Help What do you prefer/look for in BBCode? Or if you are BBCoder, what do you prefer to code? [Polling]

[Fable]

Out of simple and personal curiosity I want to know what you look for in a BBcode, or what you prefer to code yourself if you do code. I know I'm actually not the only one with this question in mind. You can also discuss these preferences within this thread along with casting a vote.

I am aware there are more preferences out there, but polls have a max limit of 10 options, so after pestering Alteras we've compiled some of the more popular things we've seen. If there is a preference you have that isn't on the poll just post a reply here, maybe others have the same preference.

(Yes a BBCode discussion can be conducted here. XD)

 

[AnimeGenork]

(Yes a BBCode discussion can be conducted here. XD)

I wouldn't have questioned you even if I doubted ; )

 

[welian]

• Minimal/clean themes
• Mobile-friendly
• Beginner-friendly

But y'all saw that coming a mile away because my stance is no secret. Many people use their smartphone and tablet to access the internet, especially people who can't afford multiple computers. I've RPed on other sites as well, and I actively avoid a lot of boards that aren't mobile friendly ((shakes fist at jcink)) because they're just... ugly, and difficult to navigate.

And since I know for a fact that a few of my regular RPers access RPN and post from a smartphone, I try to stick to BCode that can be easily edited on a phone. This means a lot of classes to minimize having to scroll through a lot of in-line styling, and just simpler layouts in general. I also avoid setting a font color unless I also set a background color, because I know the site has default font colors for dark and light themes, and who am I to say which is better?

Furthermore, my eyesight sucks, and I love the larger default font size on RPN compared to literally every other RP board I've ever been on. ((shakes fist at ProBoards))

I could never, in good faith, push tiny text on a layout. I can't read it. It's uncomfortable, my eyes blur, and my head hurts. Why would I do that to other people? It's the internet, we're not gonna run out of paper.

 

[Quincunx]

Tabs - I think they're a useful way of keeping large amounts of information from being overwhelming.

Minimal/clean themes - I don't like when there's a lot of pictures, colors, or other visual information. Too many elements can look gaudy, but more importantly, I like when people can easily know where they're supposed to be looking, and what (if anything) they need to do to navigate the post. (Incidentally, this is why I do not like hidden scrolling - I can't always tell whether an area is meant to scroll or not, which really annoys me.)

Mobile-friendly/beginner-friendly - I often access the site on a phone, and I know other people do as well. I'm also still learning to code, so I like codes where I can easily understand them and fix it if I break something

Basically, my preferences on bbcode amount to "simple functional design is better than super pretty." When people generously provide codes for public use, I gravitate towards ones I can understand easily, navigate easily, and read easily. I like:

• Divs - I can find anything I need to know about them on the internet
• Pleasing color schemes - easy way to make things look polished (or at least, I find it easy in my own codes, and I find it easy to edit).
• Visible scrollbars - even a tiny scrollbar tells me I need to scroll to navigate the post
• Tabs/menu buttons - as long as each one has a way to tell which tab/button is currently active, and/or names on the tabs/buttons. Like, if the active tab is darker than the others, that's wonderful! And I like the names because they tell me the tabs/buttons are for navigation, and not just random parts of the layout.

I don't like:

• Tiny text - if it's 10px or below, I have to squint to read it, and I don't like that
• Designs with a lot of pictures - they load slowly on my phone, and when people use a lot of gifs, it can be distracting from the text. Oh, and picture backgrounds can be cool, but I don't like when they make the text hard to read. I like to remedy this in my own codes by using a semi-transparent div as a text box over the picture, or editing the picture so the text over it is more readable.
• Designs with lots of small text areas - I'd rather scroll through a single area, instead of a whole bunch of small ones
• Designs that depend on hovering - if I move my mouse off the post and the text goes away, I find that annoying. Also, if I need to hover over something to know it's a button, or to see what it says, I don't like that either.

