Flag subs for formatting clean up?

1. Flag subs for formatting clean up?

   #1

   I've noticed lately a lot of subs with borked formatting, that present as a wall of text, (which Strolen has been cleaning up on his own btw.  :up: )
   
   I was wondering if it would be possible to put some kind of button on subs to flag them as a formatting disaster so us admins can simply check which subs have been flagged and then do a format edit on one or more as we have the time? (those of us with permission to edit subs anyway)

2. Re: Flag subs for formatting clean up?

   #2

   This has happened time and time again throughout the Citadel history. Most notable when we moved from 1.0 to 2.0.
   
   Strolen: We really should not have to manually edit sub after sub. When they get as big as Nesseraum, it is a pain to edit them.
   
   Do we have a cure for borked formatting?

3. Re: Flag subs for formatting clean up?

   #3

   If there are a lot of subs that require editing, I am sure it is more to do with my code logic than the sub.
   
   The main issue: Prior to our new text editor with the pretty formatting buttons the subs had a quick function called nl2br() which takes every newline and turns it into a html break
   . And that is how you used to get your paragraph spacing.
   
   Once we put in the formatting text editor, all paragraphs are now (correctly) separated automatically by paragraph tags.
   
   I did run a script that went through all the subs and tried to magically update them all to use the but, as always, there will be some that need a little work.
   
   If you do the nl2br code on those subs with tags you get crazy spacing because newline characters are still all over there. But, if you don't do the nl2br on the old subs that the script didn't catch for whatever reason, paragraphs smash together into a wall of text.
   
   The problem is that some of the new subs don't 100% follow the as the first characters because of occasionally odd formatting by the text editor and human interaction on how the sub is formatted. Additionally, some of the older subs have some odd editing by the author as well and the automated script that updated them can't change that.
   
   Between these two things there are going to be some subs that my logic can't figure out and choses how to render them incorrectly. They have to be edited to conform.
   
   I honestly can't imagine that there are going to be that many of them but that is why there are some formatting issues. If you find something that is whacked, let me know. I can probably build another if statement that can account for the singletons out there that are not in one of the expected formats.

4. Re: Flag subs for formatting clean up?

   #4

   Between these two things there are going to be some subs that my logic can't figure out and choses how to render them incorrectly. They have to be edited to conform.
   
   Those were the ones I thought people (or maybe just admins?) could flag with a "in need of edit" button, and then admin volunteers could edit in their spare time. :up:

5. Re: Flag subs for formatting clean up?

   #5

   Instead of coding in another set of features that have limited usability (they have the "challenge" for ones that have issues) I think a thread in the forum and pasting links would work well.

6. Re: Flag subs for formatting clean up?

   #6

   Sounds like a plan.  :up:

7. Re: Flag subs for formatting clean up?

   #7

   
   http://strolen.com/viewing/Executioner
   
   I feel dejavu.
   
   I know we should be encouraging, but I don't expect this one to end well. At least it is advice requested.
   
   Infested-jerk has done a decent job starting off, but I'm afraid I know whats going to happen...
   
   Generally, when there is that much wrong with a sub, its hard to be honest without getting a
   
   'Yu guys are jerks, im otta here...'
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

8. Re: Flag subs for formatting clean up?

   #8

   It's hard to offer constructive criticism on some subs without crossing the line into paraphrasing "This needs a complete overhaul before publication" which no one likes to hear, especially on their first sub.
   
   It raises an idea however, perhaps it could be possible to make comments on a sub that only the author can see? (maybe a check box to  "make comment private?") This way when faced with subs in need of some in depth feedback that's pretty much negative, the comments won't serve to unintentionally publicly humiliate the newcomer?
   
   Some new comers may be more willing to accept criticism of a sub in private, but get defensive when someone points out the shoddiness of their work for the entire citadel to see.
   
   To prevent private comments from becoming a common trend maybe limit the option to to only being available on a persons first 10 subs? Or perhaps only an option when voting 2.5 and lower?
   
   I dunno, just a couple ideas I had on this otherwise dreary morning.

9. Re: Flag subs for formatting clean up?

   #9

   I'm guilty of thread-jacking here.
   
   Or just a PM. 
   
   Anyway, I am happy with the tone of the first couple of comments - so perhaps we can leave this one be.
   
   I'm just so tired of the newbie-demon-sword-of-doom.  I think is it a Strolen meme!
   

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