HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-23 07:09:22

This new topic is intended for a repository of documentation about BBCode commands which are interpreted by FluxBB software.

Examples are how to quote text to be displayed in a post, and how to configure a command to show an image.

These are features that new members are likely to want to use,

The base reference is bbcode.org

In order for the commands to be readable here, I'll enter them with spaces between the characters.

To set off a quote, enter the sequence [ q u o t e ] (text here) [ / q u o t e ]

***
To display an image in the forum, as SpaceNut has patiently explained multiple times ...

Begin by selecting a image URL that ends in jpg, png, jpeg, bmp

Enter [ i m g ] (url of image) [ / i m g ]

Please note that I (th) can only verify that jpg works. SpaceNut assures that png, jpeg and bmp work as well.

Edit#1: A common occurrence I have run into is FluxBB complaining that a url has been inserted into an image request.

What I've observed is that FluxBB has inserted [ u r l ] and [ / u r l ] into the string without being asked to do so.

I ** think ** this is happening because FluxBB is coded to add [ u r l ] and [ / u r l ] when it finds http:// or https:// in the input text.

Edit#1 (2020/05/27) It turns out that posting original content images is a bit more challenging. The solution has not yet been revealed in this topic as of this date, but the success of Tmcom using imgur.com is proof that there ** is ** a solution.

Edit#2 (2020/05/28) The technique that SpaceNut found to display an image automatically on NewMars forum from DropBox appears to have only worked for a single day.

Edit#3 (2020/05/28) The images are now displaying "normally" a few hours later.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2020-05-28 09:32:43)

SpaceNut · 2020-05-23 09:06:17

You are not alone with troubles with post content.

At the bottom of the page near the submit preview post buttons is a link for these which opens a page for coding instruction

repost links:
http://newmars.com/forums/help.php#bbcode

http://newmars.com/forums/help.php#url

http://newmars.com/forums/help.php#img

http://newmars.com/forums/help.php#smilies

Its all in the syntax as to getting errors or the item not being viewable.

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-23 12:10:34

For SpaceNut ... re new topic and Post #2

Thank you for pointing out that those are ** buttons ** .... I thought they were switches, to turn the feature on or off.

That said, it is ** really ** helpful (it seems to me at least) to have your guidance at the top of the new topic!

Now, if we ever have another new member, we can invite them to look at this new topic, and within a few minutes they'll have inside knowledge it has taken me over a year to acquire << grin >>.

Update 2024/03/23 ... Admins are working on updating FluxBB to run with current MySQL, PHP and Apache software. A critical file needed by the application is the config.php file. That file is NOT provided with the forum software. It is instead generated by a PHP file called install.php. However if install.php does not run properly to create a config.php file, then the application will not run.

Here is a model for the config.php file needed by FluxBB 1.5.11

$db_type = 'mysqli';
$db_host = 'your_db_host_name';
$db_name = 'your_db_name';
$db_username = 'your_db_username';
$db_password = 'your_db_password';
$db_prefix = 'your_db_prefix_';
$p_connect = false;
$cookie_name = 'pun_cookie_you_generated';
$cookie_domain = '';
$cookie_path = '/';
$cookie_secure = 0;
$cookie_seed = 'your_cookie_seed_value';
define('PUN', 1);

(th)

SpaceNut · 2020-05-23 12:19:26

The switches are with in your own profiles for some features that you would want to have displayed.
Click on your name which brings you into your profile to be able to edit and change how you would like features to be displayed.

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-25 20:15:53

For SpaceNut re configuring [i m g] BBCODE to display an image ...

In the Balloon Phobos topic, I submitted this:

[ i m g ] h t t p s://www.dropbox.com/s/17ok0h8kok961d9/CushionGuidejpg.jpg [ / i m g]

That configuration did not work, but the sequence itself works if it is pasted into a browser. That sequence was generated by Dropbox.

Here is what I found when I asked Chrome to show me what you had coded:

I don't see a pathway from what I got from Dropbox to what I found in your post.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2020-05-25 20:31:49

SpaceNut wrote:

<i m g scr=https://uc49b658d465958b820a630df69a.previews.dropboxusercontent.com/p/thumb/AAwrzGoutR-ihRZEUqJ1OT3TUG0ZWPMyIur4Uu1GfilZjcJIa0L_TBf6Fj-vmcYDhIishXwoOzgFf5_Sy14shQbQVSJjh5Z6jS771DiAaTtt8wQDct5hb7WsNTZJf2jxtaw4QJyXs6oZgx_W-fdB_f97f3x-QNKkI73XEpG4lhkmSGCH9Sqi9QUCv9aIbG1dNy7zJRnnJhy-VgcRXlzaInwHcfCAvZ-PQKSkPzurx7wujKvLe-2cI47EJVk9SKNnvRL0IP-ryoty9AuVtnqdhJVEiY1GjnvWfp4ZQ6nrkgjvIDJm5-Ze-xIYaWBLISDrfFvNP8jARZo5m1l_jRx_XtFhk5qU6-nWRpc5wVY3DBtTwiUgnHXoxikcRhDX1G6Ms6TPIiJe_W24agmvr_r_JdiU/p.jpeg?fv_content=true&size_mode=5>
<i m g scr=https://ucf016784af1e7f99b8de0887a09.previews.dropboxusercontent.com/p/thumb/AAxN0FT5rQmKf6NrsXQ32ldyGYAjyn7oT48PrPHYXE6BroldXyJDHeiCnL5UhA0l1FJccTh2yVyXc5UwEYYPuZKs7iv70EP5sEcPa6xmjXvbvKPT2W5d878-aaXQokf18OV4AWRlwoq57snLDOWnwgy1xafBSY74xA1kub1Mi3esxIJ14QHhivy9vs_fcgUAs4aAvH_9IDDBGjxdPZsWHq4-CMK2YpTWukqHeMm3S0hE437XsRqfLPiFiertcBOC_wjthPbM7t2uur-1hr653LvA49liTZyeYfXBHKaRK7ted9B7mvM75CaylYwoRMvmwCll_uJpxfoPLiVuMUpOXozzmZFHzazDlZ5xs_V9P2BrdKNnqvGvSVU4gOVMdpTQymlVIGS_UIzWQ7vPU62oWWVr/p.png?fv_content=true&size_mode=5>
<i m g scr=https://uc86feec88b932674247df97f165.previews.dropboxusercontent.com/p/thumb/AAzrY7a8cg4CmCVi6h795axi55hkgWpxFR2c0Ho0BNW0f6vzOaRmOVvt-sv2fpYggj92u1dCr8RuMjPcgNTX1H0grtuVHW3d7fXFbepY96JGLayXRUiZ0Ai4bEjWVZQu3bA8xqqIqpRMRW524mtdAh2SUkFR3dGjC1THvSs8IG2lxVhb3Jo3RiSes6MdAUMJsMIxyvEQUkU0l_eMwzIEkmZVFept7LGO8riKLpwIU6WZe86YHxqyaIdRGKmfmgCXONBlkjjezyy8NlLTlfoXmYEXmimq6JVX-XLdfPG9zKvOt5fegPl5FfFNq67jtNDS_8gw9H4vsSkfYE_p_V8KZL5rO1xXpZSZ97MGWlB7xwAfyXWBBKAbYzba2Nhw7C8WkCjVqIkXffARMmyjGp0xah62/p.jpeg?fv_content=true&size_mode=5>
right click each image to get the properties of the image and select that for making them visible.

I went back in and they are no longer displaying which means its seeing the access as a hot link and its not allowed by drop box

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-25 20:44:37

For SpaceNut ... thanks for working on this little problem with me. I'm hoping future members will benefit from the learning experience.

Apparently Dropbox is OK for URL access but not for image display. Your solution worked for a while, so I'm not clear on what happened.

However, more to the point ... what is a site that would be more favorable for storing images which are to be displayed in the NewMars forum?

Thanks for continuing to support this attempt to document an important feature of the NewMars experience.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2020-05-26 16:45:51

We have seen some of this before and GW has been through it as well for posting images from his website...

The forum currently have image and avatars turned off due to the size of server requirement to save this important data. I think the space issue may have been resolved but it would be up to the IT group to indicate that it can be turned back on.

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-26 17:40:13

For SpaceNut re posting images ...

Your format for the Dropbox images is working (or was the last time I checked). I ** think ** congestion on the Internet is a factor in whether a fetch of an image works. The period when your links were failing coincided with a period when I was experiencing significant packet loss.

This next request is sure to try your patience, but I have not yet learned how to "right click" on an image and discover the properties that will allow it to be shown.

I went back and checked, and the ONLY images I've been able to post were ones I found on the Internet in locations from which they could be pulled with just a simple link to them, ending with .jpg (.png, .jpeg and one other you listed).

Because I am a regular member, I cannot see the hidden text that you created to post the Lockbox images.

It would have had a format something like this: [ i m g ] url of image (something you added) [ / i m g]

Is the secret this text: .png?fv_content=true&size_mode=5

What does fv_content=true mean?

I guess it's time to go read the BBCODE documentation more carefully!