I realize this list may make me sound like I'm lazy, or I don't like to think too hard when viewing code. It is true that I am lazy However, I think it's important that people don't get confused navigating your code, even for a moment, which is something I've experienced browsing codes on this site. (I'm talking about how the post looks and behaves, not the lines of code.) I like when you can look at someone's post and tell what everything does, without having to mouse over it or click on it or read instructions. And I hope this doesn't come across as curmudgeonly, but if I have to read instructions to know how to navigate a code, I'm not going to use it.

Oh, and I do code, but that's mostly relegated to another RP site where divs are the most advanced form of code customization. On that site, I use divs and visible scrollbars, and focus on color schemes, pictures, and font choices to make my code look unique.

 

[AnimeGenork]

I realize this list may make me sound like I'm lazy, or I don't like to think too hard when viewing code. It is true that I am lazy However, I think it's important that people don't get confused navigating your code, even for a moment, which is something I've experienced browsing codes on this site. (I'm talking about how the post looks and behaves, not the lines of code.) I like when you can look at someone's post and tell what everything does, without having to mouse over it or click on it or read instructions. And I hope this doesn't come across as curmudgeonly, but if I have to read instructions to know how to navigate a code, I'm not going to use it.

Okay, so you just made me feel a hecka lot better about my crap codes. XD

So I personally like:

Pastel Aesthetic
This is more a picky thing on my part, but neon colors have never been my jam, and I hate the really bright red default. Pastels are easy on the eye, plain and simple.

Tabs
As cited above, it keeps everything clean so I'm not endlessly scrolling things. I like being able to click back and forever between information.

Hidden Scrollbars
I'm mostly just proud I figured them out. When I'm coding, I like using hidden scrolls when I don't necessarily want people to have to use a bar for it.

Beginner Friendly
I'm still a noob, so this is self-explanatory. If I have no idea how to navigate/use the code, I'm screwed. XD

 

[Fable]

Pastel Aesthetic
This is more a picky thing on my part, but neon colors have never been my jam, and I hate the really bright red default. Pastels are easy on the eye, plain and simple.

You probably hate the red admin banner thing, hahahaha. XD

 

[AnimeGenork]

You probably hate the red admin banner thing, hahahaha. XD

Considering it's not taking up THE ENTIRE POST

Nahhhhhh I'm fine with that XD

 

[Fable]

Considering it's not taking up THE ENTIRE POST

Nahhhhhh I'm fine with that XD

Let me just... make the first post entirely red now. kuku

 

[Idea]

I am generally a fan of more complex and interactive BBCode. I don't like it when things are messy or tiny, but I can really appreciate the novelty of thematically appropriate designs, fun script animations and interesting interaction options. Building more atmosphere, being neat to look at and offering more options to explore beyond those presented by the text alone are some of the advantages I like there.

As for my own coding, I really like to code. Right now I consider my skills are still only scratching the surface, with an occasional baby step forward by discovering some new tool or technique when I attempt to get a specific effect out of the code.

If I were to state one problem I often encounter in coding, is that the language used doesn't always match how one would describe the thing in conversation at all, and so it can become difficult to track what does what if you don't know or don't have someone there to properly explain it to you.

 

[Fable]

I am generally a fan of more complex and interactive BBCode.

I am too, but there are issues with those being on the mobile friendly side I find. I think that might be perhaps why some people make the tiny aesthetic because they are trying to fit more into smaller space so it works on mobile. It's just a theory though and I could be totally wrong. I do know of some that just like that aesthetic just because they do rather than a functional reason.

 

[Idea]

I am too, but there are issues with those being on the mobile friendly side I find. I think that might be perhaps why some people make the tiny aesthetic because they are trying to fit more into smaller space so it works on mobile. It's just a theory though and I could be totally wrong. I do know of some that just like that aesthetic just because they do rather than a functional reason.

