Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer

29 Apr 02 - 12:19 PM (#700471)
Subject: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: GUEST,An Pluiméir Ceolmhar

At this stage, if I did try to commit suicide even the trigger probably wouldn't click.

I've posted what I hope is a helpful suggestion at or about

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=40461&messages=51

for the benefit of those who, like myself, are demented trying to do the clicky thing.

If you could take a few minutes to look at it and pick up the suggestion, you would probably save several lives.

Eternally grateful,

Roger O'Keeffe

---

29 Apr 02 - 12:23 PM (#700476)
Subject: RE: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: Sorcha

BlueClickieThing

---

29 Apr 02 - 12:24 PM (#700477)
Subject: RE: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: Joe Offer

Well, Roger, it's not ALL that serious. We can correct your mistakes, you know. Here's my standard training blurb:

<a href="http://www.mudcat.org">Click here</a>



<a href="mailto:[e-mail]">Click to e-mail</a>

If you're posting links at Mudcat, the quotation marks are optional. I prefer not to use them, because they complicate the task of making links. Simple is better, I think. Fewer misteaks.

-Joe Offer-

---

29 Apr 02 - 12:43 PM (#700495)
Subject: RE: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: GUEST,Pluiméir Ceolmhar in good medical hands

Thanks, Joe. Trouble is, that's what I thought I did several times already, except I'm having difficulty interpreting the instructions and even doing it slightly differently. Admittedly the instructions look somewhat clearer in colour, but I was working from a copy which I printed in BW

I'll have another go to refer you to the posting mentioned above. It's about three messages up from the latest one posted

---

29 Apr 02 - 12:55 PM (#700505)
Subject: RE: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: GUEST,Rapturous Pluiméir Ceolmhar

Eureka! The colour changed everything.

As usual, I was taking the approach "why make it simple when you can do it complicated?", and thought that "click here" was part of the instruction and the "a"s were a marker for the text to be clickified.

I'll take up my own suggestion and write up the step-by-step guide for fellow-dumbos and give you a clicky reference so that you can paste it in to the FAQ file if you think that's a good idea.

Thanks, and have a nice rest-of-the-day, it's an hour past quittin' time where I am, and I'd better go home to my wife who is not too pleased about me coming home later and later in the evenings since I discovered Mudcat. She suspects that Mudcat is some tramp I'm hangin' out with!

Good luck, and keep up the good work

Roger

---

29 Apr 02 - 01:14 PM (#700522)
Subject: RE: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: Joe Offer

Hi, Roger - I'll steal any example you can come up with - if it's good. When you use HTML, remember that you usually have to close the tag with a slash and a repeat of the command.

• You close <i>Italics</i> with </i>.
• You close <font color=red> with </font>.
• You close <a href=XXX> with </a>.

Does that have some logic?
-Joe Offer-

---

29 Apr 02 - 05:00 PM (#700673)
Subject: RE: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: Jim Dixon

Some thoughts about links:

(1) Regarding links WITHIN MUDCAT, please use relative links, by leaving out http://www.mudcat.org as Joe explained in the latter part of this message in the Mudcat HTML guide.

The reason is, I like to use ragtime.mudcat.org instead of www.mudcat.org. When I click on a relative link, it allows me to stay in ragtime, instead of switching me over to www (shorty).

(2) When linking to a song in DigiTrad, please give the name of the song in the link. When linking to a thread, please give the name of the thread. When linking to an outside site, please give the name of the site.

In other words, please make your links look like this: JAMBALAYA

Or this: Lyr Req: Jambalaya

Or this: The Record Lady's All-Time Country Favorites

And not like this: Click here or Guess what? or huh?

I just like to know where I'm going before I go there. Doesn't everybody?

(3) Here's another helpful hint that might help everybody. I always compose my messages in Microsoft Word and then copy-and-paste them into my browser window. There are several ways this makes life easier for me. One is that it allows me to use the Autotext feature to create links. Here's how to set it up (Once this part is done you NEVER have to do it again.):

(a) First find some HTML text that's guaranteed to produce a workable link. Joe's first example in this message will work. (b) Select and copy that HTML text. (c) In Word, click Edit, then Paste Special..., then Unformatted Text. This will paste a copy of the HTML in your Word document. (d) Select the HTML text you just pasted. (e) Click Insert, then AutoText, then New.... (f) A box will appear, saying "Please name your AutoText entry." Type in an appropriate name such as "blue clicky" and press Enter.

NOW YOU'RE DONE WITH THE SETUP. YOU NEVER HAVE TO DO THAT PART AGAIN.

