could the blue have a 'spoiler' tag?

January 20, 2005 5:33 AM

Skoosh's reply here reminded me - could the blue have a 'spoiler' tag added to the [B][i][link] tags by the reply box?

By using blue text on a blue background then anything spoilerish for Flash games (etc) would only be visible to those who highlight the text with their mouse.
posted by twine42 to Feature Requests at 5:33 AM (28 comments total)

Don't get me wrong, Skoosh's method works, but it's not the most technically elegant (or intuitive) way of doing things...
posted by twine42 at 5:34 AM on January 20, 2005

Do we really get that much spoiler talk here?
posted by Karmakaze at 6:44 AM on January 20, 2005

Suuure, that'd make it REALLY stand out on my white background!
posted by DBAPaul at 6:44 AM on January 20, 2005

Why not just make the spoiler really really really really really small?
posted by DrJohnEvans at 8:19 AM on January 20, 2005

Furrfu, whfg ebg13 lbhe fcbvyref.
posted by mendel at 8:23 AM on January 20, 2005

What Karmakaze said. Spoilers are a tiny, tiny fraction of MeFi discourse -- "SPOILERS BELOW" and a several line breaks seems to handle the problem just fine.
posted by cortex at 8:26 AM on January 20, 2005

It's interesting how crucial this tag is to many message boards, and how it was completely unanticipated in the HTML spec.
posted by smackfu at 8:54 AM on January 20, 2005

It's fine idea, but how is it different/better that what skoosh did?

1) Text only visible to those who hover over a link?
Check.

2) Spoiler text takes up space on the page?
Now here, skoosh's way is actually better.

3) Requires additional coding?
I think that's 2 out of 3. Sorry.
posted by scarabic at 8:55 AM on January 20, 2005

V unir gb nterr jvgu zraqry. EBG 13 vf cerggl rnfl sbe rirelbar gb hfr.
posted by driveler at 9:02 AM on January 20, 2005

Znlor jr whfg arrq gb znxr ebg13 zber jryy-xabja. Fubhyq jr cbfg n yvax gb ebg13.pbz?
posted by Tubes at 9:11 AM on January 20, 2005

I never understood why people get so agitated over improperly-concealed (in their view) spoiler information. (All this hysteria over being able to read about a given subject, but only certain things and not others, and making other people responsible for concealing things from them.) You'd think they were inadvertently exposed to horse cock.
posted by mcwetboy at 9:38 AM on January 20, 2005

EBG 13? Bu trrm. Arkg lbh'yy or gryyvat crbcyr gb HHRAPBQR gurve nggnpuzragf.
posted by turaho at 9:43 AM on January 20, 2005

EBG-13 vf na vagrerfgvat naq hfrshy pubvpr, ohg erdhverf rkgen fgrcf gb obgu rapbqr naq qrpbqr, naq nf fhpu, cebonoyl jba'g trg hfrq. N yvax gb na rapbqre/qrpbqre jbhyq cebonoyl or urycshy nf jryy.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:46 AM on January 20, 2005

Guvf yvax vf tbbq, gbb.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:48 AM on January 20, 2005

I use rot13.com, cause I can remember it.
posted by smackfu at 9:51 AM on January 20, 2005

Gurer zhfg or n ebg13 Sversbk rkgrafvba? V tbbtyrq naq sbhaq gjb yvaxf ohg gurl jrer qrnq.
posted by kenko at 9:58 AM on January 20, 2005

Nygubhtu gur ubzrcntr bs gur nhgube vf qrshapg, gurer'f n zveebe bs gur ebg13 sversbk rkgrafvba urer.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 10:19 AM on January 20, 2005

Va zl bcvavba, gur vqrn gung EBG-13 "vf cerggl rnfl sbe rirelbar gb hfr" vf evfvoyr; abg rirelbar urer phg gurve pubcf ba Hfrarg n qrpnqr ntb. Hayrff gur EBG-13 plcure vf raqrzvp -- naq ol raqrzvp V zrna na rkcrpgrq srngher ba rirel oebjfre, VR vapyhqrq -- gurer'f abg zhpu cbvag. Gur zvaqfuner whfg vfa'g gurer. Vg jbhyq raq hc orvat whfg nabgure jnl sbe gur y33g gb ybeq vg bire gur a00of.