I think a lot of that has to do with the kind of code used and available. Now I'm nothing remotely close to an expert on this matter- but there is either a lack of use or a lack of existence of a lot of neat coding things that could really help. Especially in more complex code, there seems to be areas where you can't really use percentages, mainly as it comes to the vertical side or placing things on a given position. People tend to just use a lot more measurements in pixels- which doesn't translate from PC to phone or vice versa.

Still, even with percentages the same code can look so different on mobile and PC that it really needs big adustments- and with larger code, that becomes extra hard, because phone makes it a lot harder to get to the parts inside the post that you want (specifcally because you have to scroll there and sometimes phone is too stubborn to let you select the part you want), yet you need to edit that post on phone or otherwise have to go back and forth making edits and hoping it won't break the code as you try to adjust it.

 

[Fable]

Well, the thing is that what we have access to - while still more than normal BBCode - is still very limited because we don't get all the cool things CSS is fully capable of still. The only way to really do that would be if the forum software supported it like IPS did when we were using that forum software (but that came with a ton of its own issues resulting in members frequently breaking the site where they incorrectly coded something).

If you look at sites on your browser vs your phone they generally have different sites coded for that. Remember the old urls? http://m.websitesite.com/ The m was for mobile.

 

[Idea]

Ah, despite how it might appear I wasn't so much complaining, as trying to suggest a direction that might be worth looking into in the future, regarding the problem of mobile coding.

 

[Fable]

Ah, despite how it might appear I wasn't so much complaining, as trying to suggest a direction that might be worth looking into in the future, regarding the problem of mobile coding.

I didn't think you were complaining, was just pointing out that we'll always have coding limitations. It takes quite a bit to successfully make a responsive design. I still struggle with that myself because it's hard for me to convert CSS into effective BBCode at times.

 

[Nano]

The only way to really do that would be if the forum software supported it like IPS did when we were using that forum software (but that came with a ton of its own issues resulting in members frequently breaking the site where they incorrectly coded something).

Haha...those days were...fun. I still see them in my nightmares...

 

[Spoiled Bread]

I'm more into pastel aesthethic and mobile friendly. Pastel colors are just so nice to see. I usually assign three-colors combination as my character's thematic color, so I don't always use pastel color. Mobile-friendly because I always use my phone on RPN, I don't have any dedicated time with my PC but my phone is always by my side.

 

[Uxie]

as a bbcoder!! i've recently moved towards making things mobile-friendly :"") it's definitely something that's super important to me rn when i make codes unless i really don't have the time to do so! even though i almost only access rpn on pc i've always found the functionality of it p important, but i couldn't previously due to lack of skills so nOW THAT I HAVE THESE SKILLS...,,

and i tend to make more complex codes !! most of my more recent stuff is a lot more complex than when i've started i think? and really there for people to appreciate even though i love randomly running into one of my codes in an rp (♡♡!!) but i get that they're not rly beginner-friendly,, like at all! if they want to make edits it might be super confusing for them!!
t's been a while since i've made a more beginner-friendly code simply because as a coder i've always been trying to push myself to improve, so i end up trying new things that are more often than not super complex!

and just personally i get more of a kick admiring my codes if i know that i struggled a bit getting to the final product compared to something super simple HAHA ;; my aesthetics aren't the strongest so i tend to make up for it by making use of a lot of """tricks""".., it's fun to push myself to see what kind of new things i can achieve LMAO

sorry abt the ramble ;;;

 

[Fable]

Wow, we're almost to 50 votes! I gotta admit I my hypothesis for what was gonna be reflected wasn't this. XD

 

[Onmyoji]

If I could vote 50 more times for mobile-friendly, I would XDDD
I prefer to read full text in posts rather than half-sentences!

 

[welian]

Totally agree with Onmyoji

When I did my searching for a new RP site, accessibility was one of the highest things on my list. I chose RPN because it was a general RPing site (as opposed to setting/plot specific) with a light theme, large readable text, and the site smoothly resized to my browser window. Horizontal scrolling is evil incarnate.