Edit #1: OK ... I went back and looked and found only one line that shows how to set up an [ i m g ] ...

One thing I ** did ** pick up on is how to add text to the prefix to make a label for the image.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2020-05-26 17:45:15)

SpaceNut · 2020-05-26 19:21:40

I took a peek at the page source code and it has the image tags as seen with the added secret text so is for how it displays in the coding for html.

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-26 20:36:11

For SpaceNut ... imgur.com was suggested in a post at FluxBB.org.

Version 12 of Cushion Guide

Above was posted as: [ i m g=Version 12 of Cushion Guide]https://imgur.com/a/c9ZPEJA[/ i m g]

I tried adding ?fv_content=true&size_mode=5 but it didn't make a difference

The link to imgur.com is: https://imgur.com/a/c9ZPEJA

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (Today 22:34:22)

Come to think of it, RobertDyck has posted many images.

And the recent post by Midoshi includes a gif.

Perhaps the problem with the imgur link is that it does not end in one of the required file types.

Edit#2 ... I went back and looked at a post about Epcot in Florida, where the imgur.com images show up!

[ i m g ]https://imgur.com/KeKHa6G.jpg[ / i m g ]

Note that jpg was added.

I'll try that for the 3D image:

Version 12 of Cushion Guide

Neither jpg nor png worked.

Now I'll try the link from the Epcot post:

Version 12 of Cushion Guide

Apparently something's changed at imgur.com ...

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2020-05-26 21:09:15)

SpaceNut · 2020-05-26 21:08:42

The epcot image for the first time in did not show until I went to the link for that image once its in the computers cache it was able to show when the newmars page was reloaded.

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-26 21:12:14

For SpaceNut re #12 ... I still trying to post images. The environment appears to have changed in the past year.

It's more trouble than it was a year ago. Thanks for trying to help.

For now, when posting new content, I'll just ask anyone who's interested to click on the url link.

I did get the pre-packaged image of the yellow chain to work, but that was not original artwork.

Edit#1 after thinking about it overnight ... SpaceNut, I think you spotted the issue a while back, but I didn't realize the scope of the situation

The imgur.com images I posted in the Epcot post were from a year ago. At that time (I am guessing of course) imgur.com may have been operating under a business model to try to encourage use for free, and they did not encumber the images I posted with advertising.

However, a year has gone by, and both Dropbox and (apparently) imgur.com are packaging the free delivery of images with advertising. This is understandable, but it does change the dynamics of automatic loading by the FluxBB software.

Your comment about the images not showing up when you looked for them in the Epcot post makes sense now that I think about it. Your thought was that the images might have been delayed if they were not in **your** computer's cache, but I suspect there could be more involved. Those images are stored in a free service that has to pay for the storage, bandwidth and CPU cycles to pull the images out of wherever they are and ship them to the customer.

I am confident that such a free service would be looking for the least expensive way to store data like that, and an online disk or SSD device would (surely) not be the least expensive storage system. In times past, commercial (and government) entities maintained huge libraries of tape backup cartridges, which were accessed robotically as needed. Something like that could be happening here.

Or, perhaps the storage is rotating media, but on much slower and therefore cheaper drives, and ** they may ** be spun down between calls for data.

In any case, it seems possible that FluxBB gives a few microseconds or perhaps a few milliseconds at most for an image to automatically show up, and it just gives up and proceeds to display what it can to avoid excessive response time display.

To test this theory I just called up the Epcot images on a computer that has never visited NewMars.com. The images are immediately available.

The images could NOT have been locally stored. They ** must ** have been retrieved from imgur.com. The fast response means (as a working premise) that imgur.com has moved these images out of cold storage to warm storage for the time being, to have them available if there is continued interest.

Eventually, if images are not accessed, (I am guessing of course) they may be allowed to expire from the warm storage.

Since the purpose of ** this **topic is to try to help new forum members who want to try to post images, I think it is reasonable to predict that if you link to an image supplied by an online resource where the image ends in .jpg, .png, .gif or .jpeg, then it can be posted here using the standard [ i m g ] format.

If you want to display original content, you can use Dropbox or imgur.com, but just don't expect instant/automatic loading by FluxBB.

Instead, provide a link to to the image and add the text: Right click on this icon to see image.

It's slower but it appears to work. The opportunity to WOW the reader is lost, but you can partially make up for that with text that invites the reader to take a look at the image.

Edit #2: Here is the image display format used by Tmcom in his latest post: h t t p s://i.imgur.com/gOq9cFj.jpg

I just went back to the post of Tmcom of early 2017, and the image came up instantly. That fast response suggests to me that the activity of a member of imgur.com may help to insure fast response to an image request. Since Tmcom is posting new images to imgur.com frequently, it is possible that imgur is simply keeping ** all ** his content in warm storage.

