Put the formatting information above the posting text box?

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Re: Put the formatting information above the posting text box? by Old_Gray_Bear (Bishop) on May 21, 2016 at 01:07 UTC
I don't know. I suspect that it really wouldn't stop the really hard core cases, the ones who want their answer NOW because it is *URGENT* that they get their code to run before their 0900 class tomorrow. On the other hand, moving the line "See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages...." to above the text-box might be a profitable thought. ---- I Go Back to Sleep, Now. OGB	[reply]
Re: Put the formatting information above the posting text box? by ww (Archbishop) on May 21, 2016 at 10:55 UTC
OGB is probably right about the gimmé artists I sadly agree¹ but nonetheless favor making the formatting directions a bit more prominent. In fact, I'd format those instructions in boldface and red! And, some wishful thinking here, perhaps we could enforce, thru code (in the mandatory preview stanza), or at least thru community conduct, a rule against approving an SoPW that has no formatting whatsoever -- something as draconian as "No markup; no stumbit option!" Updated by inserting the italicized agreement¹ but may have left the intent still unclear :-( ? *Questions containing the words "doesn't work" (or their moral equivalent) will usually get a downvote from me unless accompanied by:* code verbatim error and/or warning messages *a coherent explanation of what "doesn't work* actually means.**	[reply]
Re^2: Put the formatting information above the posting text box? by soonix (Chancellor) on May 21, 2016 at 20:54 UTC
in boldface and red! that would make it essentially invisible (not because of color blindness, but because of people being used to ignore shouting). Would it be possible to have either the preview or the edit control? Current situation: preview area (Update: which contains some gibberish the poster doesn't even associate with his writing) edit area preview and submit buttons (or "update" when already posted Proposed: Alternation between "edit" mode edit area "preview" button and "preview" mode preview area "edit" and "submit" buttons	[reply]
Re^3: Put the formatting information above the posting text box? by ww (Archbishop) on May 21, 2016 at 22:16 UTC
Upvoted, especially for including the (previously non-current) issue of having no preview when updating. But, Parson soonix, your caution against shouting reminds me of the Arkansas farmer who was being taken to task by the preacher for whalloping a balky mule with a scrap piece of lumber. "You shouldn't be using a clue-by-four on that poor animal. You could just talk nicely to it and tell it what you want done, instead." "Well, shure'nuff, Parson;" said the muleskinner, "but sometimes ya' gotta' git their attenshun first so they'll pay heed to whatch'er saying!" The color choice was rhetorical; intended as an intensive¹ to my agreement with the OP's notion (++ again) that we'd have a much neater and perhaps more civil Monastery, if we were a tad more emphatic about wanting to see para and code tags, even from those sorry cases to whom OGB referrred. But since they tend to be raw noobies, they won't have had must prior exposure to any shouting here) ¹ Selected as an alternate to profanity, obscenity or blasphemy as an intensive. `++$anecdote ne $data`	[reply] [d/l]
Re^4: Put the formatting information above the posting text box? by soonix (Chancellor) on May 21, 2016 at 23:17 UTC
Re: Put the formatting information above the posting text box? by ambrus (Abbot) on May 22, 2016 at 00:54 UTC
You could try Javascript formatting toolbar for perlmonks which puts the toolbar above the text box. You can enable this toolbar in your display settings.	[reply]
Re^2: Put the formatting information above the posting text box? by soonix (Chancellor) on May 22, 2016 at 16:48 UTC
Yes but novices usually don't change their settings before their first post ...	[reply]
Re^3: Put the formatting information above the posting text box? by ambrus (Abbot) on May 22, 2016 at 19:16 UTC
Indeed. I wish the formatting toolbar could be enabled by default, with a setting to turn it off, but alas, it is not so (yet).	[reply]
Re^4: Put the formatting information above the posting text box? by stevieb (Canon) on May 22, 2016 at 20:12 UTC
Re^5: Put the formatting information above the posting text box? by ambrus (Abbot) on May 22, 2016 at 21:19 UTC
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