 

[Necessity4Fun]

My style is pretty much minimal, functional and pretty.
The most I can do that's considered fancier thus far is manipulating div shapes, positions and hover effects. The hidden scroll is one of my favorite things and quite useful for CS's where there's going to be a lot of text on by proxy, I also like the tabs for organizing stuff by theme. I normally have a CS with 2-4 tabs, Intro, Bio, Extras and whatever else a setting might need (magic, superpowers, equipment, etc).

Don't really use the scrolls for the posts themselves. I feel like it'd hide the text. I write a lot, and though I guess to some my posts sizes can look intimidating, I don't want to be doing any false propaganda so to speak. The size of the post is that one, no tiny font, I don't change the default fonts either. (Unless it's to convey a certain effect, like a sound. I like pairing sound effects with matching fonts, it's a new hobby of mine.)

BUT! I have a new favorite thing to code! Progress bars! I'm aware that we have a progress bar code already, but the aesthetic didn't please me that much, so I did my own that's thicker and has a centralized text and sometimes I add cool texture on top of it too. ...I can't stop using it now. Every time I feel like I need to keep track of something (magic output, HP...), I slap one there, been meaning to share those and some hover effects on my public BBCode thread, but I'm lazy. So eh, eventually? XD

Also, mobile-friendliness... That's become half of the work-load for me. I want it to be functional in as most places as possible, theme-wise and device wise. I test and re-test things a lot of time, look help online to see if there's a way to do that which I want and so on... I try to keep at least the text as most readable as possible, to everyone. That's one of the reasons I avoid using background colors or images a lot, hard to pick something that won't blind a dark-theme user, or look too dark and off to a light-theme user.

And I didn't even get into the whole making the layout match the character thing. Ho boy, it's hard work. Fun! But hard-work. Probably why I mostly code to myself and not to others. That's a lot of effort to put for strangers. I've made layouts for friends before, IDK, feels like the effort isn't completely appreciated.
I mean, they don't know just how many hours I spent making sure the margins and space were all equal and aligned and stuff... No one knows my frustration with the positioning, you know? Is it entitlement? Maybe? But like, I spent so much time on stuff, I want my time to feel worth it.

For other's codes, like please make it readable, please pick color combinations that won't look too bright or too dark or just, awful. I'm a believer of 'I can make any color combo work' as long as you change the shades around a bit. Avoid the neon overflow. I can get it not being mobile-friendly, that stuff is hard. But I need to able to read things without getting a headache or cringing internally at your color-scheme. And if someone asks you to please change something to enhance readability... can we please be nice to them? I've seen people go 'if you can read it then don't join because I'mma be using this code' or getting offended at the simple request of maybe adding a spoiler somewhere.

Does it hurt that much? If it will ruin the aesthetic, maybe fit an accordian somewhere that still goes with the theme, but like people want to read what you typed, they took their time, anxiety or whatever to kindly type a request for a readable version of something you wrote... I'd be happy if it was with me, that someone wants to actually read my stuff. And some RPs struggle to even find enough interest! So I, don't really get why.

But yeah, let's just be nice and understanding to each other on these regards. That'd be good.

Jeez, this got big, oops!

 

[Idea]

My general approach is to make a normal version (for PC and such) and a version for phone or semicoded (this is, with just ultra basic code like text coloring and imagefloats and the like).

 

[OmenVI]

I like codes that are more compact. Like, I think it's nice to see the product as minimal (and aesthetically pleasing) as possible. If it's straight to the point and nice to look at, It's fine by me basically.

 

[Fable]

I like codes that are more compact. Like, I think it's nice to see the product as minimal (and aesthetically pleasing) as possible. If it's straight to the point and nice to look at, It's fine by me basically.

Compact as in tiny? Or minimal where it focuses on the information rather than the images?

 

[OmenVI]

Compact as in tiny? Or minimal where it focuses on the information rather than the images?

Tiny ig. It'd be cool if the images and information didn't take up most of the space on my screen. That's why I like accordions lol.