333852

It is deeply frustrating when a post is made and the poster has forgotten to use code tags. Invariably this gets fixed pretty quickly by moderation but for a while the post can be unreadable.

When this happens I tend to look at the html source code for the page as the post is printed there as it was entered (near enough).

I would like to propose a 'Show as entered' link which would show the post exactly as entered and allow people to read the post before the formatting is fixed. This could perhaps be achieved by slapping the whole post into pre tags.

--tidiness is the memory loss of environmental mnemonics

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: 'show as entered' option for poorly formatted posts.
by mirod (Canon) on Mar 04, 2004 at 14:16 UTC

    This is a nice option that would lower the barrier for newcomers.

    I am not sure it is such a good idea though: usually if someone doesn't use the preview, doesn't see that their post doesn't look right and doesn't try to fix it, I see that as a sign that they do not really care about getting answers to their question(s). Or that they are just rude, "here is something that must be a question, figure out how to read it and then answer it, I have no time to loose following the obvious link to Writeup Formatting Tips". So why should we move the burden from them (to post properly) to the server (as the reload would increase its load)?

    I haven't been a newby here in a while ;--) but really, is it that difficult to figure how to write a properly formated post? That's a real question BTW

[reply]
      I would say that if you know nothing about HTML then formatting the post could be quite tricky. After all you came here to get an answer, not to get confused over HTML tags. Something as simple as using <p> tags to get line breaks is far from intuitive to a beginner.

      --tidiness is the memory loss of environmental mnemonics

[reply]
[d/l]

        Oh, come on! This is 2004, who doesn't know about <p> and <br>? besides here is the first entry in Writeup Formatting Tips:

        Carriage returns are stripped
        All carriage returns are ignored in posts except within <CODE> sections. Use a <br> to get a line-break and a <p> tag to get a paragraph break.

        Maybe the entry about wrapping code in <code> tags could be moved up in the list, but still, I would expect anyone on this forum to be able to write a simple post.

[reply]

      Today, as we write our followups, we get a nice chunk of HTML with <div>...</div> tags. What if <code>...</code> tags along with the phrase Add your code snippet here are added as well?

      I guess this would help with two things: The formatting of the post, and the posting of some piece of code to work with.

      Just my 2E-2...

      Best regards

      -lem, but some call me fokat

[reply]
Re: 'show as entered' option for poorly formatted posts.
by hardburn (Abbot) on Mar 04, 2004 at 14:11 UTC

    How is this an improvement over the "preview" button? If it's just to see the raw HTML, then you already have a nice little text box to view it. People who don't use code tags will probably continue to not use code tags. In fact, wrapped in a <pre> makes it worse, since the code was likely formatted correctly before it went into HTML, and now it looks correct inside the <pre>.

    ----
    : () { :|:& };:

    Note: All code is untested, unless otherwise stated

[reply]
[d/l]
[select]
      This is not a replacement for preview, but rather a way for other people to read the post. ie, this function is not for the author but for others who wish to be able to read the post before it is fixed.

      --tidiness is the memory loss of environmental mnemonics

[reply]
[d/l]
Re: 'show as entered' option for poorly formatted posts. (source)
by tye (Sage) on Mar 05, 2004 at 02:56 UTC

    Your browser's 'view source' already provides most of this feature. The XML view then 'view source' also comes quite close (better in some ways, worse in others).

    Neither is exactly what you asked for but I've never had much problem figuring out the point of a node via them. And, in my experience, such problems get fixed very quickly so I don't see this as a big problem.

    I like the feature, though.

    - tye        

[reply]
Re: 'show as entered' option for poorly formatted posts.
by Popcorn Dave (Abbot) on Mar 04, 2004 at 16:52 UTC
    It's an interesting idea. One that perhaps could be turned on until a monk reaches a praticular level - say level 2 for example. Hopefully by then the monk will have learned enough about the way PM works to post with code tags.

    There is no emoticon for what I'm feeling now.

[reply]
      I believe that the suggestion is not for the benefit of the writer, but for the benefit of the reader.

      Assuming that a poorly formatted post goes through, in spite of the "preview" button and other attempts to make the writer DTRT, EvdB seems to be suggesting a simple way for the reader to see what the writer actually typed, in an attempt to figure out what they were intending.

      Linda

[reply]
        Exactly - I should have put it like that in the OP.
[reply]
Re: 'show as entered' option for poorly formatted posts.
by Anonymous Monk on Mar 04, 2004 at 23:59 UTC
    This seems like a pointless waste of code. Who cares about what it looked like before someone fixed it? I'm just glad someone took the time to fix it at all, but could care less about it previous state. If anybody posts around here long enough, they'll learn the protocol soon enough.
[reply]

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