I would like to have HTML code for me on so I can quote in posts. I just tried to quote, but couldn’t. Can you turn it on for me?
You can use [ quote ] and [ /quote ] instead of <quote> and </quote>. (Remove the space between [ and quote, though.)
There are many many reasons why pure HTML was turned off.
And I would like to have Gina Gershon be my personal masseuse but that ain’t gonna happen either.
Seriously, if you want to see why HTML is turned off board-wide read this thread. I don’t even think it would be possible to allow HTML for individual posters even if we wanted to.
The reason quoting won’t work is the thread you tried is closed.
To quote from a closed thread, cut and paste the name and message into this format:**
**
This appears as
I didn’t know it was off board-wide. I thought it was a preference thing you chose at registration. Shows how much I forgot. Thanks. I’ll [ quote ] instead of <quote> next time. I guess it’s resolved now.
For another reason why html is off see this thread
Can you imagine people posting in multi-color huge fonts? Yikes!
Actually, the people who remember the board when it was that way speak fondly of it. Many are now at OpalCat’s forum, where HTML is allowed and enjoyed.
Oh, and they just added a clever area called a GroupBoard where you can creating cartoons on the spot and post them.
Announcement of it http://fff.fathom.org/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000337.html
Group board http://fff.fathom.org/ubb/groupboard.fhtml
ShakeNBake, if you read the thread to which Alphagene provided a link, you will see that some people spoke fondly of it, and some didn’t, if we’re discussing the issue of HTML. Of course there’s always the “good old days” effect where people will say “I liked the board better way back then”, but I don’t know if it’s the lack of HTML that prompts that comment.
I remember myself that I thought some posters used HTML excessively in their posts. Of course there was also the fact that someone used HTML in a thread to cause the advertisement at the top of the page to disappear for anyone viewing the thread. Or another example would be when a poster included a huge image in a thread to discourage people from viewing it since the poster didn’t like some of the comments in that thread.
I think that the community here at the SDMB is so large and rambunctious that we can’t depend on the “good behaviour” of all of the members. At a board such as 3FMB which is a smaller group of “buddies” where everyone knows each other, the atmosphere is more suitable to giving posters greater latitude in what actions are allowed.
Other boards, other experiences, other options, other choices. All of which has nothing to do with this board, our choices, and this thread.
You miss the point, ShakeNBake.
your humble TubaDiva
Adminstrator
Zamboni–also, the vB code link at the top of the reply page will tell you how to quote, as well as how to use bolding, italics, underscoring, etc. Until you get the hang of it, you can copy off their examples and replace the material inside the codes with whatever you’re trying to quote.
You think *I *misssed the point?
Funny, I think you did.
My point was "August West- Actually, the people who remember the board when it was that way speak fondly of it. Many are now at OpalCat’s forum, where HTML is allowed and enjoyed. "
No more, no less. I wasn’t saying you should turn it on here, just that August West wasn’t aware of the possibilities. Also, that OpalCat has some fun stuff.
I stand by both of those comments.
And I’d like it if HTML was only turned on for the good people, and not for the bad people. Then, the good people could make appropriate font changes, and post moderately-sized images from sites for which they’re paying their own bandwidth, and let us all play with the neat (but not resource-intensive) little javascript games that they wrote themselves, but the bad people wouldn’t be able to kill a thread with a single </html> tag, or make a page auto-load an endless number of porn sites, or crash everybody’s computer when they look at the thread. We can do that, can’t we? Just make the software magically able to tell the difference between good people and bad people.
All right Chronos, I feel dumb enough! 
I didn’t know it was off for the whole board. I just thought it was a preferences thing.
I have no idea what the permission levels are in vBulletin, but doing my share of security group assignments in SQL, I can imagine. I’m going answer your sarcastic question seriously, though:
Can’t vBulletin assign different permissions to the different status levels? I mean, there are Members, Moderators, Administrators, and just one Perfect Master. Moderators and Administrators (and, the Perfect Master, too, I’d assume) can move, edit, and lock threads. Administrators can delete threads.
Not that I’m suggesting that a deeper caste system be implimented here, but I would imagine that it is possible.
If the software COULD determine good people from bad people, I’d bet a lot of the decisions would surprise you. You seem to tolerate some people that I bet any fair-minded automaton would have banned years ago. 
But seriously, I think the sotware could easily pick and choose what would and wouldn’t be dangerous. It has to do that now with the vB codes, after all. All the cases you site are predictable, and would be just as likely done in error as on purpose, so the good/bad people thing is not relevant.
Not at that level, no. For most things on the board you either have the right to post or you don’t and that’s about it.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
Forget about it. I just quoted twice, so I don’t need help now. I hope this thread is locked before it turns into a debate over who is good and bad enough to have and not have HTML.
Just because you started this conversation doesn’t mean it’s still about you.
People like to toss what-if around. They don’t really want answers, just to talk a little longer.
OK Mr. Ps and Qs, I won’t talk, but I’ll listen! I might talk once in a while.