# Mouseover previews and subscribed thread emails should omit contents of spoiler tags? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 19, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mouseover-previews-and-subscribed-thread-emails-should-omit-contents-of-spoiler-tags/619250 "2012-04-19T05:28:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mouseover-previews-and-subscribed-thread-emails-should-omit-contents-of-spoiler-tags/619250/1 "2012-04-19T05:28:47Z")
In response to [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14980229&postcount=208). It’s a known bug that spoiler tags do not function in mouseover previews of the first post of a thread, but having never subscribed to a SDMB thread I was not aware of this second problem. As this is obviously unintuitive - the whole point of spoiler tags is so you don’t have to worry about this - would the admins mind fixing this problem for those who are bothered by it? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mouseover-previews-and-subscribed-thread-emails-should-omit-contents-of-spoiler-tags/619250/2 "2012-04-19T05:37:45Z")
While you’re at it, I’d like a pony. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mouseover-previews-and-subscribed-thread-emails-should-omit-contents-of-spoiler-tags/619250/3 "2012-04-19T08:09:31Z")
If people would just put brackets around anything in spoilers, it would fix both problems. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mouseover-previews-and-subscribed-thread-emails-should-omit-contents-of-spoiler-tags/619250/4 "2012-04-19T19:06:54Z")
But will it fix the I-still-don’t-have-a-pony problem? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mouseover-previews-and-subscribed-thread-emails-should-omit-contents-of-spoiler-tags/619250/5 "2012-04-19T19:19:26Z")
**Gruuman** , I don’t know the answer to your question. I’ll try and see if we can find someone who does know the technical reasons behind this. **BigT** can you tell me what you mean about brackets? ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mouseover-previews-and-subscribed-thread-emails-should-omit-contents-of-spoiler-tags/619250/6 "2012-04-20T00:42:57Z")
I’m afraid there’s no elegant solution available. We cannot keep the email notifications from showing spoilers – it prints as plaintext so what it sees is what it sees. It just skips over all that pesky coding. I’m sorry there’s not a fix for this. I guess if you really don’t want to know you need to not get email notifications. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mouseover-previews-and-subscribed-thread-emails-should-omit-contents-of-spoiler-tags/619250/7 "2012-04-20T03:08:07Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > It just skips over all that pesky coding. So it’s not possible for it to read anything starting with [spoiler and ending with /spoiler] as one big piece of coding? ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mouseover-previews-and-subscribed-thread-emails-should-omit-contents-of-spoiler-tags/619250/8 "2012-04-20T03:56:22Z")
Apparently not. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mouseover-previews-and-subscribed-thread-emails-should-omit-contents-of-spoiler-tags/619250/9 "2012-04-20T03:59:42Z")
Perhaps people who feel inclined to post spoilers right at the top of their post should refrain from doing so, and include a paragraph or two of etaoin shrdlu first? Or maybe lorem ipsum; I’m easy. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mouseover-previews-and-subscribed-thread-emails-should-omit-contents-of-spoiler-tags/619250/10 "2012-04-20T04:09:38Z")
That’s a good idea. WTG, Ethrilrist! Maybe we can come up with a stock line that we can use in such situations. We can always quote the Bard. > [@](#): > > _To be, or not to be: that is the question: > Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer > The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, > Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, > And by opposing end them?_ ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mouseover-previews-and-subscribed-thread-emails-should-omit-contents-of-spoiler-tags/619250/11 "2012-04-20T14:19:16Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Perhaps people who feel inclined to post spoilers right at the top of their post should refrain from doing so, and include a paragraph or two of etaoin shrdlu first? Or maybe lorem ipsum; I’m easy. When that happens, and it does, report the post and explain the problem, and a mod will be happy to add a bunch of period-returns to move the spoiler box out of mouse view.