what is the deal with the small and large tags on AskMefi? October 5, 2006 10:38 PM Subscribe
I know this has been discussed already and even used as an excuse for the guys here to show off their font skills, but what is the deal with the small and large tags on AskMefi? They exist but there's no script or interface that lets a novice change the size of his or her font in the post? Is this a way of regulating some from emphasizing words? Just want some history here... Thanks.
The big tag isn't allowed. Do you ever seen larger text these days?
The small tag is there for people that want to use it (just like blockquote, underline, strikeout, etc) if they know what they are doing. I personally feel people overuse the small tag and try and use it to stuff 10,000 words into a post instead of using it to make quiet asides or some other occasional use.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:05 PM on October 5, 2006
The small tag is there for people that want to use it (just like blockquote, underline, strikeout, etc) if they know what they are doing. I personally feel people overuse the small tag and try and use it to stuff 10,000 words into a post instead of using it to make quiet asides or some other occasional use.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:05 PM on October 5, 2006
In short: metafilter provides shortcuts, semi-consistently, to aid the casual user, but the truly typographically badass must earn their motherfucking stripes.
Well put.
posted by ifranzen at 11:08 PM on October 5, 2006
Well put.
posted by ifranzen at 11:08 PM on October 5, 2006
Oh noooooo!
posted by Kickstart70 at 11:13 PM on October 5, 2006
posted by Kickstart70 at 11:13 PM on October 5, 2006
/////\\\\\/////\\\\\/////\\\\\/////\\\\\/////\\\\\
\\\\\/////\\\\\/////\\\\\/////\\\\\/////\\\\\/////
posted by Jimbob at 11:27 PM on October 5, 2006 [3 favorites]
\\\\\/////\\\\\/////\\\\\/////\\\\\/////\\\\\/////
posted by Jimbob at 11:27 PM on October 5, 2006 [3 favorites]
When you are typing a comment you are entering HTML. Certain tags are not allowed (like <BIG>, <FONT>, <STYLE>, <SCRIPT>, <FORM> and so on) and certain attributes (inline styles) because people can abuse them. But aside from that you can use any HTML tags you want. <B>, <U>, <A>, <I>, <SUB>, <SUP>, <BR>, <PRE>, <TT>, <BLOCKQUOTE>, <SMALL>, <BUTTON>, etc... Get a good HTML reference and go to town.
posted by Rhomboid at 11:31 PM on October 5, 2006
posted by Rhomboid at 11:31 PM on October 5, 2006
And it wasn't always as restricted as it is currently.
posted by Rhomboid at 11:33 PM on October 5, 2006
posted by Rhomboid at 11:33 PM on October 5, 2006
And my point, in case I wasn't really clear, is that you should not view it as "I only see buttons for B, I, and link so that's all I can do", because this is all standard HTML we are talking about. Those buttons are just for convenience (one which I am glad is optional as it is certainly faster just to type HTML then to have to take your hand off the keyboard and click on a mouse.)
posted by Rhomboid at 11:37 PM on October 5, 2006
posted by Rhomboid at 11:37 PM on October 5, 2006
33333666663333366666333336666633333666663333366666
Thanks guys.
6666333336666633333666663333366666333336666633333
posted by ifranzen at 12:39 AM on October 6, 2006
Thanks guys.
6666333336666633333666663333366666333336666633333
posted by ifranzen at 12:39 AM on October 6, 2006
I wish I were as creative as you guys.
posted by brundlefly at 12:44 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by brundlefly at 12:44 AM on October 6, 2006
I've been informed that I'm not allowed to comment in this thread other than to indicate the fact that I'm not allowed to comment in this thread.
posted by loquacious at 12:46 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by loquacious at 12:46 AM on October 6, 2006
I was informed that you were only allowed to comment in this thread if you used the tag.
posted by wendell at 1:28 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by wendell at 1:28 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by loquacious at 1:53 AM on October 6, 2006
he msifcl tye of tx, Ihi, to reds txwethtearltratllnig anobnig.
posted by delmoi at 2:31 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by delmoi at 2:31 AM on October 6, 2006
_......_ _..------.._posted by Rhomboid at 2:47 AM on October 6, 2006
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the real problem is that metafilter these days consists largely of members who would consider the typing of a series of nested <small> tags a "font skill".
posted by quonsar at 2:47 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by quonsar at 2:47 AM on October 6, 2006
Wheee....
