Anybody else having HTML problems?

Hey guys!

I tried to help out a poster by formatting their post to include the proper BBcodes (external quote using - "ex" in square brackets).

I also tried to post an update and had an issue using "(" to surround a link (this time the trailing ")" appeared on right-hand side of the quote!)

So my question, Are there upgrades happening to ATS that affect the above mentioned issues?

Anybody else on ATS having issues or noticed anything wonky?

[ETA - Sorry for the post and run! End of the day for me!]

I have noticed a few links not working properly wen I try to use the proper code.

In that case I just copy the raw URL, and hope that people will bother to copy paste it.

I am guessing it is weird characters in the URL code that is throwing the BB code off - it seems to be longer, more involved URLs that I have problems with.

Not able to think of an example off hand, maybe someone can post a URL they are having problems with and people can test it here?

a reply to: 1984hasarrived

Maybe it should have been "BBCodes" instead of html.

They, sometimes, are not working as expected. And was just wondering if it was only me. Started today.

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

Nope...and Ive never had to "format" a post. Write it up, preferably off line, cut and paste and hit post reply. Or just do it in the box like Im doing here.

So...my question is...."formatting"? Creating? Paragraphs? Links? Picts? They are all right here...no brackets necessary.....

Thanks

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
Hey guys!

I tried to help out a poster by formatting their post to include the proper BBcodes (external quote using - "ex" in square brackets).

I haven't seen any problems with that.

I also tried to post an update and had an issue using "(" to surround a link (this time the trailing ")" appeared on right-hand side of the quote!)

I would have posted an example of the problem. Generally though you don't want anything immediately adjacent to the link as it can screw up the link. You should have at least a space before and after the link if pasting it raw, though you don't have to worry about that if using the link feature for the icon pointing up and to the right, unless you try to modify what that creates.

a reply to: Arbitrageur

Yes, am computer program literate. ☺

But this is not just me doing something wrong. 😮

So there is an issue with url/bb codes that I have seen today. And just wondering if anybody else is having issues.

a reply to: mysterioustranger

Trying to "help" clarify another member's post and realized why they did what they did --BBcodes were not working like they should. Tried qouting thier post and correcting... but got the same result!

a reply to: Arbitrageur

Like I said, "drive-by" posting. Will provide links tomorrow.

-TEOT

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

If I'm understanding this correctly....you should have been able to cut and paste it off site....correct it...and cut n paste it back.

Also....there is a time limit to edit...must a couple hours...so if you were beyond that time from the original post...then there's the problem.

I believe you cannot edit past 119 minutes from original posting...

Links:

Started noticing this a few days ago. ATS - The Graphene Mega Thread

"Teslaphoresis-activated self-assembling carbon nanotubes look even cooler than they sound" is the title for the url. "Preview" button shows, "...activat ed..." with a random space. I tried everything to get rid of it but it still showed up. Posted anyway.

Next, I tried to provide a url inside of parenthesis like (url name). So when I tried with a properly constructed url bbcode it looked like: ()url name. Figured it was a formatting problem.

Here is the ATS post - Has the great flow battery battle started. I was trying to put the Wikipedia link inside parens.

(continued)

(continued)

I tried to reply to this post here ATS - Bystanders break up bizarre scuffle between angry KKK members and black pro-Confederate activist

It was early on in the thread, so I figured I would properly use "ex and /ex" bbcodes to correct OP's oversight (?). So hit the "quote" button. I added the proper bbcodes and hit "preview" and the "ex-ed" text disappears! Seeing how a random space showed up in my other post, I didn't bother to reply. I figured OP knew how to do the same but ran into the same snag and hence the non-standard post.

Here, I will now quote it with the proper bbcodes for an external quoted source just to see what happens.

originally posted by: XP100
Here's something you don't see everyday:

A black pro-Confederate demonstrator was met by angry Ku Klux Klan members at a Florida park in a Dave Chappelle sketch come to life.

H.K. Edgerton, the former president of the NAACP chapter in Asheville, North Carolina, travels the South wearing a Confederate army uniform to promote his belief that the seditious government was not racist.

The 68-year-old Edgerton baffled his former colleagues by campaigning in favor of pro-Confederate groups and promoting their symbols — which many Americans perceive as antagonistic emblems of the slavery and racism.

Edgerton, wearing a gray historical uniform, was paying his respects Monday morning at the Hemming Park Confederate Monument in Jacksonville when several members of an area KKK chapter confronted him, reported WTLV-TV.

