Acronym Tag - Button request

[Chrystal]

A while ago I descovered a great BBCode tag, "Acronym", which I've been using an awful lot since, and I think it would be really useful to have it as a button.

In fact this coll little feature should be publicised as much as possible anyway so I hope people read thius and start using it all over the place.

Basically the tag does this:

Code Select Expand

[acronym=This text will appear in a tooltip box when the mouse is hovered over the underlined text]Hover your mouse over this text to see what happens.[/acronym]

Hover your mouse over this text to see what happens.

The two main uses I have put this to are providing in line translation of non-English text - put the English in the acronym, around the foreign (or alien) language. Then to get the translation all the reader needs do is hover their mouse over it. I also use it for providing OOC commentary or explain a somewhat obscure reference if I think people won't get it.

I'm quite sure there are other uses... giving possible outcomes of an action, reporting a dice roll result along side the action it causes... It's just so versatile.

To make it easier to use, and because I can't spell "Acronym", please please please could we have a button for it?

[DrFier]

Or you could just do this.

But then again, I'm not so sure that this works quite as well as you want.  It would be nice to have it fit into the post a little better.  Maybe just add more customization tags to spoilers somehow; such as resizing and background modifiers?

[DrFier]

I did more reading here, and ended up finding out that you can indeed	resize spoilers see?	to fit into your text.

It just requires tables, and is therefore a little overly complex.

[Ariel]

I personally don't see myself using that in the future for anything, but that's just me! I think it would be a cool idea. I know coding takes a bit of time and effort, so I can't say whether or not Vek will have time to get to it, but it's still a cool option to have.

You can also drop suggestions here. It might gain a bit more attention from Vek and from the rest of E's members. Also, there's a possibility someone else has suggested it, so you can just quote them and reinforce the suggestion. If more members request it, chances are, Vek might add it onto the codes. Popular demand and all.

[Chrystal]

I did more reading here, and ended up finding out that you can indeed	resize spoilers see?	to fit into your text.

It just requires tables, and is therefore a little overly complex.

That is one heck of a lot more complex that the

acronym tag other way of doing it

. It also looks messy.

This text here is supposed to be in the same paragraph as the previous sentence. With the acronym tag it can be... The spoiler tag is great for putting an OOC comment at the end of a post, or hiding detail that might squick someone out, or simply for compressing a long detailed technical OOC post. But they stand out a mile, and brek up the look of an IC post. Also, when clicked on, everything around them moves.

Tables are fantastic for putting things in columns. The problem, as I just demonstrated, is knowing where your columns are going to start and finish. Bulletin Boards are not WYSIWYG. It always pays to preview what you have typed to make sure a) it looks right and b) the code actually works!

I personally don't see myself using that in the future for anything, but that's just me! I think it would be a cool idea. I know coding takes a bit of time and effort, so I can't say whether or not Vek will have time to get to it, but it's still a cool option to have.

You can also drop suggestions here. It might gain a bit more attention from Vek and from the rest of E's members. Also, there's a possibility someone else has suggested it, so you can just quote them and reinforce the suggestion. If more members request it, chances are, Vek might add it onto the codes. Popular demand and all.

I originally PMed Veks with the idea, and he told me to post it here... *shrug*

[Kitsunetsuki]

I like it, though I'm not sure if I would use it in a RP. I can see where it would be useful, though.

By any chance, do you use a Mac, Chrystal? You could make yourself a text shortcut with it if you did. I don't know if there's such a thing with Windows based computers (I only use Windows at home and much prefer my Mac at work...must.save.money.for.a.Mac!!). I use text shortcuts all the time to convert a quick key (e.g., "`3") to a whole block of text (if I need it). I use shortcuts on my phone all the time as well. Just thought I'd mention it, as it may help. (You wouldn't have to type Acronym anymore! *grins*)

[Chrystal]

I like it, though I'm not sure if I would use it in a RP. I can see where it would be useful, though.

By any chance, do you use a Mac, Chrystal? You could make yourself a text shortcut with it if you did. I don't know if there's such a thing with Windows based computers (I only use Windows at home and much prefer my Mac at work...must.save.money.for.a.Mac!!). I use text shortcuts all the time to convert a quick key (e.g., "`3") to a whole block of text (if I need it). I use shortcuts on my phone all the time as well. Just thought I'd mention it, as it may help. (You wouldn't have to type Acronym anymore! *grins*)

Je l'utilise pour les traductions, like that, when the character is speaking in a foreign language, but it is important for the reader (and the other player(s)) to know what is said...

I use firefox on Windows 7. I'd have to check if it is possible to record a macro on Firefox, which is the same thing, I think. Can be done in word and excel, you tell it to record the keystrokes and/or mouse moves and it does, you create a button for it on the toolbar and presto...

I will investigate. Thanks for the idea.

[Bloodied Porcelain]

I use the acronym tag constantly and while I'd love to see a button for it, I also have just gotten used to typing out 99% of my code on my own. The only time I use the buttons anymore is when I need to put a ton of code tags around one specific thing or I'm starting a table cause it gives me the basics pre-generated and then I can manipulate the code from there and be as OCD as I wish >.>

[Chrystal]

Oddly, the table button is about the only one I don't use.

http://www.teamopolis.com/tools/bbcode-table-generator.aspx

That is really handy. The only thing is that E doesn't support the header row, so you have to specify without.

[DrFier]

I honestly didn't know we had an acronym tag.  I was actually replying on the assumption that you meant you had seen it on another site and wanted it here.

[Chrystal]

Ah... I see what you mean. I found the thing the way I find most BBCode - I see someone use it and want to know how they got that effect, so I have a look at their code. I think it would be handy to have a quick way of including it, like with the table, code, quote, list, spoiler and float tags.

[DrFier]

I'm another one of those that usually just types my own code.  I do use the buttons for some things though, like resizing or changing colors.  It is just easier that way in those cases, but I really don't mind typing my own code either.

[Chrystal]

To be honest, whether I type my code or use the buttons really depends on what I'm doing, but I'm essentially lazy. I will copy/paste table rows, list items, user code segments... to save time and RSI.

[Caeli]

90% of the time, I find that typing out the code is faster than using a button to get it, because inevitably I'd have to move my mouse back to the tag to fill it in appropriately anyway, which wastes more time than just typing it all out.  Having a button would be great for visibility, though.

[BAMF]

90% of the time, I find that typing out the code is faster than using a button to get it, because inevitably I'd have to move my mouse back to the tag to fill it in appropriately anyway, which wastes more time than just typing it all out.  Having a button would be great for visibility, though.

This is my thought. I thought about using this the other day, but I didn't remember the code. I know I coulda come here to find it, but I'm lazy.

[Blythe]

Oddly, the table button is about the only one I don't use.

http://www.teamopolis.com/tools/bbcode-table-generator.aspx

That is really handy. The only thing is that E doesn't support the header row, so you have to specify without.

I just want to thank you so much for this link. This just made table-making on E something I can actually approach and not be intimidated by. Thank you! 

[Chrystal]

No problem. It has it's limitations, obviously, but it does help with the basic structure.