# \*\*\* Warning! Spoiler Tags Not Working!!! \*\*\* (fixed) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2006, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450 "2006-02-21T06:43:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/1 "2006-02-21T06:43:56Z")
Something has screwed up the spoiler tags. We hope that Jerry the Tech God will have things fixed up in the morning (that will be Tuesday morning, Feb 21, Chicago time) … In the meantime, if you are sensitive and don’t want to see spoilers about a specific show or whatever, I suggest you keep away from any thread about that show until we get things fixed. For those who are new here: the spoiler tags are used to hide endings or other information that someone who hasn’t seen a movie might not want to know in advance. In Cafe Society forum especially, we tend to care about this. For more info (on how they’re **supposed** to work and normally do) see [Forum Rules](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343601) and note post #4. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/2 "2006-02-21T07:58:37Z")
hehheh, I’m deriving way too much perverse pleasure from this. Though I’m also a bit surprised that this type of bug is even possible. Did somebody turn on an accessibility feature? I can’t stand spoiler boxes. I read threads with the little trackball click-in scrolling on the mouse, and clicking the scroll off to triple click the spoiler boxes is annoying in the extreme. I don’t understand the mindset of wanting to talk about something I haven’t seen yet, especially if other people have already seen it. The desire to participate in the discussion of something where you contribute pointless speculation amidst other people discussing what they actually saw, and then to expect them to encode their conversation so as not to spoil it for the pointless speculators…well, my mind boggles. I’ve certainly never in my life had an actual conversation with somebody about something that either they or I had seen, the other had not and didn’t want it spoiled, and had it become a coy speculation game. It’s always been an abrupt “don’t say anything; I haven’t seen it yet” change of subject. I suppose it would be too much to hope for that spoiler boxes go away forever, and we just simply use “spoilers” and “no spoilers” warnings in thread titles, or “spoilers follow” as posts in the thread once a show has aired on the east coast. A guy can dream, right? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/3 "2006-02-21T09:05:16Z")
Well… let’s say the discussion starts out about something sort of neutral, like Agatha Christie’s writing style. If you’re in a conversation, and you want to make a point, you ask the other person, “Have you read _The Murder of Roger Acroyd_?” and she says, “No! Don’t spoil it for me!” … and you continue the discussion, avoiding that book. Online isn’t a conversation. The other person can’t say, “Wait! Stop! Don’t say anything!” … it’s too late. I agree that it’s much easier to use SPOILER warnings in the thread title, but note that often it’s not possible. The discussion could be about something else entirely – film techniques, an actor’s career, cigarettes in b&w cinematography, movie music, whatever – and someone tosses in a comment about crying when [character] died at the end of [movie.] So, there’s a spoiler stuck in the middle of a discussion that was ostensibly about something else. Again, in real life conversation, you could just ask the other person: have you seen _Old Yeller_? But online, that’s not possible. Hence the use of spoiler tags. I need to add that, as forum Moderator, I’ve had almost everything spoiled for me, because I have to read all the threads where they give away the secret. I was heartbroken to learn in advance that Snow White wasn’t really dead, just sleeping. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/4 "2006-02-21T09:36:30Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Online isn’t a conversation. The other person can’t say, “Wait! Stop! Don’t say anything!” … it’s too late. Good point. That sucks that you get spoiled for everything; that never occurred to me before. I guess there’s no way around that. Bummer. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/5 "2006-02-21T09:42:33Z")
Btw, here’s a temporaray workaround to use spoiler boxes until they come back online: > [@SPOILER](#): > > Temporary spoiler workaround. As an added bonus, it’s actually much easier on the eyes to read. To do it: > [@SPOILER](#): > > [COLOR=White]Temporary spoiler workaround.[/COLOR] The easiest way to do it is to use the little color dropdown box after selecting the spoiler text. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/6 "2006-02-21T13:19:06Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > Btw, here’s a temporaray workaround to use spoiler boxes until they come back online:As an added bonus, it’s actually much easier on the eyes to read. > > To do it: > > > [@SPOILER](#): > > > > [COLOR=White]Temporary spoiler workaround.[/COLOR] > > The easiest way to do it is to use the little color dropdown box after selecting the spoiler text. But then when the spoiler tags are working you’ll have white text on a black background, which will be very easy to inadvertantly read. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/7 "2006-02-21T14:19:55Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > But then when the spoiler tags are working you’ll have white text on a black background, which will be very easy to inadvertantly read. It’s not in a spoiler box, so it will be ok. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/8 "2006-02-21T14:23:23Z")
