Asking for some editing behavior changes. (Selective Quoting)

[flacaltenn]

Mod staff has been working with the IT consultants to find a FIX for the mile long quotes you get when folks JUST use the big static "reply" button at the bottom of every post next to the "post rating - like" button.. Quotes stack up pretty quickly if EVERYBODY does it that way in a thread.. IMO and opinion of others, there SHOULD BE a "depth of quotes" setting in the newest version of Xenforo, but at their USER forum, there's no clear guidance on FINDING IT or using it...

So we have an outbreak of "infectious quoting" goin on here, and mod staff is ASKING you to learn to use the "selective quoting" options in the interim to practice "quote distancing" from each other..

Here's the quick start version of the tip.. Might be difficult or even impossible on MOBILE -- but if it IS -- you guys get a pass while everyone helps to "break up the spread"...

1) Instead of just pounding the big REPLY button, go to the material content you want to quote and HIGHLIGHT only the material YOU WANT to respond to..
2) When you're done highlighting, a little drop down panel will pop up at the lower right of the material you quoted. There are 2 buttons of choice.. One is "reply" the other is "+quote"... Let's deal only with the "reply" option and the "+quote:" can be for the grad level class or for you to experiment with..
3) When you choose the "reply" from the highlighted material it goes into your editing box -- ready for you to respond. Respond to THAT material..
4) You can REPEAT this again for a 2nd Part of the material you want to respond to.. Just go back to the post you're quoting from and highlight ANOTHER "chunk of wisdom" you want to comment on.. MAKE SURE your CURSOR in the editing box is at the END of where you were typing a response BEFORE you hit the drop down reply and send it to the edit box.. You can FIX the position of these "additional quotes" if it ends up in the wrong place...
5) Not only can use this selective quoting for responding to ONE older post at a time, YOU COULD drop sections of OTHER member quotes into the same reply if you wanted to.. I don't advise that because you might confuse members as to WHOM you're trolling at the moment.. LOL....

We will be pulling some strings on Xenforo for a REAL answer.. But in the meantime, you'll help make USMB more readable and also cut down on the #of Post Alerts you're receiving from threads you left DAYS before...

Thanks and Stay Well

 

[Pogo]

I'm Pogo and I wish I were allowed to approve of this message.

Another way to cut down the incessant nesting. and keep some context afloat, is to quote the whole thing, then delete all the "[user xxx said]s from the top and an equal number of "/quote"s from the bottom so that you end up with the last two or three relevant quotes. The problem with selective quoting as described above is that it (SOMETIMES) excises the quotes that define what was being talked about.

 

[flacaltenn]

By the way... There is a rule in the Posting Guidelines on our Home Page, that when QUOTING a member --- you CANNOT shorten the quote in a manner that changes the INTENT of the poster you are quoting.. SO -- if you're adapting to this "selective quoting" technique, give a FAIR REPRESENTATION of what the member was asserting.. In a way that DOESN'T give a "cable network news" type of quote that is OUT OF CONTEXT...

 

[jwoodie]

It would also help if we had better response options than the inane "Like" emoticons.

 

[Sunsettommy]

Xenforo might have a plug in (add-on) to control the nesting effect?

LINK

===

My FREE software has a setting in the admin board for it:

Maximum Nested Quote Tags

The maximum depth level for quote tags. When quote-replying to a post, all nested quotes which exceed this threshold are automatically removed. Note that this value is only enforced when quote-replying - it is still possible to manually enter quotes to exceed this limit, and this setting will not affect posts already submitted. Set to 0 to disable.

Currently set at 5, anything over it is automatically stopped.

 

[ReinyDays]

I've been deleting the nested quotes ... easy peasy ...

 

[flacaltenn]

I'm Pogo and I wish I were allowed to approve of this message.

Another way to cut down the incessant nesting. and keep some context afloat, is to quote the whole thing, then delete all the "[user xxx said]s from the top and an equal number of "/quote"s from the bottom so that you end up with the last two or three relevant quotes. The problem with selective quoting as described above is that it (SOMETIMES) excises the quotes that define what was being talked about.