Fraqvat crbcyr gb ebg13.pbz (juvpu V jnf hanjner bs hagvy guvf guernq), be nabgure bayvar qrpbqre/rapbqre vf n xyhqtr. Gur bayl jnl vg jbhyq jbex jbhyq or sbe gur EBG-13-rapbqre gb vapyhqr n yvax ng gur raq bs gur rapbqrq grkg . . . yvxr guvf: ROT-13.

Orfvqrf, vs, nf V fhfcrpg, gur fcbvyre-nirefr ner va gur zvabevgl -- guvf vfa'g n GI/zbivr snafvgr -- jul fubhyq gur znwbevgl tb guebhtu nyy gur rkgen ubbcf gb qrpvcure n pbzzrag jura vg'f gur zvabevgl jub jnag gurve yvggyr rlrf fuvryqrq? Gur raq erfhyg vf gung gur pbzzrag jvyy fvzcyl or vtaberq: vg'yy or vtaberq ol gur crbcyr jub ner fcbvyre-nirefr, naq vg'yy or vtaberq ol gur crbcyr jub pna'g or obgurerq gb qrpbqr vg.

Guvf frrzf nagvgurgvpny gb gur fcvevg bs n fvgr jubfr nqzvavfgengbe unf unq n ybat-fgnaqvat eryhpgnapr gb vzcyrzrag svygref naq xvyysvyrf: ba ZrgnSvygre, jr trg gur jubyr pbairefngvba, abg whfg gur cnegf jr qba'g svygre bhg. Gung'f vzcbegnag, V guvax.

(If you move on to the next comment rather than take the effort to decode the above text, you've proven my point.)
posted by mcwetboy at 10:21 AM on January 20, 2005

Vg ybbxf yvxr n zrrgvat bs Ybirpensgvna Terng Byq Barf va urer.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 10:26 AM on January 20, 2005

mcwetboy: ba ZrgnSvygre, jr trg gur jubyr pbairefngvba, abg whfg gur cnegf jr qba'g svygre bhg.

Hayrff Ahzreb Hab zntvpnyyl znxrf gurz qvfnccrne.
posted by Gyan at 10:28 AM on January 20, 2005

Npghnyyl, n pbzovangvba bs fxbbfu'f zrgubq naq ebg13 pbhyq or rssrpgvir: unir gur ivfvoyr grkg or ebg13, naq gur gvgyr grkg qbhoyl ebg13. Gurer vfa'g ernyyl n ernfba abg gb unir gur ivfvoyr grkg or fbzrguvat ryfr, ohg V guvax ebg13 ybbxf arng.
posted by kenko at 11:05 AM on January 20, 2005

Nerds! NERDS!! AREQF!!!

Oops. Outted myself.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 11:35 AM on January 20, 2005

And of course the title attribute is lacking in Firefox.
posted by DBAPaul at 12:39 PM on January 20, 2005

I don't understand what was spoilerish about skoosh's comment. He was translating capitals for those not of the Germanic persuasion. How does that ruin it? If anything, it makes the actual "challenge" at hand (identifying where they are) more fair.

Otherwise, TITLE/ALT text works just fine with warnings.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:51 PM on January 20, 2005

Civil - i didn't mean that skoosh's comments were spoilerish. I merely meant that his/her method of supplying the English names was the only way I could think of to supply spoiler information, and that it wasn't the most obvious way to do things - links are for clicking after all.

It probably says something for the rot13 argument that I really can't be arsed to go back and translate all of the sarcasm and random bollocks that's hiding in it all up there. *shrug*
posted by twine42 at 2:13 PM on January 20, 2005

Sorry twine42, I misunderstood. Yeah, the rot13 method definately makes you go out of your way if you want to be, er, spoiled.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:30 PM on January 20, 2005

There are venues where spoiler space or tags have social value. In the case of an unfolding story, it can be nice to be surprised as events happen rather than anticipating what you know will happen, but people still enjoy speculating and discussing what is already revealed. So a lot of fan sites for tv shows (for example) have spoiler policiies.

I just don't see that many topics on MeFi where spoilers are much of an issue. It's a different style of discourse.
posted by Karmakaze at 5:23 PM on January 20, 2005

I prefer bookmarklets to extensions when I can get away with it: they're more stable during upgrade periods. rot13 for moz.
posted by catachresoid at 5:26 PM on January 20, 2005