The racist group argued with Edgerton until witnesses came to his defense and defused the situation.

The Southern Legal Resource Center, where Edgerton is a board member, said they weren’t sure why KKK members protested the black pro-Confederate activist’s demonstration.

LINK www.rawstory.com...

My brain hurts and I have a really weird look on my face right now.

I can only assume that the Klowns got Konfused when they saw him. Frustrated with their confusion, they got angry and lashed out at him?

(continued)

See! No external quoted source!

What is going on? Is this some Easter Egg I ran across? An error with the Preview pane? Anybody else having issues like this?


(end)

external tag code

seems to be working

If you are trying to nest the EX inside a QUOTE tag then that doesn't seem to work. I suppose they are both seen as a type of quote and exclusive.

Anyway, the real world draws me away for a few hours. Again, sorry for the drive-by posting.

-TEOT

a reply to: roadgravel

Seems like they are mutually exclusive! Which is not what one would expect (thought you could nest them). And it is just random here and there. No real biggie just have to re-arrange text so it makes sense.

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
Links:

Started noticing this a few days ago. ATS - The Graphene Mega Thread

"Teslaphoresis-activated self-assembling carbon nanotubes look even cooler than they sound" is the title for the url. "Preview" button shows, "...activat ed..." with a random space. I tried everything to get rid of it but it still showed up.

Source: techcrunch.com - 123456789012345678901 234567890
The space is not random. Apparently there is a 21 character limit on word length for that link text, and this includes hyphenated strings of characters, so as those 30 digits show the space occurs after the 21st character. Not random, though I don't know if it's intentional or some kind of bug, it could be intentional protection against people trying to enter too much text without any spaces.

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
a reply to: roadgravel

Seems like they are mutually exclusive! Which is not what one would expect (thought you could nest them). And it is just random here and there. No real biggie just have to re-arrange text so it makes sense.

This was an intentional change to ATS about two ATS revisions ago. What you tried to do used to work but ATS didn't like nested quotes within nested quotes within nested quotes etc (which really did get out of hand in some cases), so they changed the code so those only displayed one level deep and that code change affected other things as well like ex tags. That one I do know was an intentional change.

On a related note, there's a workaround for the nested quotes display ban too, if you really feel you need to show two previous quotes to put your post in context, just "un-nest them", show each one separately. So instead of this where the text by XP100 doesn't show up (unless you click "quote" to reply to my post, then you can see it):

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
Teotwawkiaiff text

originally posted by: XP100
XP100 text

Post like this:

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
Teotwawkiaiff text

originally posted by: XP100
XP100 text

That's what I mean by "un-nesting". You have to do something similar for nested ex-tags to show up, but this was changed on purpose so you won't get them to change it back.

By the way, next time you might want to just wait until you have the examples ready to start the thread...you have some good examples here but it was very difficult to guess what you were talking about without them.

a reply to: Arbitrageur

Thanks for "debugging" for me! As I said I was out the door (I did not realize how late it had gotten) and did not have the time to sit down and do it myself. I apologize for not providing samples at the time of posting. I know there are people more than willing to help out (thanks to all for all the replies) and I held up investigation by not doing so.

After some reading...

•Not all nesting combinations work, so you will have to see which ones do through trial and error.

ATS link - A Guide to BBCode on ATS

You cannot use "ex" inside "quote" BBCodes. That makes the "ex" stuff disappear! I guess I just stumbled across that one and kind of freaked out.

Thanks Arbitrageur for explaining why it happened and how one might work around it. And for the 21st space "feature"!

In the end, a lesson for all:

Relax! first of all. There may be a perfectly good reason for what you are seeing.

And most importantly, in the rush to post issues do not do a drive-by posting because there are wonderful people here who are willing to investigate issues with you. And you need that question-response conversation to happen for a proper investigation.

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
Here is the ATS post - Has the great flow battery battle started. I was trying to put the Wikipedia link inside parens.

You have bad bbcode.

This is what you wrote:

[u‍rl=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc%E2%80%93air_battery[/url] Wikipeida - Zinc-air battery[/url]

You can see you have two [/url] tags, so that would never work.

It should have been:

[u‍rl=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc%E2%80%93air_battery] Wikipeida - Zinc-air battery[/url]

I corrected the link on that thread.

PS: you misspelled Wikipedia.

a reply to: ArMaP

A big "D'oh" for me! Better make it a double!

And for you...

and

And a "thanks"