IDEA: A form program to make forum posts consistant

[binaryshadow]

I want to create a forum when programers can list thier work, but i want a standard format to be followed. To accoplish this i figured a simple progam could help. here is the layout i came up with on my friends Visual Studio 2005 (using visual basic i guess) i do not know how to program and was curious if anyone could help. Plus if it was open source other forums could modify the code for thier own sites.. Is this a good idea or what?

IDEA: A form program to make forum posts consistant

let me know if more details are needed and thank you for your time and efforts.

[superboyac]

binaryshadow, I think it is a fantastic idea.  It's similar to something I've been trying to muster up some interest for here in the past.  My original idea (which is almost the same as yours) was to create a standalone program where we can write and save our posts (and maybe even preview them with all the formatting, although this is not vital) and then cut/paste it into the actual forum.  The program should have all the same formatting buttons (image link, list, bold, italic, font, color, etc.) as the formatting buttons available in the DC forum.

Using a program like I described above, it can also load "templates" that will allow the posts to be consistent.  For example, there can be a minireview template that a user will load, and all the appropriate formatting bbcode will appear, and the user just needs to fill in the text content.  This is essentially what your program does, it will act like a template that keeps posts consistent.

The great thing is that someone has already created a bbcode editor in AHK script, and if it can be modified to be specific for our DC forum, it would be just perfect.  I don't know how hard or easy that is to do, but I've talked about it in a thread here:
https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=6194.0

Anyway, I hope that something like this can be accomplished.

[jgpaiva]

This looks to me like (almost) reinventing the well.
Usually, software is descripted by PAD files.
A PAD file is formated in XML and i'm almost sure that there must be tons of parsers out there. So, it'd be the way that'd make more sense for programmers to submit information about their programs to your site, i suppose.

[chedabob]

If you are still interested, id do it. Its about 30 mins worth of work (if that  )

[binaryshadow]

i am defiently interested!! Thank You! If at all possible could you include the coding for it so i can attempt to figure out how it is done? Again thank you!

[superboyac]

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I still think having a standalone forum post editor application would be more useful, and users can load templates to do the same thing that is described here, only it's more flexible because we can also load other templates to standardize other types of posts also.  Just my thoughts.

Either way, it's a good idea.

[urlwolf]

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I still think having a standalone forum post editor application would be more useful, and users can load templates to do the same thing that is described here, only it's more flexible because we can also load other templates to standardize other types of posts also.  Just my thoughts.

Either way, it's a good idea.

-superboyac (February 08, 2007, 05:23 PM)

yeah, I second that. Something like windows live writer but for forum posts. i.e. it should be able to adapt to bbCode, SMF code, etc, and show you a preview. It should enable automatic uploading of pictures, etc.

But, wait... that'd be more time spent posting.. maybe not such a good idea

[binaryshadow]

i can understand how all these options you guys are suggesting might seem wonderful for a diverse posting program. but what i am trying to accomplish is to keep all of the posts consistent. No extra user options means uniformity.

[superboyac]

i can understand how all these options you guys are suggesting might seem wonderful for a diverse posting program. but what i am trying to accomplish is to keep all of the posts consistent.

-binaryshadow (February 08, 2007, 08:45 PM)

Using something like templates should keep it just as uniform as what you are trying to do.  You just load the template (in this example, a template for a short program minireview), and you fill in the blanks, just like in the graphic you posted above.  Only, you can also load other templates as well, or use the editor to write something from scratch.

Don't get me wrong, what you're asking for is great, I was just suggesting we expand it to be able to do other kinds of posts, not just minireviews.  But if someone wants to do it just for a minireview, that's great.  Anything's better than nothing, right?

PS If you look at this thread:
https://www.donation...index.php?topic=4569
Someone already made a template specifically for minireviews.  It's not quite as standalone and easy to use as what you're suggesting, but it's there. 

No extra user options means uniformity.

I think a lot of people here at DC might not agree with this.  Isn't the ability to customize what separates us from Mac folk?  I think you'll see that a lot of the software talked about here is lauded specifically for their many options and flexibility.  But I understand where you're coming from as far as forum posts are concerned.

[binaryshadow]

If you are still interested, id do it. Its about 30 mins worth of work (if that  )

-chedabob (February 08, 2007, 02:00 PM)

I would still appreciate it if you could do that for me

[mouser]

binary, perhaps you could resize that signature image a little bit 
You aren't the only one with a giant signature but I suggest we try to keep sigs down to under 400 or 480 width and under 80 or 120 height (personally i prefer smaller but i know not everyone agrees).

[binaryshadow]

is that good?