I would recommend that to ONLY folks who WANT to dissect one of these "mile long" nested quotes. It gets quite tangled because they aren't ALWAYS perfectly nested.. In fact, you're EDITING a script that might itself be a "1/2" mile long of BB code and if you BLOW a parenthesis or lose or misplace an END quote -- you're gonna get garbage..

If you can SURGICALLY remove only the post you're responding to without a lot of cussing and frustration -- GO FOR IT...

But I find "breaking up a response" with selective quoting to be MORE valuable by itself in responding to LONG posts...

 

[Dick Foster]

While they're in there I wish they could maye do something for android tablet users. The message editor fights you tooth and nail and its frustrating as hell. Its a struggle to keep the editor window where your trying to compose it edit a message. Before you know it you're off in the weeds somewhere and lost. If nothing else a last place I was button or something would help recover you place at least. It's a true pain and the staff should work the site with a tablet so they can see just how aggravating it is. Good practice is to actually use all platforms with new software versions. to verify proper functionality before general release.

 

[flacaltenn]

Xenforo might have a plug in (add-on) to control the nesting effect?

LINK

Yeah.. Folks are doing that too to "FIX" the fact that Xenforo is gonna issue a "post alert" on EVERYTHING -- EVERY TIME -- any one replies to a mile long quote nest.. I find it weird and not elegant to have to PATCH a monster like this with 10 or 12 little "3rd party fixes".. But that's just my engineering judgement on how much CRAP were dealing with in some of those larger S/Ware programs..

AND how many DEFECTS the public has ALLOWED to be tolerated in S/ware of ANY KIND lately... I dont MIND doing this on my own for SHAREWARE, but if I'm paying the big bucks for subscriptions or "cloud service" -- I really want service and support for my money..

Am i getting old? Or is it "principles"????

 

[Pogo]

I'm Pogo and I wish I were allowed to approve of this message.

Another way to cut down the incessant nesting. and keep some context afloat, is to quote the whole thing, then delete all the "[user xxx said]s from the top and an equal number of "/quote"s from the bottom so that you end up with the last two or three relevant quotes. The problem with selective quoting as described above is that it (SOMETIMES) excises the quotes that define what was being talked about.

I would recommend that to ONLY folks who WANT to dissect one of these "mile long" nested quotes. It gets quite tangled because they aren't ALWAYS perfectly nested.. In fact, you're EDITING a script that might itself be a "1/2" mile long of BB code and if you BLOW a parenthesis or lose or misplace an END quote -- you're gonna get garbage..

If you can SURGICALLY remove only the post you're responding to without a lot of cussing and frustration -- GO FOR IT...

But I find "breaking up a response" with selective quoting to be MORE valuable by itself in responding to LONG posts...

But if you miss a bracket or a poster's name, it quickly shows up and can be repaired.

I like the surgical approach. Scorpio Rising yanno. It renders more background to what the point is all about. Not always necessary if the last quote alone makes the point, to be sure, but when it is, it works.

Another approach I've done is when I get 183 notifications because a couple of other wags are flaming each other on a quote I was in 74 posts ago, I'll go in there and hit reply and cut out all the extraneous gobbidge. When FlameFest resumes they'll be carrying a lighter load (and be utterly oblivious to it, you're welcome). Of course it's THEY who should be doing that though.

These approaches I'll be the first to agree are not for everyone, since they require actually reading the material.

 

[flacaltenn]

It would also help if we had better response options than the inane "Like" emoticons.

That's being done RIGHT NOW.. THe hang-up seems to be choosing the cutesy icons for the post rating buttons.. LOL... But Mod Staff submitted the NEW list of post ratings about 3 or 4 days ago...

And Yeah -- "likes and dislikes" are insane for a Discussion board. Because one can LIKE something that's utter BS or DISLIKE something that is simple common knowledge.. Hope our ratings will say more about the CONTENT, than the EMOTIONS...

