Forum Emoties vs. iPhone Emoties

[Carol the Dabbler]

This being International Women's Day, have a

[Pamela]

I also see only the square.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Are you using a laptop?

 

[besleybean]

Yes and yes for me...I'm a square, too!

[Inge l-w]

Dear Carol, it's a MacBook, and I have tried to use forum things, i.e. use the shortcuts created for the forum, especially necessary for spoilers, I type in the correct instructions and they appear as that: instructions, not ike emoticons and spoiler tags and whatnots, but apparently the software is not compatible. And I can see all the lovely stuff you post, like Arcadia's smileys, besleybean 's old-fashioned grenade, even Arcadia's soap-box yesterday, and her creature laughing on the floor. But, apparently it is not reciprocal. Your flower emoticon shows up perfectly clearly in your answer.

[Caya]

For what it's worth, I can see the Mac flower (that sounds like a Vegan burger :D) just fine, even though I'm on a desktop PC (running Win7 and using Firefox). Maybe this is a matter of national unicode extensions, if the OSX of Inge's MacBook is configured for German, too.

[Shadow Dweller]

It looks like a white blob in android kitkat - opera mini. Will check on laptop later.

 

Edit: Win 8.1 - Chrome produced a mini, hollow square.

[Pamela]

Are you using a laptop?

No, a desktop; Windows Vista, Google Chrome browser.

 

But I CAN see your flower.

[Arcadia]

Laptop, Windows Vista, Explorer 9 (yeah, I know, I need to do something about that one of these days) and all I see in Inge's post is an empty square. For what it's worth, when my friend sends me emails from her iPhone there's always a lot of code inserted where punctuation should be. I don't know enough about any of it to suggest anything, I'm afraid. I find the emoties useful but can always type lol or :-), or even (gasp) use actual words if need be .....

[Carol the Dabbler]

Dear Carol, it's a MacBook, and I have tried to use forum things, i.e. use the shortcuts created for the forum, especially necessary for spoilers, I type in the correct instructions and they appear as that: instructions, not ike emoticons and spoiler tags and whatnots, but apparently the software is not compatible. And I can see all the lovely stuff you post, like Arcadia's smileys, besleybean 's old-fashioned grenade, even Arcadia's soap-box yesterday, and her creature laughing on the floor. But, apparently it is not reciprocal. Your flower emoticon shows up perfectly clearly in your answer.

 

Thank you, Inge -- that's very interesting.  Is that also why you address people by name rather than using the forum's "quote" button?

 

Who else is using any sort of Mac / Apple product?  Or any brand of notebook?  What do you see?  And are you having similar problems (or not)?

 

I realize that there are workarounds -- but unless we know what's working for whom, we don't know what's a good workaround and what isn't.  Emoties can be very helpful, not only for making posts more interesting and lively, but also for clarifying one's tone -- so I'd like for them to be both usable and visible for all.  Hopefully that's possible.

 

[Inge l-w]

Specifically, MacBook Air, it is configured for German, but I have added English in the languages packet, I always use names so that there should be no misunderstandings, as a few times, it has happened that while I was drafting my reply, someone else posted something in between. Spoilers and the forum emoticons seem beyond my software's abilities. However, it is definitely a European configuration, so Caya may be absolutely right.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Using names is definitely a good idea, Inge -- as you say, it helps avoid confusion.  But I'm wondering why you don't use the Quote button, to include the post you're responding to right in your reply.  Does the Quote button not work properly for you, either -- or do you simply prefer not to use it?

 

[Inge l-w]

Dear Carol, if I use the quote button, I cannot select a single phrase, for example, so the whole quote will be posted above my answer, and it may be a bit boring for the other members to read the same thing over and over again while we are arguing a point, especially if the quote is a lengthy one, which is what I find applies to my musings, dear Arcadia's, dear Boton's and dear Toby's. You may eventually decide you have had enough and throw us all in the rant thread, but that is my rationale :-)

[besleybean]

I have to say, I've been finding it kind of cute that people on here respond with : Dear...whoever!

