How to use the "create post" editor

[graham]

When you click the New Topic button or the reply button, you will be taken to a post editor. I will start by mentioning the features of the window and then explain how to make sense of the main body window.

Topic Icon:

GCG-Forums-Editor-TopicIcons.jpg (8.48 KiB) Viewed 9544 times

Top row has a choice of icons that you can assign to the post. This icon type will appear next to the topic subject in the board listing page.

Subject:

GCG-Forums-Editor-Subject.jpg (7 KiB) Viewed 9544 times

This is the main heading of your post. It appears as a heading when viewing the post, but more importantly, it is all that is displayed on the board listing page.

It is important that you make your subject line as informative as possible so you get people viewing and responding to your post. Use simple wording if possible. Examples:

• Blue light service company offers mental health support
• BLSC has a community event of fun activities Sat 12th April
• Family of 5 needs a six seater dining table and chairs
• Free double bed with mattress & new sheets available from Chatsworth

Formatting buttons:

GCG-Forums-Editor-FormattingButtons.jpg (10.64 KiB) Viewed 9544 times

I personally find it easiest to type or paste the whole message into the edit window, then highlight the text I want to enhance and hit one or more of the formatting buttons. You can also do it as you go if you're that way inclined.

When you hover over the formatting button, a hint will be displayed showing what the code will look like.

From left to right they are:-

• Bold
• Italic
• Underline
• Quoted text
• Code (see example below)
• Unordered List
• Ordered List
• List item
• Extenal image
• Hyperlink
• Font colour
• Text size - Tiny, Small, Normal, Large, Huge

The white box is obviously the editing box.
If you highlight some text in here, then apply one of the formatting buttons, you will see "tags" get wrapped around the text and the text does not look any different. This is normal. The editor does not display "what you see is what you get" (aka WYSIWYG). You must use the "Preview" button to see what it will look like once you submit your topic/reply.

For example, bold text looks like this:

Code: Select all

[b]this text is bold[/b]

Action Buttons:

GCG-Forums-Editor-ActionButtons.jpg (9.49 KiB) Viewed 9544 times

• Save draft
• Preview - will reload the page with a preview of how it will look when it is submitted above the editing box. You push the preview button as many times as you wish.
• Submit - Saves your post and publishes it in one go.

You can then go on to edit the post if you see something not quite right.