I just thought of ** another ** possiblity.

imgur.com provides a free link-to-image service that does ** not ** require the content be posted to their community.

I wonder if Tmcom ** is ** posting to the community, and then calling the images from there.

That is an experiment worth considering.

SpaceNut, if this investigation interests you, you could open an account with imgur.com, and then post an image of the family pet to the community there.

It would be interesting to know if the link provided by imgur.com is free of the advertising which my unposted images are getting.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2020-05-27 07:14:47)

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-27 07:43:47

For SpaceNut .... Your version of the link to the DropBox images is still working this morning.

The link you generated is ** much ** longer than the short little version provided by Dropbox, which I posted.

Please think about the process you used. It had to have been different from what I used as the content creator. Whatever ** you ** used is working.

What Dropbox provided to me is ** not ** being automatically loaded by FluxBB.

You would have followed the link Dropbox provided, but then what did you do?

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-27 07:49:49

For SpaceNut ....

Update 2020/05/28 ... the display method that worked yesterday is not working a day later.

As an experiment, I tried to follow the trail you might have followed to successfully generate the image from Dropbox.

I followed the link that Dropbox provided, and then took the hint you gave, of right clicking on the image as displayed by Dropbox.

That produced a ** long ** url, which I will now try to post here:

If that works, it means original content CAN be displayed.

Edit #1: Good Grief! It worked !!! Thanks!

Edit#1: The display method attempted here only worked for one day.

Right clicking on the icon above produces this result:

Error (410)
Something went wrong. Don't worry, your files are still safe and the Dropboxers have been notified. Check out our Help Center and forums for help, or head back to home.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2020-05-28 08:10:28)

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-28 10:19:55

For SpaceNut ... There is another wrinkle to the challenge of display of images in NewMars forum.

Today I discovered that Chromium (in Linux) and FireFox (in Linux) do NOT necessarily respond to image display commands the same way!

The three long-url links to Dropbox show up in Chromium, but they were not even shown as possibilities in FireFox.

Meanwhile, a link from imgur.com is working in both browsers.

(th)

louis · 2020-05-29 03:49:39

That could explain the reason I experience similar difficulties TA!

tahanson43206 wrote:

For SpaceNut ... There is another wrinkle to the challenge of display of images in NewMars forum.
Today I discovered that Chromium (in Linux) and FireFox (in Linux) do NOT necessarily respond to image display commands the same way!
The three long-url links to Dropbox show up in Chromium, but they were not even shown as possibilities in FireFox.
Meanwhile, a link from imgur.com is working in both browsers.
(th)

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-29 04:31:35

Thanks for adding to this topic, Louis!

There are other browsers and (of course) multiple other platforms, so it is probably not surprising that everyone writing code is not necessarily keeping up with changes in every aspect of Internet convention.

This topic is offered in hopes NewMars members will document little quirks they find, as well as basic procedures or (as SpaceNut has done) point out buttons that can provide documentation. I went over a year not realizing that the little displays under the Quick Reply window can be used to learn about the topics.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2020-08-02 09:09:26

GW Johnson wrote:

Spacenut:
How are you managing to post these images? Assume I am almost computer-illiterate when you answer that. Because I am.
GW

this is the page without the url http://newmars.com/forums/help.php#url or img http://newmars.com/forums/help.php#img enclosures which are use in BBCode Format of the line pictue format.

How you get the image address depends a bit on the browser you are using.

The line instruction looks like this one less the =FluxBB bbcode test and the produces FluxBB bbcode test but with no space*
all you need is the address for the image from the website that you want to post. It can not be a created image that is on the computer.

[img *=FluxBB bbcode test]http://newmars.com/forums/img/test.png[ */img] produces FluxBB bbcode test

here is the meter from your website image address with a * to stop the process that would change it into a link
*https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-66L2wAowWmg/XxzkbkaDYBI/AAAAAAAAElo/uN9Mz0Kc0qofCIdfIzrv2IU0zFg8hxXyQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/battery%2Btools%2B3.jpg*

SpaceNut · 2020-08-09 15:09:39

post shifting happens more when its part of quote command others not as much.