Having said that. Confession time:  I'm bad for using buttons, too.

But if I mean my post for just one person, I will use the @.

[Inge l-w]

Dear besleybean, I seem to remember that you reacted to being called a "bonnie lass", so I try to be on my best behaviour, although I quite like your slow-burning grenade emoticon when I have expressed some views. Caya can explain better, since "you" in English can be both 2nd person singular and plural, as well as the polite form of address, but it is not the same in other languages. Or would you rather I started everything with "hey, you..."? Don't flare up, just pulling your leg a bit.

[Undead Medic]

Dear Carol, if I use the quote button, I cannot select a single phrase, for example, so the whole quote will be posted above my answer, and it may be a bit boring for the other members to read the same thing over and over again while we are arguing a point, especially if the quote is a lengthy one, which is what I find applies to my musings, dear Arcadia's, dear Boton's and dear Toby's. You may eventually decide you have had enough and throw us all in the rant thread, but that is my rationale :-)

Dear Inge l-w,

 

When quoting a post you can simply click anywhere within the quote box that appears and drag to select any amount of text within the quote and press delete to remove anything which you feel isn't relevant to your response.

 

For example:

 

Dear Carol, if I use the quote button, *SNIP*, but that is my rationale :-)

I hope this is helpful to you.

[Inge l-w]

Hello, Undead Medic, I have tried that a few times, but then it seemed as I were answering my own words, not as a quote at all, if it is any help to you. Sorry to be such a nuisance (once again :-), I mean).

[Undead Medic]

It sounds like in deleting the text you may have inadvertently removed the closing bb tag.

 

You can check this by using the light switch toggle button in the upper left corner of the text editor window. All quotes should begin with a [ quote] (minus the space) and end in a

 

No BB Code shortcut should ever include spaces, If spaces are inserted then the software simply won't parse them.

[Caya]

There is also a MultiQuote button, but I have to admit I haven't quite figured that one out either . What I do instead, should I need multiple quotes or quote parts, is right-click on Quote, select open in a new tab, and there snip and mutilate the quote to my heart's content, copy&paste it here into the reply window, and repeat the process as needed.

 

As for the different modes of address in German, I think we had that discussion in the language thread back when Sign aired, because that's when Sherlock and John finally switched to the informal mode (in the German version, at least - when John asked Sherlock to be his best man). Personally, I think English is blessed by not making that distinction, as the transition and when to make it can be awkward ... I tend to offer the Du fairly quickly when it's my turn (the older (or higher-ranking person in a business context) is supposed to make the offer, generally speaking) simply to avoid missing the time it would've been appropriate.

[Inge l-w]

Dear Caya, we may be about a thousand kilometres apart, since I live near Oldenburg, but I can see what you mean! I have had two much older friends, actually friends of my uncle's and aunt's ever since I was at University, and only last year, probably being bored with the formality, did my 86-year old lady friend propose that we use the 2nd person singular, and I jumped at the chance! The other one, being a still older gentleman, keeps up the polite form, and there is NO way I will ever try to slip in a 2nd person singular, I would bite off my tongue first.

Of course, you DO realise that the whole thread was started BECAUSE of the flipping ambiguity in English, which necessitates using emoticons to express tone when posting, otherwise I would have invited J.P, Toby and Zain to use the informal option!

[Carol the Dabbler]

When you're deleting portions of a quote, the main thing you have to be careful about is what Tim said:  If you're deleting the very end of the quote, BE VERY CAREFUL not to delete anything past the final character of the actual quote.  That may mess up the codes and the whole thing will look funny.  If you accidentally do that, though, Undo may take you back to where you can try again.

 

I've also had the following two problems -- but Arcadia says she doesn't -- so here are my workarounds for anyone who might need 'em:
 
1.  If I try to include the very first character of a quote in my big delete, the whole quote tends to go away, but for some reason this works for me:  I simply DO NOT include the very first character in my highlighted text -- I highlight starting with the second character, go ahead and click Delete, then hit Backspace to get rid of the first character.
 
