When you make or edit a new post, you have some control over formatting and appearance of the content. This is done via the editor toolbar which you can see illustrated below.

In general to use the formatting functions you highlight the content that needs to be changed and click the relevent button. Other functions such as inserting a video work slightly differently and we'll talk about that briefly later.

When you use any of the forum editor controls, new text is autmatically inserted into the post. These bits of text are called "tags". You can also type the button-generated tags into the post yourself. Just make sure you get the syntax correct or the post may not turn out looking the way you wanted.

So let's take a look at the tags available from the editor toolbar.


Text Formatting
These controls are similar to a normal word processor. Highlight the text and click the formatting button, change the text size using the drop down box or change the colour by using the colour swatch. You can also change the alignment and create bulletted or numbered lists.
By the way, you can align images and videos using the alignment buttons too.


Spoiler and Hide
These buttons have a special function. The spoiler replaces the text with a clickable icon. Try it out for yourself by clicking on the "Warning Spoiler" text so you can read the rest of this section:



The "Hide" button will hide content from any viewers who aren't logged in to the site. For example there is a members-only message hidden on the next line:


Wrap in quote or code block
These actually create a formatted block of text. Again, highlight the content that needs to appear in the block and click the relevent button. For example:
and this is an example of code text

Insert Media and Links
When you click one of these buttons a new section opens up underneath the toolbar where you can enter the information needed. You can also adjust the width and height of the video as required. The best thing to do is simply try it out.


So, that's enough to get you started - have fun and happy posting!

Thanks Richard.

Now I'm beginning to understand what it's all about. Why do geeks use such weird language?

It seems a bit like that but it does sort of makes sense.

For example, if I was reviewing a movie I just saw at the cinema and wanted to make a comment about the ending, I could hide the comment in a spoiler.

That way only people who had seen the film need click on the spoiler and those that hadn't had the pleasure would not have their enjoyment "spoiled" beforehand.

Maybe we should start a new thread for Weird Geek Terms

There's been a few changes to the tool-bar in the editor after the recent upgrade. The main functionality is still there and any new functions are handled the same way as these described above. If you have problems let me know either by PM or by posting here.

Cheers,

Rich