I've made a new plugin that will hyperlink usernames in posts when inserted in a certain way.

eg Just typing the username will post it as plain text, but [ RedRum ] would hyperlink it to my profile.

I added in the spaces so it didn't get confused with ordinary tags like [code] etc.

It will not hyperlink unknown usernames so you could do:

[ RedRum ] bla bla [ OSDASD ] bla [ Jagerman ]

....and only RedRum and Jagerman would hyperlink.

Attached is the plugin, I'll see if I can get Alex to add it to their server (again )

Demo site:

http://213.106.15.150/...bin/forum/gforum.cgi

This was requested by perlguru.com but Jasmine won't mind me sharing it (I hope) as it is a free plugin.

Hm, seems a bit useless to me. A bit confusing, huh? Wouldn't it be better to have [user "wil"]click here for wils profile[/user] so it follows the rules of other tags? continuity goes a long way with me.

- wil

Wil, please read my post thoroughly.


I made it to the specification of perlguru's request which was for a [ Username ] style tag.

If you don't like the way it is done you can always go and write your own version.

I love the [username] ability just because it's become second nature to do it on [url=http://perlmonks.org]perlmonks[/url]. There are a few users and moderators who hang out both perlmonks and perlguru, so it'll be easy for us to go back and forth -- everyone else don't have to use it if they don't want to. Most won't even know that the capability exists -- who really looks at the markup help page, especially when using the Advanced Editor? I've also made sure that there weren't any posts that used a [ whatever ] syntax before installing the plugin.

Quote:

Jasmine won't mind me sharing it (I hope) as it is a free plugin

Of course I don't mind.

Jasmine

On a related note, I've overhauled the markup conversion so that you can now use $1 in the value of a markup tag. For example, define the markup tag "foo" with a value:

foo$1bar

When it is displayed, [foo "asdf"] will result in: fooasdfbar.

I'm still working out what to do if no argument is specified...

Perhaps it would only happen if you create a tag named 'foo$' - that way you could define [foo] and [foo argument] to do different things.

This ought to make markup extensions easier.

---

Jason Rhinelander
Gossamer Threads
jason@gossamer-threads.com

Yeah, and it would be nice to set a standard. That is, any tag that takes an argument should have a set standard of [foo "bar"] and not just [ bar ]. Ugh.

- wil

All good programs should always offer a variety of means to accomplish a task. This way, the end user can select the method that feels most comfortable to them.

I like the flexibility of using either the [ foo "bar" ] or [ bar ] syntax. Anyone who feels more comfortable with [ foo "bar" ] can use it. Others who prefer fewer keystrokes can use [ bar ] and it will work the same way.

TSABMTOWTDI - there should always be more than one way to do it.

Now thats what I call an abreviation

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

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You've not heard of TIMTOWTDI ?

Quote:

I'm still working out what to do if no argument is specified...

It may be an idea to do nothing visible and/or insert an html comment with "unknown markup fooasdfbar".

Sort of Off-Topic: I have a little pet peeve when "Unknown Markup" is displayed on the page (because I'm usually updating the site while it's live) though I know that any typo resulting in that error is 100% my fault. A comment instead of displaying the error would be kinder on my sanity

Jasmine, just looking at your site. You realise the 'Thanks to Gossamer Threads' etc part at the top is now just appearing as a compressed bordered table? May wanna have a look

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

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Hehe I just posted a message saying that at perlguru

Lol. I've also noticed a few other things that really need sorting out. I've PMed them to Jasmine though at this forum, as I can't log in at Perl Guru (on of the problems)

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

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Yes, I realize that -- I was testing AdvertPRO on the site, and it wasn't working properly (it was displaying the raw html instead of parsing the html). I'm waiting on the AdvertPRO plugin for Gossamer Forum, which I was told would probably be delivered by the end of this week.

In the future, could you please send me private messages about things like this (as you previously have) instead of posting it on GT's forum? Or if you prefer, please post it at our forums instead -- guest posting is permitted in the feedback forum.

I'd rather not clutter Gossamer's forums with issues not relating to their site or programs.

Why PM at all if you're going to say it here?

As noted in my PM reply, I haven't done anything with the lost_password templates and I can't reproduce the error you described "Home: An error occurred No such action 'GForum::User'". I've also had several other people log out, attempt to retrieve their lost password, and they didn't receive the error you noted, either.

I'm eager to determine the cause of the problem you're experiencing and solve it, but I'd rather discuss it in PM's, please.

In case anyone's following this portion of the thread, the lost_password error was avoided by starting from the home page, clicking "Log In", then clicking "Lost Password?". I've posted a possible bug report here.

Well, I'm just a frim beliver in _consitencey_. All tags should follow the same rules, as to not confuse the end user and to make it much easier to develop new tags without the fear of breaking old ones. We must strict guidelines on these kind of things.

- wil

Consistency is very good -- but it can be broken if there's a specific need to, or if you can explain why you want to break it. It is broken in this case because I specifically wanted it broken. I always liked the [ username ] syntax, and wanted to emulate it on our site. RedRum generously wrote the plugin at my request, and even more generously, made it available for anyone who also wanted the same functionality.

Of course, anyone who chooses to break consistency must go into it knowing that new additions or modifications need to be carefully monitored. That's simply part of doing something out of the norm.

The purpose of Plugins are to facilitate installation of new GT and user-created features. They're not mandatory installations, -- anyone who doesn't agree with the philosophy of the plugin, or prefers to maintain consistency on their own board, can simply choose to not install it

Yes, I totally agree with RedRum creating the plugin for your website tailored to your specific needs. That's fine. But, my point is, the plugin should not be made available on the GT website and through the Admin module of the Gossamer Forum software to the masses unless it follows strict guidelines. Therefore, the plugin should of been tweaked before mass distribution.

- wil