So just out of curiosity… …what happens when you try to make a spoiler box? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/9 "2006-02-21T14:53:04Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > So just out of curiosity… > > …what happens when you try to make a spoiler box? GAH! The spoiler boxes, they do nothing! ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/10 "2006-02-21T16:15:43Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > GAH! The spoiler boxes, they do nothing! But that’s the beauty of it! > [@Ellis Dee](#): > > I don’t understand the mindset of wanting to talk about something I haven’t seen yet, especially if other people have already seen it. The desire to participate in the discussion of something where you contribute pointless speculation amidst other people discussing what they actually saw, and then to expect them to encode their conversation so as not to spoil it for the pointless speculators…well, my mind boggles. I’ve gone into threads about books/movies/whatever I haven’t seen to see how people react and whether they like it. Unless there’s an upfront spoiler warning, I figure that spoilers will be boxed for at least the beginning of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/11 "2006-02-21T18:28:58Z")
test ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/12 "2006-02-21T19:27:22Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > I can’t stand spoiler boxes. I read threads with the little trackball click-in scrolling on the mouse, and clicking the scroll off to triple click the spoiler boxes is annoying in the extreme. Have you tried pressing control-A to select all the text on the page? I hate using the mouse unless it’s absolutely necessary, so that’s what I do. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/13 "2006-02-21T19:59:06Z")
Rosebud is Luke’s father! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/14 "2006-02-21T20:05:26Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Online isn’t a conversation. The other person can’t say, “Wait! Stop! Don’t say anything!” … it’s too late. I agree that it’s much easier to use SPOILER warnings in the thread title, but note that often it’s not possible. The discussion could be about something else entirely – film techniques, an actor’s career, cigarettes in b&w cinematography, movie music, whatever – and someone tosses in a comment about crying when [character] died at the end of [movie.] So, there’s a spoiler stuck in the middle of a discussion that was ostensibly about something else. So, what you’re saying is that [character] dies at the end of [movie]? Thanks a heap, **Dex**. ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/15 "2006-02-21T23:36:12Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > Rosebud is Luke’s father! …and he’s a ghost. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/16 "2006-02-22T01:41:05Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Have you tried pressing control-A to select all the text on the page? I hate using the mouse unless it’s absolutely necessary, so that’s what I do. That’s a great tip, thanks. It helps in that I won’t have to triple click, nor will I have to move the mouse anymore. (Using the trackball scrolling works best on the far right of the screen.) The only downside is that reading white text on a dark background is hard on the eyes, so I won’t be selecting the whole page for normal reading. Still, a great tip I found useful, so thanks. (Especially in a thread will tons of spoiler boxes; that type I probably will just Ctrl+A for the entire thing.) > [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > But then when the spoiler tags are working you’ll have white text on a black background, which will be very easy to inadvertantly read. As **Rysto** already pointed out, the idea is to use quote tags instead of spoiler tags to avoid the exact problem you noted. I see that a whole day has passed with no change, so the quote tags with white text may be our best bet for the time being. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/17 "2006-02-22T09:45:27Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > …I see that a whole day has passed with no change, so the quote tags with white text may be our best bet for the time being. Try this with quote tags (test) (test) 2HopefullyInvisibleCharacters CMC ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/18 "2006-02-23T00:45:49Z")
They are working now! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/19 "2006-02-23T03:16:24Z")
I’ve edited the thread title as this has been fixed. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450/20 "2006-02-23T03:25:16Z")
What was it?!?! Inquiring minds need to know. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-spoiler-tags-not-working-fixed/345450.md?page=2)