 

[Sunsettommy]

Xenforo might have a plug in (add-on) to control the nesting effect?

LINK

Yeah.. Folks are doing that too to "FIX" the fact that Xenforo is gonna issue a "post alert" on EVERYTHING -- EVERY TIME -- any one replies to a mile long quote nest.. I find it weird and not elegant to have to PATCH a monster like this with 10 or 12 little "3rd party fixes".. But that's just my engineering judgement on how much CRAP were dealing with in some of those larger S/Ware programs..

AND how many DEFECTS the public has ALLOWED to be tolerated in S/ware of ANY KIND lately...

Am i getting old? Or is it "principles"????

No you are trapped by an unnecessary software that cost a lot of money (Yearly purchase software expense), it make sense ONLY if there was dedicated blogging, commercial, or similar set ups that seeks a viable income stream.

But this is a DEBATE forum set up, which a number of FREE, FREE, FREE forum software's out there can easily handle, I prefer myBB, but there are a few others that can fit the bill. Can still get a small income stream with large traffic flow, that could cover the yearly server cost.

 

[flacaltenn]

But if you miss a bracket or a poster's name, it quickly shows up and can be repaired.

I like the surgical approach. Scorpio Rising yanno. It renders more background to what the point is all about. Not always necessary if the last quote alone makes the point, to be sure, but when it is, it works.

Well if it slows ya down a bit, I'm ALL in favor of it... The editing problems come in when this mile long chain of "vital information" is a MIX of "bulk quoting" and "selective quoting".. Those selective quote segments change the ball game of just counting the number of "endquotes" ya gotta have..

 

[Damaged Eagle]

What???


I like layers! Especially if we're talking about...

*****CHUCKLE*****

 

[rightwinger]

We will be pulling some strings on Xenforo for a REAL answer.. But in the meantime, you'll help make USMB more readable and also cut down on the #of Post Alerts you're receiving from threads you left DAYS

Works

 

[OldLady]

I have no idea what anyone is talking about EXCEPT for POST #1. Thank you FCT, I can follow those instructions.
And I THINK, Pogo, not sure, that if you hit the quote box in the response, it takes you back to the post where that quote was so you can peruse context and previous/following posts.

 

[Pogo]

I have no idea what anyone is talking about EXCEPT for POST #1. Thank you FCT, I can follow those instructions.
And I THINK, Pogo, not sure, that if you hit the quote box in the response, it takes you back to the post where that quote was so you can peruse context and previous/following posts.

Let's try it. Random uncontexted quote phrase from above:

is a MIX of "bulk quoting" and "selective quoting"

Yep, it does.
Onliest thing I don't like about that method is that it requires the reader to make that click. If they don't, perhaps assuming what's on the page is all there is that's pertinent (and that WILL be set up that way by the deceitful), then they'll never get the full context.

 

[flacaltenn]

Onliest thing I don't like about that method is that it requires the reader to make that click.

If ya think about it.. THe way MOST people post is STARING at THE post they want to respond to.. You either got an alert on that post and WENT to it -- or you're reading thru a thread and just get ITCHY to reply to a post right in front of you...

Don't know many people who go back to posts from "quote nest" by navigating that way...

Except for mods trying to find ALL the naughty people who are mucking up a thread...

 

[sparky]

I'm an idiot with this thing, and just don't get it.......~S~

 

[Pogo]

Onliest thing I don't like about that method is that it requires the reader to make that click.

If ya think about it.. THe way MOST people post is STARING at THE post they want to respond to.. You either got an alert on that post and WENT to it -- or you're reading thru a thread and just get ITCHY to reply to a post right in front of you...

Don't know many people who go back to posts from "quote nest" by navigating that way...

Except for mods trying to find ALL the naughty people who are mucking up a thread...

Don't know where you're going with that, but what I'm saying is --- dishonest posters will, and already do, quote a snippet out of its context, deliberately NOT quoting (which is the same as editing out) previous context that mitigates or qualifies that line they just quoted, in order to falsify the other person's point.