I totally agree--the box around the text says it's a quote--from Rudy. So, although the added text might be bolded, blue, red, green, or whatever--if a person responding adds their own text inside the quote box, then it requires far too much concentration to figure out if the highlighted text is highlighted because the person responding added it, or are trying to emphasize what the quoted person said, or...who knows what.

As much time as I spend on this board, I'm getting to the point that I get a headache trying to figure out who's on first with all this over-quoting, bolding & coloring of text, so I just give up, stop reading, and certainly don't respond--to many posts.

 

I totally agree--the box around the text says it's a quote--from Rudy. So, although the added text might be bolded, blue, red, green, or whatever--if a person responding adds their own text inside the quote box, then it requires far too much concentration to figure out if the highlighted text is highlighted because the person responding added it, or are trying to emphasize what the quoted person said, or...who knows what.

As much time as I spend on this board, I'm getting to the point that I get a headache trying to figure out who's on first with all this over-quoting, bolding & coloring of text, so I just give up, stop reading, and certainly don't respond--to many posts.
[/quote]So, this idea should handle the issue, right?

"I quess I could copy what I want to reply to very directly beneath the quote box and then insert my replies as needed. In this regard, I follow the above procedure when I want to be very clear about my replies to what has been said. I have noticed that many times individuals do a poor job of replying if not focused very precisely on what they are replying to."

 

I'm glad I was not the only one who noticed this issue. Hopefully we'll see less unnecessary quotes.

 

Znod, with all due respect, your posts are the most confusing I've read on this board.

This one above, in particular, still isn't clear after all of the "coaching" you're getting from us.

With regard to the board software, you claimed that you "can't quite go with the idea of always conforming to the way something was designed to be used" but in this case, the software has plenty of options to allow for clear and precise posting -- why not give it a try? Is there some specific feature that you need help with or are you simply choosing not to utilize the tools that are available to you?

Again, I'm not trying to blast you here but I've got to be honest -- lately, I've pretty much stopped reading your posts because if I can't easily figure out what you're saying, I generally choose to just move on and spend my time reading something that makes sense...

 

I'll do it. But, is there anything wrong with using the idea I mentioned earlier and most recently in my reply to Stream? That method would be completely consistent with the software's design. I understand the tools or at least to the extent that I need to. I also would not read posts if I can't figure out what someone is saying. I'll make sure that the reason is not from failing to conform to the forum software.

 

What's the purpose of the quote anyways, and how would you use it? Replying and quoting smells the same to me. I click quote turns red wit a negative then what?

 

And, another bothersome problem with quoting is not removing all the attachments--so that photos don't appear again and again.

 

Znod, I'm not sure exactly what you meant in yoiur reply to stream. I'm sure you're on the right track and I appreciate your willingness to help us all out. Probably the best advice I can give right now is to observe how some of the "veterans" here post replies and see if that's what you're doing. I realize that playing with the underlying codes that the software uses can be tricky but with some practice, it's not too hard to figure out.

I think one more bit of advice that I'd give (to all, not just Znod), is to take a look at your posts after you've submitted them. If something isn't right, go back in and edit it. I often have to do that after I've monkeyed around with the quotes -- it's really no big deal to fix and the result is a forum that can be read well into the future and still make sense.

Thanks everyone for understanding these rantings! I'm glad Busta brought it up because I've been "sitting on my hands" about this for some time now... (can you imagine having such a peaceful discussion like this over on RF? )

 

There are a couple ways to automatically quote something:

The button marked "Quote" which turns red with the negative sign is used to "flag" a post for quoting. You would only really need to use this feature if you want to quote more than one reply in your post. For example, if I wanted to reply to two or three posts in a thread, I'd press the quote button on each post (turning them all red) then I'd use the "add reply" button at the bottom of the page to continue. I'll then have a reply box with all of the posts I'm replying to already set with the proper quote codes in place. From there, I can place my reply between the quotes so my text doesn't appear to be part of the quote.

The other way to quote, when you're only interested in quoting one post, is to use the "reply" button (right next to the quote button described above). That will present you with a reply box and the post you're repling to setup properly.

Once you become familiar with the codes, etc. (help on the BB codes is here), you can certainly make adjustments to what's quoted automatically to strip out anything that may be unnecessary, etc.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, you can always just add a reply without quoting anyone by simply pressing the "add reply" button at the bottom of the page or simply using the "fast reply" box.

Znod, I'm not sure exactly what you meant in yoiur reply to stream. I'm sure you're on the right track and I appreciate your willingness to help us all out. Probably the best advice I can give right now is to observe how some of the "veterans" here post replies and see if that's what you're doing. I realize that playing with the underlying codes that the software uses can be tricky but with some practice, it's not too hard to figure out.

I think one more bit of advice that I'd give (to all, not just Znod), is to take a look at your posts after you've submitted them. If something isn't right, go back in and edit it. I often have to do that after I've monkeyed around with the quotes -- it's really no big deal to fix and the result is a forum that can be read well into the future and still make sense.

Thanks everyone for understanding these rantings! I'm glad Busta brought it up because I've been "sitting on my hands" about this for some time now... (can you imagine having such a peaceful discussion like this over on RF? )
[/quote]
Here is what I mean.

You said:
"Znod, I'm not sure exactly what you meant in yoiur reply to stream. I'm sure you're on the right track and I appreciate your willingness to help us all out. Probably the best advice I can give right now is to observe how some of the "veterans" here post replies and see if that's what you're doing. I realize that playing with the underlying codes that the software uses can be tricky but with some practice, it's not too hard to figure out."

I am not sure why you think I am having trouble with the software. I'm not.

You said:
"I think one more bit of advice that I'd give (to all, not just Znod), is to take a look at your posts after you've submitted them. If something isn't right, go back in and edit it. I often have to do that after I've monkeyed around with the quotes -- it's really no big deal to fix and the result is a forum that can be read well into the future and still make sense."

I always fix the quotes--since I became a member. I even fix the quotes others have messed up. And, I guarantee that I am the most careful editor of my own posts on the forum.

You said:
Thanks everyone for understanding these rantings! I'm glad Busta brought it up because I've been "sitting on my hands" about this for some time now... (can you imagine having such a peaceful discussion like this over on RF? nono.gif ) thumbsup.gif

You are very welcome.

 

And with all respect...
The above post is just one of those I am not reading anymore.

A LONG quote of a WHOLE post, then different colors...



I am 100 % with Rudy.

The board software is very easy to use. If everybody would just use it the way it is meant... and please wipe out the stuff in quotes that you are not replieing to...