2.  If the post I'm quoting begins with a quote that I do not want to keep, the only way I've found to delete that entire inner quote is to go into plain-vanilla editor mode by clicking the "light switch" at the top left of the editor toolbar.  If you study the resulting codes and text, you should be able to make out where the outer and inner quotes start and end, in which case you can very carefully delete all of the inner quote, including its start and end codes, without affecting the outer quote.  Then you can switch back into full editor mode if you like (by clicking the "light switch" again).
 

Dear besleybean, I seem to remember that you reacted to being called a "bonnie lass", so I try to be on my best behaviour, although I quite like your slow-burning grenade emoticon when I have expressed some views. Caya can explain better, since "you" in English can be both 2nd person singular and plural, as well as the polite form of address, but it is not the same in other languages. Or would you rather I started everything with "hey, you..."? Don't flare up, just pulling your leg a bit.

 
Inge, I don't think anyone objects to being called by their name -- that's what names are for, right?  The "dear" may sound a little odd, though, since we're not writing letters, we're sort of having a conversation -- at least I assume that's how most of us think of a thread.
 

There is also a MultiQuote button, but I have to admit I haven't quite figured that one out either .

 
I love MultiQuote, and keep discovering new features within it.  The only problem I've had is if I happen to click the MultiQuote button before the page is quite done loading -- it'll act like I clicked the regular Quote button instead.  Other than that (which should rarely be a problem for those of you with a sufficiently high-speed internet connection), it's pretty straightforward.  I recommend that you read the "MultiQuote" thread and then just play with it for a while.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

... I live near Oldenburg....

 

So do I!  (Well, it's not a long drive, anyhow.)  Of course, that's Oldenburg, Indiana!

 

Come to think of it -- besleybean, I also live fairly near Edinburgh!

 

[Arcadia]

When you're deleting portions of a quote, there are really only three things you need to be careful about:

 

1.  If you're deleting the very beginning of the quote, DO NOT include the very first character in your highlighted text -- highlight starting with the second character, go ahead and click Delete, then hit Backspace to get rid of the first character.  For some reason this works, at least for me.  If I try to include the first character in my big delete, the whole quote tends to go away (though hitting Undo once or twice will generally get me back to square one so I can try again).

 

3.  If the post you're quoting begins with a quote that you do not want to keep, the only way I've found to delete that entire inner quote is to go into plain-vanilla editor mode by clicking the "light switch" at the top left of the editor toolbar.  If you study the resulting codes and text, you should be able to make out where the outer and inner quotes start and end, in which case you can very carefully delete all of the inner quote, including its start and end codes, without affecting the outer quote.  Then you can switch back into full editor mode if you like (by clicking the "light switch" again).

 

That's odd, I don't have to do any of those things, I find it pretty easy to edit in either mode. The only problem I really have in full edit mode is getting the cursor outside the quote box. I switch between modes constantly, usually.

 

I love MultiQuote, and keep discovering new features within it.  For example, if I'm in the middle of a long-winded reply and realize that I want to include a quote -- all I have to do is position the cursor where I want the quote to be, then scroll up to the post, click MultiQuote, then click "Reply to 1 quoted post(s)" -- and there it is!  Nowadays I rarely use the regular Quote button, I use MultiQuote even if I'm quoting only one post, because I like the way it leaves me on the thread instead of taking me to a special reply page.

Good tip! Just tried it, it works!

[Carol the Dabbler]

Thanks, Arcadia -- I have edited my post above to indicate that only some people have those problems.  Just in case I'm not the only one!

 

And yes indeedy, I can move the cursor to after the quote box every now and then, but I usually have to switch modes to get it there.

 

And -- glad you liked it!

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Inge, I was thinking your MacBook might be causing you problems on the forum, since most of us are using Windows -- but Tim (Undead Medic, the forum Administrator) just told me that he uses a MacBook.  So you should have no worries about that.

 

Also, it appears that most of us really are still using laptops and even desktops, so there's currently no need to change the use of emoties.

 

But you're still having difficulty with them, Inge, so let's deal with that.  When you do try to use the forum emoticons, what exactly does happen?