Getting Started > Technical Support/Testing
F.A.Q. : Posting
Sylvia:
Smileys can be useful for conveying extra emotion in your post where the written language sometimes isn't enough. Click on the smiley you feel best reflects the mood of what you have written or, in the case of when you are replying to another member's quote, whatever you are responding to. Take extra care when using the "Roll Eyes" smiley (::))in response to another member's comments, as it may be taken as sarcasm by other readers even if that is not your intention. :(
At the time of writing this FAQ, there are 40 set smileys included on the PlaymoFriends forum! 24 of these can easily be seen on the "Post Reply" screen below the BBC tags and above the area you type your message. To see the "hidden" ones, just click the blue [more] link to the right of the final smiley and they will pop up in a new window.
(see faq_more_smileys.jpg)
The codes for the smileys are usually made from a pair or short string of characters. Sometimes they are represented by a word between 2 colons. When you post, these codes get automatically translated into images.
For example, these codes:
--- Code: --- 8} :wave:
--- End code ---
Will make these appear in your post:
8} :wave:
Please note that not all of the smiley codes will be correctly parsed and converted to images unless their opening spaces are present. If part of the code is accidentally deleted or moved, they will also fail to work. Using the Preview function will help you to check that your smileys are all working before you send your post and give you the opportunity to fix any that aren't. ;)
If you simply can't find the right smiley on the "Post Reply" screen for the situation you find yourself in, it is also possible to insert smileys from other websites into your post by linking directly to them using the Image button in the BBC tags . The URL of the smiley image needs to be placed between the Image tags in order for this method to work.
For example, this code:
--- Code: ---[img]http://bestsmileys.com/love2/16.gif[/img]
--- End code ---
Will make one of these appear in your post!
Sylvia:
These are the tags which generate specific codes by clicking the special buttons in the "Post Reply" screen. The text ones can be very handy for when you need to emphasise words (eg. in bold, italic, underline, etc), or you can use them simply to make your post stand out on the page by giving it a different look to the default style.
There are 2 easy ways to use the tags:
1) Click the button to insert the code in the message area and then type your text between the 2 tags. Take care not to accidentally change the code belonging to the tags as they will not work properly if you do.
or
2) You can apply the tags to text after you have written it (but before posting, of course ;)). Simply use your mouse to highlight the text you wish to change in the message screen and then click on the appropriate BBC button. The code will automatically surround the highlighted text.
It is also possible to nest some of the BBC tags inside one another for added effect.
For example, this code:
--- Code: ---[color=purple][font=Arial][size=24pt][b]Extra large, bold and purple text in Arial font[/b][/size][/font][/color]
--- End code ---
Produces type like this:
Extra large, bold and purple text in Arial font
Note that each "opening" tag:
--- Code: ---[b]
--- End code ---
also has a matching "closing" tag with a forward slash:
--- Code: ---[/b]
--- End code ---
which appears after the text you are inputting. The code will not work correctly if part of a tag is missing or incomplete. All it takes is for one square bracket to be absent or incorrectly placed and the effect will be ruined.
A good way to avoid mistakes like this is to Preview your post before submitting it. Then you can look for possible errors in the code and correct them. :)
Sylvia:
The default text for this forum is black 10pt Verdana.
It can be fun sometimes to use different coloured text and different fonts styles or sizes when posting. This can be done easily by using the options availiable in the drop down menus titled Change Colour, Font Face and Font Size on the "Post Reply" screen.
Use your mouse to highlight the text you wish to change in the message box and then choose the effect from the BBC tags by clicking on it. If you want to add more than one effect to the same piece of text, highlight the whole section again (including the new code tags you just added) and click another of the options.
An example of nested colour, font face and size tags can be found in the post above this.
You can vary the font size from the options offered by changing the point size inside the tags.
These are a couple of the set sizes in the menu:
--- Code: ---[size=16pt]This is large text[/size]
--- End code ---
This is large text
--- Code: ---[size=24pt]This is extra large text[/size]
--- End code ---
This is extra large text
To make text in a font size that is between the 2 above, simply change the number given after the = symbol, like so:
--- Code: ---[size=20pt]This is text between those 2 sizes[/size]
--- End code ---
This is text between those 2 sizes
Sylvia:
If you want to create a neat link which doesn't look like a long string of messy characters, you can do this very easily by using the hyperlink button and making a slight adjustment to the code.
For a standard link, the code would appear like this:
--- Code: ---[url]http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/[/url]
--- End code ---
http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/
Note how the word url is enclosed in square brackets at either side of the linking address, and a forward slash is used to "turn off" the code in the final bracket.
To make an alternate text link, we need to extend the information within the first bracket by adding an equals sign = and pasting in the required web-page address immediately after it with no spaces. The word/s which are to replace the url are then typed in between this new code. (Do not delete any of the square brackets which surround the code, as these are necessary for it to work correctly.)
--- Code: ---[url=http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/]The fun forum for Playmobil® fans of all ages![/url]
--- End code ---
The fun forum for Playmobil® fans of all ages!
All hyperlinks on this site follow a basic style of blue text without any underline. Because of this they can be easily overlooked by the newer forum users. For that reason it is good practise to "announce" your link in your post (eg. click this for more info, etc). If your post doesn't allow for this and you wish your text link to be contained within another sentence, a good alternative is to either bold the text you use or place it inside a pair of square brackets which will help draw the reader's attention.
Here are examples showing the code required for the 2 different styles:
--- Code: ---[url=http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/][b]The fun forum for Playmobil® fans of all ages![/b][/url]
--- End code ---
The fun forum for Playmobil® fans of all ages!
--- Code: ---[url=http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/][The fun forum for Playmobil® fans of all ages!][/url]
--- End code ---
[The fun forum for Playmobil® fans of all ages!]
Sylvia:
Embedding an image in a post which acts as a hyperlink is also possible with a little clever nesting of the BBC tags.
First use the Image button and input the URL of your image between the tags. This is not the URL of the web page it's placed on, it's the actual server location of the image only. (Look for the .jpg or .gif file extension, not .html.) You can usually get the exact address of a web image by right clicking on it and looking at its "Properties" (in I.E.)
This code:
--- Code: ---[img]http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/Themes/playmo/images/on.gif[/img]
--- End code ---
produces this:
To make your image link to another web page when clicked, simply use your mouse to highlight the entire string of image code when in the reply screen, and click on the hyperlink button.
The rest of the method is quite similar to the one used when making an alternate text link, as once again you need to extend the first part of the code by including the URL of the page you want the image to link to. (See detailed instructions in post above.)
The resulting code will look something like this in your message screen:
--- Code: ---[url=www.playmofriends.com/forum/][img]http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/Themes/playmo/images/on.gif[/img][/url]
--- End code ---
And once posted, it magically becomes a hyperlink!
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