It has been several months since the site transitioned to Discourse. I want to check in to make sure things are going smoothly for you all. I’ve received only a couple of messages asking for help since the transition which is encouraging.
I don’t have plans to change anything going forward unless there are specific problems that need to be addressed.
I want to thank our hard working moderators @Nigel_Garvey and @ccstone for keeping the site tidy. And thank you all for your continued contributions to the site.
I’ll tell you about my perception. At first, I didn’t like that MacScripter had changed, but after a few weeks I realized that MacScripter only benefited from the new design.
The transition of the site itself seemed to go perfectly and it hasn’t taken long for us members to get used to the new facilities and formatting codes. I still occasionally have to guess what some of the moderator buttons mean when posts are flagged for attention (“Agree” and “Disagree” are delightfully ambiguous), but I don’t think I’ve made any serious errors so far!
Since the transition, we’ve gained a few more “regulars” and I get the impression there are usually more members logged in at any one time than there used to be towards the end on the old site. A pretty successful move, I’d say.
I only wonder if Discourse offers an option to add a Code Block icon (like, for example, on Apple forums):
It adds those three backticks automatically.
It could help eliminate the code formatting confusion that new users often experience. (I myself went through this back when I started posting on LNS forum).
It adds those three backticks automatically.
It could help eliminate the code formatting confusion that new users often experience. (I myself went through this back when I started posting on LNS forum).
Hmm. I’m seeing the same as @leo_r. The </> button only formats for “Preformatted text” (as its mouse-over label suggests), either by bracketing single lines or parts thereof with single backticks or by indenting multiple lines by four spaces. It doesn’t provide the three backticks above and below which are the only way I know to have AppleScript code rendered with colours and an “Open in Script Editor” button. I hadn’t noticed before as I usually prepare my posts in a text editor before starting to post them. I agree, it would be nice to have a dedicated “AppleScript” button in MacScripter if it’s possible.
After checking the forum regularly during last months I noticed that new users keep struggling posting formatted code. They have to be constantly advised to manually enclose the code inside a set of three backticks above and below the code. Which exactly reminded me my own struggle back in the day. This obscure “three backticks” feature isn’t too easy to discover and figure out.
Yesterday I went to Apple’s developer forums - and was surprised that they actually offer both options (where Inline Code is same as </> here and Code Block is the three backticks we need). Because otherwise Apple’s forums are way more primitive than Discourse and offer less options.
P.S. @rkaplan: I can assure you that you’ll run into issues sooner or later by using just the </> option. It just doesn’t provide the three backticks necessary for proper code formatting.
I took another run through all of Discourse’s Posting Editor settings and it turns out there is a way to switch between 4-space indentation and code fencing for the Code button ().
Now, when you select a block of code and press the Code button you’ll get the three-backtick fences:
).