Does Ecomodder forum software always eats extra spaces? (Tables in posts)

[TestDrive]

Attempts to input tabular data always result in the forum software eating tabs and extra spaces. Is there a decent work-a-round?

What forum software package is being used here at Ecomodder?

Thanks

[cfg83]

TestDrive -

I don't know the software version, but this seems to be universal across a lot of forum software.

When I have this problem, I used the "CODE" option. This is the "#" icon in the advanced posting mode. For example :

This is the first line without leading spaces
 This is the second line with ONE leading space
  3rd line with 2 leading spaces
   4th line with 3 leading spaces
    5th line with 4 leading spaces
     6th line with 5 leading spaces

Here is what the above looks like in the edit box :



I can't see where to simulate tabs. When I want to format something nice, I work it all out in Notepad (or equivalent) with a Fixed Width Font like Courier. While in Notepad I remove the tabs. Then I copy/paste it into the edit box between the CODE markers.

Kind of cumbersome, I know, but also "smart" in the situation where the weblink goes bad (wifi signal lost, DSL connection hosed, gremlins and assorted computer voodoo). For a complicated post, it's best to have the original "in process" in Notepad. Saves your bacon from having to retype everything.

CarloSW2

[TestDrive]

Thanks. That gets the job done.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by Bottom of any page on this site.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.0

I always just preceed everything with a series of dots.

....Like this.
......Except
........When
...........I
..............Do
...............IT
.................You
....................Can't
.......................See
.........................Those
.............................Dots.



You can quickly color the dots after the first set by clicking on the "A" directly (color selection) instead of the drop-down menu arrow to the right of it in the quick post box OR in the main Post Reply screen.

I started using dots a long time ago b/c they're unobtrusive, easy to ignore, and keep whatever formatting you've set for ANY text software, including notepad, which doesn't accept text formatting.

So even if the dots aren't colored identical to the background, it's easy for people to ignore them.

[cfg83]

Christ -

Neat trick. TestDrive, here is what it looks like :




CarloSW2

[Christ]

LOL. I can take full credit for it too, I used to do it in school so I didn't have to pay attention to all the coding necessary for formatting certain things.

Just remember that not all forums use a white background, some have cyan and other colors. So you have to play with screen grabs in MSPaint to grab the colors until you figure out the hexadecimal code for it, so they're camo'd.

"Poke and hope" usually fares well too.

Also, if you highlight the "blank" areas, you can see the text there (dots).

This has actually become a method of hiding keywords in emails and searchables, and has also become a way to help spammers do their job.

Pikac... erm. cfg83 - Thanks for replying the code, I forgot that part.

[i_am_socket]

This

works

too.

It would be nice to have table support though.

[MetroMPG]

HTML is off for security reasons, but I could create BBCODE entries to make basic tables, if people want.

So you would use them like this:

one
two

[TestDrive]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I could create BBCODE entries to make basic tables, if people want.

I want.

[MetroMPG]

You can now make basic tables.

{table}{tr}{td}1{/td}{td}2{/td}{/tr}{tr}{td}3{/td}{td}4{/td}{/tr}{/table}

(using square brackets, not the curly ones) gets you...

1	2
3	4

But if you try to format the BBCODE nicely, it puts line breaks into the table as well in some browsers (FF, not IE), eg:

{table}
{tr}{td}1{/td}{td}2{/td}{/tr}
{tr}{td}3{/td}{td}4{/td}{/tr}
{/table}

gets you...

1	2
3	4