Formatting on the Forums

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

<abbr> is specifically designed for expanding abbreviations and acronyms. Not for displaying random, unrelated messages on mouseover.

Actually, I used <abbr> 1) because I used it on MyOpera and 2) because it's inline - unlike <p>
In fact, I use not a tag - but a specific attribute (quite universal as it can appear) that can be put wherever you want (providing it's a displayed element).
Tooltips are funny and cheerful. The con here against MyOpera is that such elements do not differ from other content, while MyOpera's [abbr] was highlighted somehow - underdotted or like that*:)*

[ruario]

ruario last edited by

That does not change the fact that it is technically wrong. abbr = abbreviation. That is its only purpose, to mark acronyms or abbreviations in your text. The title attribute is there to expand to their meaning. Marking other snippets of text (which are not acronyms or abbreviations) with this tag is incorrect usage. Using the title attribute to expand to something other than the meaning is also incorrect usage.

Nobody is going to stop you of course but it is invalid HTML to do what you are doing.

Tooltips are funny and cheerful.

Or pointless and annoying (when used incorrectly), depending on your viewpoint of course.

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

That does not change the fact that it is technically wrong. abbr = abbreviation. That is its only purpose, to mark acronyms or abbreviations in your text. The title attribute is there to expand to their meaning. Marking other snippets of text (which are not acronyms or abbreviations) with this tag is incorrect usage. Using the title attribute to expand to something other than the meaning is also incorrect usage.

Using the word "title" for that purpose is technically wrong.:lol:

Relax - it works and is no trouble.
If YOU personally wish, I could try using the inline quoting tag instead.
<hr>

[ruario]

ruario last edited by

Ok, I have no idea what you are trying to say anymore.

In any case, you can (and no doubt will) do whatever you like.

[christoph142]

christoph142 last edited by

Ok, I have no idea what you are trying to say anymore.

I've been there some time ago, Ruarí, don't worry :drunk:

[linuxmint7]

linuxmint7 last edited by

Ruarí, don't worry

You're not the only one.

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

...I could try using the inline quoting tag instead.

Well, let me try:

<q title="Afternoon, guys!"></q>

It works perfectly well with "<q>", Ruario*:happy:*

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

Well, I accessed the forums with another Firefox of mine (4.0), and once it seemed I couldn't see a "throughline" made by <hr>.
Let me try it out:

---

⇧That was Markdown, dashes.

---

⇧That was Markdown, underscores.

<hr>

⇧That was <hr>.

Well, it seems to work, only that I included that "<hr>" within another HTML element, so that's possibly why.
(For Ruario: yes, I tried to "make <abbr>" out of <hr>)

[ruario]

ruario last edited by

Why do you always start you --- lines with >, so that they become quoted? You really don't need to do that.

Are you just trying to indent the <hr>? What is this, the early 90's where we use random tags to try and enforce styling?

You realise that will likely look very broken if we change the CSS on these forums again?

I'd use tags for what they intended, rather than trying to hack a style that happens to work right now but could look weird in the future.

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

..., so that they become quoted? You really don't need to do that.

Always?
<abbr title="Where ALWAYS?">Where?</abbr>

---

You realise that will likely look very broken if we change the CSS on these forums again?

I don't mind you either changing it or not - the thread is about the current formatting now and will always be about the (then) current formatting.
And I doubt you can (will) change it so that proper HTML might stop working*:P*

---

I'd use tags for what they intended, rather than trying to hack a style that happens to work right now but could look weird in the future.

1. I don't mind that - about some future.
2. I doubt if there'll be much changes: HTML5 is fairly new now; it's rather more possible (or might happen sooner) that these forums' rendering will change...[Oops! Embedding images here stopped working both ways! Both "![](link)" and "![](link)"]

[ruario]

ruario last edited by

Always? Where?

Ok, often then

And I doubt you can (will) change it so that proper HTML might stop working

No but quotes might get styled differently. So it will likely always remain readable but could look odd.

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

[Oops! Embedding images here stopped working both ways! Both "![](link)" and ...]

O'k, I'm gonna test that - in another thread (another board) a smilie from that same source behaved quite alright!

WORKS!
Why didn't it THEN!??

[ruario]

ruario last edited by

I edited you post for quick check and it worked for me—I have subsequently removed my test edit.

P.S. I see that your smilie's are once again quoted for unknown reasons.

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by admin

I see that your smilie's are once again quoted for unknown reasons.
>

Look, I don't know why you DON'T KNOW the [obvious] reason. I suggest you try, and this'll be your homework.
(If it's happening because you hold the quoting functionality ONLY literally, then simply try to forget it.)

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

(If it's happening because you hold the quoting functionality ONLY literally, then simply try to forget it.)

<p title="I realised that it may directly pertain to formatting - and it DOES.">A hint: there are quotation marks - what else are they used when not quoting anyone? Same here.

[ruario]

ruario last edited by

and this'll be your homework

Umm, OK.

You know what? Instead, I think I'll just skip responding to this thread or to you. Have fun with the formatting, I'm out.

[Deleted User]

Deleted User last edited by

A wise choice, ruario. I've pretty much given up responding in other threads as well but for different reasons.

[ruario]

ruario last edited by

…lists with paragraphs are broken.

Actually it seems you can do lists with paragraphs using two spaces at the end of the line to force a line break within the list, for example, this:

* **Pets:**  
  dogs  
  cats  
  hamsters
* **Wild animals:**  
  lions  
  tigers  
  bears

(Note: I have 2 spaces after "**Pets:**", "dogs", "cats", "**Wild animals:**", "lions" and "tigers").

That will display as:

• Pets:
  dogs
  cats
  hamsters
• Wild animals:
  lions
  tigers
  bears

I don't think you should have to do this if you follow the Markdown syntax page literally but it seems to be required with our implementation and at least provides a work around.

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

Well, let me check it out:

• Pets:
  dogs
  cats
  hamsters

• Wild animals:
  lions
  tigers
  bears

---

Yup. (By the way, after a "---" line you don't need a spare line to get a <hr> output.)
Now let me try another way:

• Pets:
  dogs
  cats
  hamsters

• Wild animals:
  lions
  tigers
  bears

Four spaces ("sub"lines) within a list don't seem to make any difference to the output.

[ruario]

ruario last edited by admin

By the way, after a "---" line you don't need a spare line to get a <hr> output.

You might not need to (right now) but you should. Doing so is according to spec and should therefore prevent future problems if we update or change our Markdown parser. I even suggested this in Formatting with Markdown under "Quick summary" → "Avoiding common problems".

• Add a blank line before and after paragraphs, lists, quotes or blocks of preformatted text.

In fact, putting extra lines before and after major elements sections (lists, quotes, blocks of pre-formatted text, line rules, etc.) is always a good idea. You can even put multiple if you like, they will not show as extras. It is better to be liberal with blank lines, unless you are working with lists.