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Tell us how you really feel, quonsar!
posted by loquacious at 2:56 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by loquacious at 2:56 AM on October 6, 2006
Tell us how you really feel, quonsar!
cranky, stuffed up and sneezy, and too broke to stay home from work.
posted by quonsar at 4:26 AM on October 6, 2006
cranky, stuffed up and sneezy, and too broke to stay home from work.
posted by quonsar at 4:26 AM on October 6, 2006
*hugs quonsar*
posted by loquacious at 4:59 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by loquacious at 4:59 AM on October 6, 2006
I personally feel people overuse the small tag and try and use it to stuff 10,000 words into a post instead of using it to make quiet asides or some other occasional use.
posted by mathowie
I've told you a million times, don't exaggerate.
posted by tellurian at 7:52 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by mathowie
I've told you a million times, don't exaggerate.
posted by tellurian at 7:52 AM on October 6, 2006
Nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, font skills...
posted by Armitage Shanks at 7:56 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by Armitage Shanks at 7:56 AM on October 6, 2006
Dear sir,
My child has unwittingly viewed the artwork posted by the user Rhomboid depicting a female attempting to reveal herfun bag boobie. I find this post to be morally deficient and request the immediate termination of this user's account. That particular arrangment of characters is not appropriate for a website that many children, whom I know personally, frequent, and we at NAMBLA expect higher standards.
Signed,
Lester, Moe
posted by Stauf at 8:40 AM on October 6, 2006
My child has unwittingly viewed the artwork posted by the user Rhomboid depicting a female attempting to reveal her
Signed,
Lester, Moe
posted by Stauf at 8:40 AM on October 6, 2006
Matt, have you ever considered adding a test-post area? Sometimes I want to try something that's typographically complicated (usually posting programming code in response to a question or some sort of ascii diagram), but I'm not sure if it will work and preview isn't exact.
Many message boards have a test-post area where you can actually post something and see how it looks online.
I know this could turn into a nightmare where people use the test area to post all sorts of rants or whatever, but if it's not too hard to implement, you could solve this by making so users could only see their own tests or so that tests are erased after an hour.
posted by grumblebee at 8:51 AM on October 6, 2006
Many message boards have a test-post area where you can actually post something and see how it looks online.
I know this could turn into a nightmare where people use the test area to post all sorts of rants or whatever, but if it's not too hard to implement, you could solve this by making so users could only see their own tests or so that tests are erased after an hour.
posted by grumblebee at 8:51 AM on October 6, 2006
grumblebee, what about preview (as in, via the Preview button, as opposed to Live Preview) isn't exact?
posted by cortex at 9:12 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by cortex at 9:12 AM on October 6, 2006
No. Preview isn't exact. Things happen.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:29 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:29 AM on October 6, 2006
I'm fairly sure it's exact if you hit the back button after previewing and hit post. The mangling happens in the form on the Preview page.
posted by cillit bang at 10:47 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by cillit bang at 10:47 AM on October 6, 2006
Testing
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:58 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:58 AM on October 6, 2006
Right-O, cillit bang.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:59 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:59 AM on October 6, 2006
cillit bang, for once this better work...
&hearts
9829
posted by Stauf at 11:19 AM on October 6, 2006
&hearts
9829
posted by Stauf at 11:19 AM on October 6, 2006
My mom went to w3schools.com and all I got wu these mad «funt» skill.
posted by If I Had An Anus at 11:19 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by If I Had An Anus at 11:19 AM on October 6, 2006
Stauf: for the numeric entities, you have to do your bit and then view in non-live preview where it'll look most certainly fucked (except for the text area where you're now free to spread the love) ... a la ♥.
posted by If I Had An Anus at 11:31 AM on October 6, 2006
posted by If I Had An Anus at 11:31 AM on October 6, 2006
Matt, have you ever considered adding a test-post area? Sometimes I want to try something that's typographically complicated (usually posting programming code in response to a question or some sort of ascii diagram)
Here is the guaranteed no-brain no-fuss way to post code (or anything requiring formatting like ascii art) and not have it fucked up.
posted by Rhomboid at 1:49 PM on October 6, 2006 [1 favorite]
Here is the guaranteed no-brain no-fuss way to post code (or anything requiring formatting like ascii art) and not have it fucked up.
- Load code in decent text editor. I use UltraEdit.
- Replace all < characters with < and all & with &
- Replace all line breaks with <BR>. You should be able to do this with regexp search and replace. (This is the important part. The metafilter server will automatically translate newlines in your post to <BR>+newline which causes it to be double-spaced when inside a PRE.)
