# Problem children / punch list for fixes / TIPS AND TRICKS **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 22, 2020, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044 "2020-06-22T01:21:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2020, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/304 "2020-06-24T23:26:43Z")
There were cases on the old, vBulletin board where someone would follow a lengthy post, quote it in its entirety and add a single-line reply. Even if you’re quoting the immediate past post, you could at least quote only part of it. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2020, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/305 "2020-06-24T23:34:25Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > There were cases on the old, vBulletin board where someone would follow a lengthy post, quote it in its entirety and add a single-line reply. Even if you’re quoting the immediate past post, you could at least quote only part of it You actually can work around, if you really want to quote the whole post even if yours is the next one up, by quoting all of it except a letter or two. I think even just leaving out a period at the end will work. Testing – yup. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2020, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/306 "2020-06-24T23:38:38Z")
Why would you want or need to work around that? Why would you need to quote the post right above yours? ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/307 "2020-06-24T23:39:33Z")
Threads like this, fer instance, where there’s not just one topic. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/308 "2020-06-24T23:43:49Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Why would you want or need to work around that? Why would you need to quote the post right above yours? I have noticed that the new board allows posters to delete their post. I’ve seen threads on other sites where a poster will have posted what is obviously a point by point takedown of another post, but this takedown comes off a bit incoherent because the other poster has deleted or drastically edited their post. Until the posts can’t be deleted without warning, I want the reply to quote the post being replied to. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/309 "2020-06-25T00:17:43Z")
I don’t know if this is still the best place to report bugs, but I did notice that the rules for great debates formatting was pretty broken. And then, when I went to go to it to give an example, I found that it became unstickied, and I can’t find it again. I think there was a thread about posts getting unstickied, I’ll have to go check that out, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/310 "2020-06-25T02:06:40Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > But there should be no reason _to_ quote a post in its entirety in the following post. So that functioning of Discourse is actually doing the right thing. > > > [@Post A](#): > > > > Are you insane? > > > [@Post B](#): > > > > You don’t really believe that, do you? > > > [@Post C](#): > > > > Are you serious? > > If I say Yes, who am I replying to? If you use the quote function, it will be obvious which you are replying to. If it is the post immediately before yours, it will strip the quote, but flow will continue conversationally. If you get ninaja’d, the quote will remain. I think it’s a pretty brilliant tool, even though I still get surprised when I lose my quote (old habits…). ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/311 "2020-06-25T03:06:04Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > > > Not impressed by the search feature. I’ve try finding an old thread of mine from 2013 and could not find any results no matter how I put it in. I believe it was called “Ask the guy who was stabbed in the heart”. I search under my user name (Si\_Amigo) and a combination of words in the title but no luck.  > > I’m assuming that the search index hasn’t completed yet. This seems to be exactly correct. I’m finding all sorts of new and old threads now in the advanced search box. Si\_Amigo, your thread was called “Ask The Guy Who Was Stabbed Next To His Heart”. I found it by searching “stabbed in the heart” but without quotes, filtered by you as OP. The shortcut for that would be to type the following in the search bar: > [@](#): > > stabbed in the heart @Si_Amigo ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/312 "2020-06-25T03:31:09Z")
CRITICAL – Stop hikacking my private email. By default, replies to my post are emailed to me. If I use the routine inbox procedure to send an email reply, my reply goes to the whole world on SDMB… If I send a message from my email, I don’t want any way, by accident or design, for that message to be disseminated to anyone but the intended recipient. This is a really fucking serious violation of trust. See Thread Games, Topic Playlist for details, I don’t have timr to learn how to link to it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/313 "2020-06-25T03:37:57Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > But there should be no reason _to_ quote a post in its entirety in the following post. So that functioning of Discourse is actually doing the right thing. I prefer to make my own decisions on issues of writing style. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/314 "2020-06-25T03:41:09Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > CRITICAL – Stop hikacking my private email. By default, replies to my post are emailed to me. If I use the routine inbox procedure to send an email reply, my reply goes to the whole world on SDMB… > > If I send a message from my email, I don’t want any way, by accident or design, for that message to be disseminated to anyone but the intended recipient. This is a really fucking serious violation of trust. Reply by Email is a nightmare just waiting to happen. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/315 "2020-06-25T03:48:37Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > Reply by Email is a nightmare just waiting to happen Could you elaborate on what happened here? What went wrong? ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/316 "2020-06-25T03:54:35Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Could you elaborate on what happened here? What went wrong? It basically lets you post replies and make new topics from email. Most of the time, it works ok. But when it goes flooey, it’s a PITA. Plus most people new to Discourse don’t know about it, and they get a surprise. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/317 "2020-06-25T03:57:09Z")
^^ Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/318 "2020-06-25T04:06:51Z")
But my reply may not be the “following post”. but several posts later. How does a reader guess what post I am replying to? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/319 "2020-06-25T04:38:27Z")
In the upper right hand corner, there is the name of the poster that you are replying to. If you click the name, the post will pop up. ETA: interestingly, it doesn’t seem to show up for my own posts. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/320 "2020-06-25T06:58:40Z")
I noticed this oddball thing: I get e-mail notifications of new posts that the platform thinks are relevant for me – but only while I am not signed on here. Here’s the odd thing: Some of these e-mails I get show up in my inbox, and some show up in my spam folder, seemingly at random as far as I can figure. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/321 "2020-06-25T07:00:27Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I noticed this oddball thing: I get e-mail notifications of new posts that the platform thinks are relevant for me – but only while I am not signed on here. That’s under your email preferences (if you were asking about that part of your post) ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/322 "2020-06-25T16:50:29Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > **Old quote tags do not work and show in plaintext.** > > Newly made quotes and spoilers tags are operational. Does anyone know to make that work? I can quote posters, but earlier today I tried to quote a newspaper article, and just got plaintext quotes. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044/323 "2020-06-25T16:58:49Z")
> [@Kimera757](#): > > I can quote posters, but earlier today I tried to quote a newspaper article, and just got plaintext quotes. Did it have a paragraph break? If so (and you should probably just do it all the time), the [quote] and [/quote] tags have to be on lines all by themselves. You could also try \ / \ tags from HTML or the \> tag from Markdown. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-children-punch-list-for-fixes-tips-and-tricks/911044.md?page=17)