Now, when you want to insert a link into a word document, do this:

(g) Click Insert, then AutoText, then AutoText.... A menu will pop up showing a list of things that can be automatically inserted into your document. One of the items should be "blue clicky" (or whatever you called it in step (f) above). (h) Click on "blue clicky" and then click the Insert button. Voilà! Your HTML text is now inserted into your document. (i) Replace "http://www.mudcat.org" with the appropriate URL. Replace "Click here" with the name of the page you're linking to. (Or not, as you see fit.) (j) When you're done composing the entire message, copy and paste it into the message box.

This procedure is easier to remember and a LOT more foolproof than typing the entire link by hand.

I use Microsoft Word 97. I HOPE other versions work the same, or close enough that you can figure it out.

---

29 Apr 02 - 05:08 PM (#700682)
Subject: RE: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: mooman

My good friend An Pluiméir Ceolmhar!

I can promise you that HTML isn't anything like as hard as that bunch of plumbing you play! Just stick with it and you'll have it... just like riding a bicycle (except of course when you forget your closing slash or angle bracket that is!)

See you tomorrow and during the Brussels EuroGathering!

mooman

---

29 Apr 02 - 05:49 PM (#700725)
Subject: RE: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: Brían

Hmmmm. font color red

Brían

---

29 Apr 02 - 05:53 PM (#700732)
Subject: RE: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: Brían

Wrong. font color=red
Brían

---

29 Apr 02 - 05:54 PM (#700733)
Subject: RE: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: Brían

Eureka!!!!

Brían

---

30 Apr 02 - 09:37 AM (#701125)
Subject: RE: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: GUEST,Grateful, ever-didactic Pluiméir Ceolmhar

Thanks to all who offered Samaritan assistance.

Here's what I would suggest adding to the FAQ guide to html, taking account of advice given on quotation marks and relative links:

EXAMPLE

Suppose you have typed the sentence

"If you want to practise blue clickies use the practice thread." and want to turn the phrase "practice thread" into a link.

1. Open a separate browser window [CTRL-N] and select and copy the URL for the thread referred to.

2. Return to your text, position the cursor before the phrase "practice thread" and type 5. Paste in the URL and type > after it

6. Type at the end of the phrase.

The sentence should now appear as follows: If you want to practise blue clickies use the practice thread.

6. Optional stage: if it's an internal Mudcat reference, delete www.mudcat.org/

Finish typing your posting and submit it. When posted it will appear as a clickable link.

Now let's see if it really does. Here goes.

---

30 Apr 02 - 10:09 AM (#701138)
Subject: RE: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: GUEST,Pluiméir uildathach

Hmm. You win some, you lose some.

Obviously the machine is interpreting the separate parts of the html instruction spread over stages 2 to 6 as a single complete instruction.

What I wrote in 2 was "[open angle bracket]a href=" , and in 6 I wrote "Type [close angle bracket] at the end of the phrase" (both without quotation marks), but that had the effect of converting all the text in between the opening and closing angle brackets into a link.

How to overcome this in a way which isn't misleading is part of the advanced course as far as I'm concerned (maybe using quotation marks will fool the ghosts in the machine?).

I also just noticed that the stages need to be renumbered. Also the stage showing what the full link should look like before posting is meaningless because once I post it it is automatically converted into a link.

Let's try it again and, just to be clear, the sentence in brackets beneath the word "Example" below is meant as part of the instructions.

EXAMPLE (leave out the quotation marks when following this example)

Suppose you have typed the sentence

"If you want to practise blue clickies, use the practice thread to try out."

and want to turn the phrase "practice thread" into a link.

1. Open a separate browser window [CTRL-N] and select and copy the URL for the thread referred to.

2. Return to your text, position the cursor before the phrase "practice thread" and type "" after it

4. Type "" at the end of the phrase.

5. If it's an internal Mudcat reference, delete "www.mudcat.org/"

Finish typing your posting and submit it. When posted, the clickable link will appear automatically.

---

30 Apr 02 - 11:18 AM (#701190)
Subject: RE: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: GUEST,Pluiméir Lúibíneach

Clearly quotation marks aren't sufficient to neutralise the angle brackets, but I presume Joe has a way around the problem, since they already appear in the model in the exisiting FAQ.

---

30 Apr 02 - 06:10 PM (#701504)
Subject: RE: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: Snuffy

If you put actual angle brackets, the browser will interpret the as HTML instructions. If you want to show angle brackets use > (i.e ampersand+g+t+semicolon) for an opening bracket and < for a closing bracket. See if that helps.

WassaiL! V

---

30 Apr 02 - 06:52 PM (#701538)
Subject: RE: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: Snuffy

that's & l t ; (with no spaces) for an opening

and & g t ; (no spaces) for a closing.

Not the way I said first time.

---

30 Apr 02 - 08:04 PM (#701586)
Subject: RE: Unblueunclicky suicide note to Joe Offer
From: Amergin

rather tasteless thread title don't you think?

---