Why is it impossible to Undo (CTRL+Z) Smiley and Bulletin board codes?

[shahzadafzal]

Currently I am using Android to access this forum. I use gboard which has an inbuilt undo button. It is very helpful for undoing or redoing any type of text. Basically I don't need any script or modification in forum code to undo anything.

Well, I don't think that's the kind of "undo" we're talking about here.

What the OP requested, and what PowerGlove's script provides, is the ability to undo toolbar actions.

For example, try clicking one of the smiley buttons on the toolbar and then use Gboard's Undo button to see whether it removes the inserted BBCode.

This is especially useful when you want to add a [ quote ] tag but accidentally click [ code ] instead.

When you're writing a long post, being able to undo those toolbar actions can save a lot of time.

[logfiles]

I've been thinking about this one, and something that I think might be giving theymos pause is that the diff I posted earlier is now out-of-date (that is, the code it touches has since been changed). Also, the diff was a bit confusing to begin with (that is, it's not clear by looking at it that two functions are being changed).

So, I split the fix into two diffs and re-based them against what's currently in /Themes/default/script.js. First, the replaceText change:

Thanks PowerGlove. You are doing an incredible Job!  
Now let's wait and see if the admin put it into work

Currently I am using Android to access this forum. I use gboard which has an inbuilt undo button. It is very helpful for undoing or redoing any type of text. Basically I don't need any script or modification in forum code to undo anything.
https://talkimg.com/images/2026/07/10/Uc6x4a.png

I don't have that particular keyboard, so I am not sure if it really does undo Smileys and Bulletin board codes. For the other normal characters likes those on your screenshot, even on PC one can undo them. Now enter a smiley and BB codes and see if you can undo them using that button

Another thing is I believe the biggest number of people here use PC's to access the forum.

[ImGenius]

I don't have that particular keyboard, so I am not sure if it really does undo Smileys and Bulletin board codes. For the other normal characters likes those on your screenshot, even on PC one can undo them. Now enter a smiley and BB codes and see if you can undo them using that button

Another thing is I believe the biggest number of people here use PC's to access the forum.

Yes I also think biggest number of users use pc to access bitcointalk I also use pc sometimes.
The undo and redo button in keyboard works perfectly for any kind of changes happen in "reply box"  it also included smiley and bbcodes.

[PowerGlove]

When someone discovers these little "glitches", the PowerGlove always pops up.

Haha. Yeah. I... will avoid unpacking my feelings and just say that I appreciated your post.

The changes don't seem to break anything, and in fact, it works really well. This is going to be quite handy for designing signatures.

Thanks for testing it!

This is especially useful when you want to add a [ quote ] tag but accidentally click [ code ] instead.

I see that you're using spaces to write BBCode tags in a way that doesn't "activate" them. Maybe you already know this, but, just in case you don't: that's what [nobbc] is for (so that, for example, you can write [quote] rather than [ quote], [quote ], or [ quote ]).

(Hmm... I wonder if it's worth adding [nobbc] to the toolbar and/or the help? It might be a nice "starter patch" for someone looking to get their feet wet! Though, just as I say that, I think, "Please, please don't some AI-using wally now decide to take a run at a task that would ordinarily have stymied them. I'm getting really, really tired of digesting output that's clearly mysterious to the person presenting it.")

Even more off-topic: I recently noticed that someone had their display name changed to a BBCode tag ([btc]), and I thought, "Ah, jeez. Now people need to mangle the name, or use [nobbc] or a zero-width joiner or something each time they want to mention that user? Sigh."

@theymos: Maybe you should place a zero-width joiner after the opening bracket of that user's display name, so that copy-pasting the name can become a reasonably convenient way to mention them? (Probably I would undo the name-change if it were up to me; I'd probably also add some logic to prevent any future BBCode-colliding display names.)

[joker_josue]

Even more off-topic: I recently noticed that someone had their display name changed to a BBCode tag ([btc]), and I thought, "Ah, jeez. Now people need to mangle the name, or use [nobbc] or a zero-width joiner or something each time they want to mention that user? Sigh."

@theymos: Maybe you should place a zero-width joiner after the opening bracket of that user's display name, so that copy-pasting the name can become a reasonably convenient way to mention them? (Probably I would undo the name-change if it were up to me; I'd probably also add some logic to prevent any future BBCode-colliding display names.)

In this situation, wouldn't it have been easier to simply create a rule limiting the use of BBCode when creating usernames?

I think that would be enough to avoid problems, and it wasn't a dramatic limitation.

[LoyceV]

@theymos: Maybe you should place a zero-width joiner after the opening bracket of that user's display name, so that copy-pasting the name can become a reasonably convenient way to mention them?

I don't really see the problem here: if someone creates a username that can't easily be typed: let them

[[btc]]

Probably I would undo the name-change if it were up to me; I'd probably also add some logic to prevent any future BBCode-colliding display names.)

if someone creates a username that can't easily be typed: let them

Usually people use quotes when reaponding to me, and it spells out my full username properly at the top of the quote.

