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URL wrapper

Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 5:17 pm
by goglio704
Hey Al,

I really like the way the URL wrapper works on here versus another board I'm on. Would like to mention it to them since I think their board uses more or less the same software. Is that something custom or just an option you've put in?

Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:22 pm
by asavage
It's bbCode, and AFAIK its not an add-on I've installed, it's the way phpBB works. Actually, it's the way bbCode works.

I use several other boards that use different software, and many use the same format. One board requires the URL be quoted

Code: Select all

[url="http://someurl.com"]Link text here[/url]
as opposed to phpBB's non-quoted syntax

Code: Select all

[url=http://someurl.com]Link text here[/url]
and that throws me off all the time, because I'm always having to remember context ("where am I?") when I'm typing.

I'll mention one other thing, for those who use the "URL" button (I rarely do: I type the bbCode tags manually): not all boards do the prompting dialog box. Some boards have a user setting to turn prompting OFF or ON, but I don't think phpBB does.

phpBB may not be the best board software, but it's free which is pretty neat. When I started this board (we just missed the anniversary: 26-Nov-2005), I didn't know how much use it would get, and some of the licensing agreements for other board software have you paying annually. You get more/other features with IPS or vBulletin, but you also pay more for them. There's a possibility that in future I might move to different software, but adding the ability to attach files and merging topics are the only two features I really want right now. The other issues are minor (like when you choose "New Topic", why don't they put the code in to automatically put the cursor in the Subject textbox??).

The code is open source, and I could modify it myself, but there's a catch: when I'd install an update, my changes would get wiped. There's a workaround for that, but overall I prefer to just live with the small issues.

Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:52 pm
by goglio704
The popup box when you click the URL button is the part I noticed that was different. It is a nice feature for those who don't have BBCode memorized.