Hyperlinks in posts

[The Blancmange]

Many times, posters include what should be hyperlinks in posts. I do this in mine quite often. Sometimes, the URL is automatically converted to a hyperlink, other times it just appears as plain text that someone must copy and past into their browser. If I try to use the "Format this Post" function, on occasion it is turned into a real mess with the address repeated several times and none of them being functional. Any ideas for the best way to have this work consistently?

[SR540Beaver]

Scouter.com is provided free of charge and as far as I can tell, will continue to use this old outdated forum software. Until it modernizes to something like vBulletin....and I don't see that happening, we have what we have. That isn't a complaint, just an observation. Depending on configuration, it would allow us to have avatars, post pictures and videos in our posts, use all sorts of formatting options, allow you to subscribe to threads, etc. It also allows the moderators to ban the occasional troll with the click of a button. As I said the other day, vBulletin is around $200 and I'd gladly throw in $10. That of course doesn't address the server space needed for all the extra added benefits like posting pictures.

 

At one time, there was another competing forum that used vBulletin, but it never really had the same traffic that Scouter had and whoever the ower was, shut it down.

[packsaddle]

To answer your question, when you start to compose a new message, look to the left and there is a hot phrase called, 'Format this Post'. I'm looking at it right now. If you hit that it opens a new window in which anything with a hypertext address will convert to a hot link. Or if you know html you can play around a bit with other stuff but don't bother trying to embed images or anything...been there, done that.

Then at the end, save and it comes back to this panel including all the html markup stuff. And then, if you're lucky, it will show properly when you send the post.

[sailingpj]

When I click format this post all I ever get is a purple screen that pops up. I can't type in it or interact with it in any way.

[eatmorefrogs]

Is there a significant interest in spinning off from here to a more modern forum? I'll register a domain and host it.

[shortridge]

www.scouter.com

 

Testing: "Format this post" function worked OK for me. Never used that before. I had to install some ActiveX controls or some such technobabble, but it's fine. You can also use HTML code directly in your post.

 

I may be a philistine, but I really like this forum system. My employer's parent, a large media company, uses two different forums across multiple platforms, and I don't care for either of them. They're either too difficult to follow or far too visually cluttered for my tastes.(This message has been edited by shortridge)

[Troop24]

I have posted links in the past in a thread or two. I have found that it is easier to add the link if you first use a URL shortening tool like TinyURL orsomething else (just as a tidbit BitLY is a server/process based in Lybia, hence the Ly) The one I have used most frequently escapes me right now because I am not at home on a Firefox browser, but it is based in India and is a Firefox add-on. It just seems to me that too many URL's are simply too long to post in a thread.

[packsaddle]

The 'Format this Post' tool doesn't work for me either if I am using FireFox. However, if I am using IE there's no problem.

[BartHumphries]

Why in the world would we use for-pay software like vBulletin when there's phpBB http://www.phpbb.com/ for free? I really like phpBB for its ease of use, its power, versatility, and customization. There's no reason to pay a few hundred dollars for what will ultimately end up being about the same thing.