- Stick a <PRE> at the beginning and a </PRE> at the end.
- Copy the entire thing and paste it into the post box.
- Post without previewing. Just use the live preview, or if for some reason you must use the non-live preview, press BACK before submitting.
posted by Rhomboid at 1:49 PM on October 6, 2006 [1 favorite]
I'm fairly sure it's exact if you hit the back button after previewing and hit post. The mangling happens in the form on the Preview page.
So assuming Matt's not going to develop a test page, would you say this workflow would work?
1. Type the post, complete with funky ascii stuff.
2. Copy it to the clipboard. (Insurance.)
3. Hit preview. If it looks good, you're done. Post.
4. Hit Back, make changes, repeat step 3.
posted by grumblebee at 3:03 PM on October 6, 2006
oops. didn't see rhomboid's post. sorry and thanks.
posted by grumblebee at 3:04 PM on October 6, 2006
posted by grumblebee at 3:04 PM on October 6, 2006
rhomboid, how will your solution handle indenting (e.g. in programming code). The PRE tags will preserve spacebar hits, I know, but what about hits of the TAB key? Best avoided or ok?
Also, do you know of a good (free?) text editor for the PC that would allow me to create a Macro of your steps?
posted by grumblebee at 3:06 PM on October 6, 2006
Also, do you know of a good (free?) text editor for the PC that would allow me to create a Macro of your steps?
posted by grumblebee at 3:06 PM on October 6, 2006
Tabs in source code are evil anyway since they depend on having the same editor settings as the person who last edited the file, so you should convert tabs to spaces first before posting the code. I'm not sure what the effects of the actual TAB character in a <PRE> are, but I would guess that they are browser dependant with most browsers defaulting to 8 chars. But who knows. Tabs = evil.
Regarding automating it, you can do it with perl pretty easily.
perl -e 'local $/; $_ = <>; s,&,&,sg; s,<,<,sg; s,[\r\n]+,<BR>,sg; print' <infile >outfile
Perl is available for free on just about every platform. For Windows you can use ActiveState or Cygwin (the latter is definitely my preference.) With Cygwin you can even specify /dev/clipboard as a filename to read/write to the clipboard directly for quick cut and paste goodness.
posted by Rhomboid at 3:25 PM on October 6, 2006
Regarding automating it, you can do it with perl pretty easily.
perl -e 'local $/; $_ = <>; s,&,&,sg; s,<,<,sg; s,[\r\n]+,<BR>,sg; print' <infile >outfile
Perl is available for free on just about every platform. For Windows you can use ActiveState or Cygwin (the latter is definitely my preference.) With Cygwin you can even specify /dev/clipboard as a filename to read/write to the clipboard directly for quick cut and paste goodness.
posted by Rhomboid at 3:25 PM on October 6, 2006
thanks!
posted by grumblebee at 4:01 PM on October 6, 2006
posted by grumblebee at 4:01 PM on October 6, 2006
So assuming Matt's not going to develop a test page, would you say this workflow would work?
No, if you hit post on the preview page, you're posting different (mangled) text to what you're previewing. You either need to hit the back button after previewing and hit post (so you're posting the same text you previewed), or copy the text on the first page and paste it into the form on the Preview page, then hit post.
It would be very easy for Matt to fix this. Instead of:
echo "<textarea>".$message."</textarea>";
Put
echo "<textarea>".str_replace("<","<",str_replace("&","&",$message))."</textarea>";
(or the Cold Fusion equivalent thereof)
posted by cillit bang at 10:43 AM on October 7, 2006
No, if you hit post on the preview page, you're posting different (mangled) text to what you're previewing. You either need to hit the back button after previewing and hit post (so you're posting the same text you previewed), or copy the text on the first page and paste it into the form on the Preview page, then hit post.
It would be very easy for Matt to fix this. Instead of:
echo "<textarea>".$message."</textarea>";
Put
echo "<textarea>".str_replace("<","<",str_replace("&","&",$message))."</textarea>";
(or the Cold Fusion equivalent thereof)
posted by cillit bang at 10:43 AM on October 7, 2006
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<big> tags...more so.
In short: metafilter provides shortcuts, semi-consistently, to aid the casual user, but the truly typographically badass must earn their motherfucking stripes.
posted by cortex at 10:59 PM on October 5, 2006