SpaceNut wrote:

CalTech2010 wrote:
I'm a VETERAN MEMBER! As George Jefferson would say, [i:post_uid0]Movin' on up the ladder, Wezzi![/i:post_uid0]
this is the artifact containing post #11 (:post_uid0) that was with the font italic command

SpaceNut · 2020-09-01 17:48:41

This as close as we have to a FAQ area thats already established

SpaceNut · 2020-09-01 17:51:21

Good question for subscript characters

tahanson43206 wrote:

For RobertDyck re #228
I noticed your mastery of font selection in Post #228 ...
How did you generate the exponent in meters squared?
And, how did you generate the Greek character Pi ?
Copying text in is a technique that I have seen in the forum in the past, but it looks as though you might have typed it in directly?
(th)

SpaceNut · 2020-09-01 17:52:14

RobertDyck wrote:

tahanson43206 wrote:
I noticed your mastery of font selection in Post #228 ...
How did you generate the exponent in meters squared?
And, how did you generate the Greek character Pi ?
Copying text in is a technique that I have seen in the forum in the past, but it looks as though you might have typed it in directly?
If your computer runs Windows 10, open start menu, go down to "W", open the folder titled "Windows Accessories". One of the programs is "Character Map". When that opens, you can click on a specific character, then click the button "Select". The character will appear in the box "Characters to copy". Then click the "Copy" button to put it (or them) on the clip board. Go back to your browser and paste. Several useful characters "°¹²³¢¼½¾±÷". Greek letters are found by scrolling down. The first character is actually the degree symbol. If you click on that, along the bottom you see "U+00B0: Degree Sign", this gives you the unicode. Bottom right you will see "Keystroke: Alt+0176". I use the degree symbol so often that I've memorized it. So just hold the Alt key, and on the numeric keypad type 0176, then release the Alt key.
Character Map is a standard feature of Windows, from Windows 95 to Windows 10. I think it was in Windows 3.0 and 3.1.
:Edit: I use Character Map so often that I put a link in the tiles of my start menu. Made it a small tile. And yes, I've removed all the ads from my tiles.

SpaceNut · 2020-09-01 17:52:52

tahanson43206 wrote:

For RobertDyck re #230
Thanks for the helpful reminder! Linux offers something similar. I called up OpenOffice.org Writer and found Special Characters as an option in "Insert"
This may be Epsilon: ψ
Yay! It worked!
Nice! Thanks!
Learning this environment is an incremental process. SpaceNut gave/provided the insight to use * in the Search feature, and my search success has improved dramatically.
Your tip will surely be helpful in the future.
(th)

SpaceNut · 2020-09-01 17:54:25

tahanson43206 wrote:

For SpaceNut ... Hoping your automobile replacement plan is working!
Today, RobertDyck passed along a tip for entering special characters into the forum posts.
The key element of his advice that I found most valuable was the insight that the web server (?php?) supports Unicode characters.
He then reminded me that Windows 10 (or in fact all Microsoft OS) support generation of special characters from within such programs as Word.
That reminded ** me ** that Linux supports a similar capability.
Not long ago, you improved my ability to search by telling me about the "*" suffix that can be added to insure that FluxBB doesn't look for strings that end in space or period.
Today, I tossed FluxBB a search for "faq" in the title line, and the results were null.
I'd like to suggest starting a FAQ Frequently Asked Questions topic in Meta New Mars.
Over time, that topic could build up quite a useful collection for regular members (who want to refresh) or for new members with a lot to learn.
Since the title of a new topic (probably) cannot be changed, before you create the new topic (assuming you decide to do so), here are a couple more
terms that could go into the text of the topic title: tips help
The result would be something like: FAQ tips help for members of NewMars forum
(th)

Seems I am late to the party but its got an answer that all can find now...

New Mars Forums

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#1 2020-05-23 07:09:22

HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#2 2020-05-23 09:06:17

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#3 2020-05-23 12:10:34

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#4 2020-05-23 12:19:26

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#5 2020-05-25 20:15:53

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#6 2020-05-25 20:31:49

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#7 2020-05-25 20:44:37

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#8 2020-05-26 16:45:51

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#9 2020-05-26 17:40:13

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#10 2020-05-26 19:21:40

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#11 2020-05-26 20:36:11

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#12 2020-05-26 21:08:42

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#13 2020-05-26 21:12:14

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#14 2020-05-27 07:43:47

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#15 2020-05-27 07:49:49

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#16 2020-05-28 10:19:55

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#17 2020-05-29 03:49:39

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#18 2020-05-29 04:31:35

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#19 2020-08-02 09:09:26

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#20 2020-08-09 15:09:39

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#21 2020-09-01 17:48:41

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#22 2020-09-01 17:51:21

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#23 2020-09-01 17:52:14

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#24 2020-09-01 17:52:52

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

#25 2020-09-01 17:54:25

Re: HowTo Write FluxBB Commands

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