#1 Preview -- It would be really helpful to be able to preview a posting before committing it. As is, we just have to go ahead and post it, then edit any changes while it is live. The ability to preview is definitely my #1 request.

#2 Wysiwyg composition -- few of us know much HTML, and hand-editing HTML went out of fashion a long time ago

#3 Position the completed post as current -- when done editing, the thread should be positioned so that one is looking at one's own post, for a final review of it.

We post in a small window, with no wysiwyg, or even much by way of buttons, to assist. If we want to do anything but straight text, we need to edit in raw HTML -- which most of us do not know much about. Please give us some assistance.

Edited by blean on 05/20/2010 04:40:23 MDT.

Bob, can I add to that?

I know many of us complain about the search feature. Could we at least have a more advanced "advanced" search function? I'd like to be able to:

1. search only a specific member's posts

2. be able to have more than 10 posts per page when looking at a member's profile. Like, a "show all posts" option.

3. Search a specific date range.

Bob, can I add to that?
Sure, go ahead and add :)

But let's not lose sight of this thread originating as a request for better editing support for posting.

--MV

I've alwyas assumed that the board was reflection of the spartan minimalism most of us practice in the rest of our lives. ;)

As a web developer that creates many many forums a year i can tell you this much:

All wysiwyg editors are horrible. Every one of them adds ugly code/breaks posts/worse and do we really need people posting in gigantic green fonts?

The two things as far as posting that i think would really help would be:
1) "insert link at cursor" button just like we have for images
2) Sending the user to their post after submit per bob's request #3 above.

Thanks BPL,
Jay

Thanks Bob. Of course, OP always takes priority.

The difference in priorities is interesting ...

All wysiwyg editors are horrible. Every one of them adds ugly code/breaks posts/worse and do we really need people posting in gigantic green fonts?

1) "insert link at cursor" button just like we have for images

Sending the user to their post after submit per bob's request #3 above.

"We post in a small window"

On this particular item, you don't necessarily have to post in a small window -- but it will depend on your system and system version.

On my Mac, using Safari (and probably other browsers, I just happen to use Safari), I can expand/enlarge the posting window so that I can see my entire post (limited by screen size, of course) before hitting post. There's a grab handle at the bottom right that allows for the expansion. I don't have such a handle at work, so on my windoze xp box using Firefox I can't expand the posting window. Don't know about windoze 7, but perhaps someone who uses it can say whether that system allows you to expand the message window or not. I also don't have the ability to expand on my iPad. FWIW.

I can see my entire post
Can you see your entire post with the HTML acted on (which is what I am asking for in Preview), or just the raw text? As long as we need to enter any HTML by hand, then it would be helpful to have a Preview before committing the post.

on my windoze xp box using Firefox I can't expand the posting window
That describes many of us. But size is only one reason for Preview -- formatting is the main one.

--MV

When you put it that way, I guess I was not thinking full-on wysiwyg -- the one used at candlepowerforums.com seems like a good compromise. It does have some wywiwyg aspects, but you'd never be able to sell it on its own as a wysiwyg editor. Some things are easier to control that way, and their posts don't get out of hand. You could go a long way by just offering such things as bullets, numbered lists, indenting, and quoting. (Don't take that list as a spec -- it was off the top of my head, with no real thought behind it.)

Any comments on previewing? I'd rather get my post straightened out while it is still private than do post-and-edit cycles. I keep feeling that I should put "under construction" warnings at the top of some posts, until I remove them in one final edit.

Edited by justaddfuel on 05/20/2010 12:35:04 MDT.

I think this should be optional. 2 buttons. 1 for post message, one for preview reply. Really depens if you are trying to say PM Sent or if you are posting a trip report or flaming up the chaff.

I agree. CPF has those two buttons and that works out nicely.

Amusing note: your post illustrated my point about preview. When I first looked at it, it was showing the <pre> as plain text. By the time I got done, you had fixed that and were using <blockquote>

--MV

Edited by blean on 05/20/2010 12:42:46 MDT.

"Can you see your entire post with the HTML acted on (which is what I am asking for in Preview), or just the raw text?"

No, just the raw text.

"on my windoze xp box using Firefox I can't expand the posting window....That describes many of us. But size is only one reason for Preview -- formatting is the main one."

Agree completely, just wanted to let those who might not know that some can expand the box to see more of the text we're composing.