~

Are you open to suggesting the impossibility of creating BBCode-based usernames (like joker_josue suggested), but leaving mine intact, as it's without a doubt the coolest BBCode-based username one could have? - Despite the fact your argument for changing my name back is very good though, from a technical/backend-dev perspective, and almost makes me want to ask him to change it back 😅. Also, does the fact that the BBCode used to display BTC being not part of standard BBcode specification, but a custom tag supported by this forum's software, make a difference?^{My gut says probably.}

You could argue your username is really BTC, but the forum doesn't display it properly

I could, and it's probably for the best that it displays the way it currently does. I've refrained from mentioning anything like that. Thankfully you did - only because the last thing I need is someone to be all like: "Hey! You're not "BTC", bitcoin is decentralized - and belongs to no one! Reeeeeeeè!!". That's kind of why I edited my very first post on the forum, made note of the change/when it happened, and described my reasoning behind it.

[PowerGlove]

I don't really see the problem here: if someone creates a username that can't easily be typed: let them

Yep. (Though, to be pedantic: it's their display name that I have an issue with, not their username; probably their username is not a BBCode tag.)

I guess it irritates me mostly from a technical perspective:

(*) Allowing BBCode-like display names leaves open an easily-closable avenue that slowly subtracts from the available BBCode "namespace". I know that that's a confusing sentence, but, what I mean is: Let's say someone decides/decided to call themselves [hide]? That would irritate me, because it would complicate this patch (as in, if the hypothetical user named [hide] were still active or could become active again, then I would not be able to pick hide for a tag name, and if that user were inactive and couldn't become active again, then I would need to date-gate the logic to avoid catching old mentions of their name; I mean, I probably should always include date-gating logic with any tag-introducing patch, but that thought doesn't take much away from the argument that I'm trying to make here).

(*) Allowing BBCode-like display names is the kind of trade-off that just... doesn't make sense to me. For example, what if someone wanted to be called [sup], [nbsp], or [/code]? Think about how those names interact with various posting norms and with most people's BBCode proficiency.

[LoyceV]

Usually people use quotes when reaponding to me, and it spells out my full username properly at the top of the quote.

You could argue your username is really BTC, but the forum doesn't display it properly

Allowing BBCode-like display names is the kind of trade-off that just... doesn't make sense to me.

Bitcointalk is (once again) the only forum I know that barely has any limitations. There are usernames that annoy me much more than BBCode:
ðºÞæ
§
½
¤ ¥ § © ® ³ µ ¶ ¸ ¹ ¼ ½ ¾
Á¢ÌåÉùئ
ÍöÁéÐòÇú
Áóìåð Óäà÷íèê
Ðí°îÖÂq7l9
СÃ÷°¢Îå
ÇëÌîдÓû§Ãû
´ºÏÄÇﶬ
Å£ÄÌ¿§·È5K
Seo Вроцлав Rar
Виагра 911
омг onion
��ылка на омг
�ерви�ные цен

[shahzadafzal]

Bitcointalk is (once again) the only forum I know that barely has any limitations. There are usernames that annoy me much more than BBCode:
ðºÞæ
§
½
¤ ¥ § © ® ³ µ ¶ ¸ ¹ ¼ ½ ¾
Á¢ÌåÉùئ
ÍöÁéÐòÇú
Áóìåð Óäà÷íèê
Ðí°îÖÂq7l9
СÃ÷°¢Îå
ÇëÌîдÓû§Ãû
´ºÏÄÇﶬ
Å£ÄÌ¿§·È5K
Seo Вроцлав Rar
Виагра 911
омг onion
��ылка на омг
�ерви�ные цен

That's so true.. every link in below post is username :p
And not all of those are that annoying e.g. (.)(.)

… … This is very interesting see … …
www.bitcointalk.org

Just had some free time and was doing some random searches on the member names and found out that almost all the alphabets from A - Z have been taken as username.
Except for G (the closest I found is G0).

Username______________	Rank____________________________	JoinDate
A	Brand new	26-04-2011
B	Newbie	26-04-2011
C	Newbie	09-11-2011
D	Brand new	01-09-2013
E	Full Member	07-05-2011
F	Newbie	07-04-2013
G0	Newbie	09-09-2012
H	Brand new	01-09-2013
I	Brand new	11-09-2011
J	Brand new	16-09-2012
K	Sr. Member	19-04-2011
L	Full Member	01-09-2013
M	Brand new	12-06-2011
N	Brand new	02-02-2013
O	Member	17-06-2011
P	Newbie	20-06-2014
Q	Newbie	07-04-2013
R	Newbie	13-07-2011
S	Newbie	17-04-2011
T	Newbie	11-07-2011
U	Full Member	22-04-2014
V	Newbie	19-08-2011
W	Newbie	18-05-2011
X	Brand new	10-08-2011
Y	Brand new	28-04-2014
Z	Newbie	13-08-2010

And here is the list of some other interesting usernames:

Username______________	Rank____________________________	JoinDate
1	Brand new	12-09-2011
0X	Jr. Member	27-06-2011
-	Jr. Member	15-05-2011
2	Brand new	24-03-2012
8	Newbie	01-06-2011
.	Newbie	07-04-2013
*	Newbie	19-06-2013
*.	Newbie	25-04-2014
-.-	Brand new	22-07-2011
~.~	Brand new	05-12-2014
^.^	Member	31-10-2014
^	Brand new	23-07-2011
,	Newbie	19-06-2013
?	Member	16-11-2012
!	Brand new	22-08-2012
@	Newbie	07-05-2014
	Brand new	14-06-2015
(^_^)	Newbie	18-11-2012
(.)(.)	Newbie	09-09-2015
(*)(*)	Newbie	14-03-2015
FUCK	Newbie	01-10-2011

And trust me think of any other "bad" word you will find username taken