How to Quote Parts of a Post -- PLEASE LEARN HOW TO DO THIS!
Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 1:56 pm
Seriously...please learn this simple technique. Most of the time it’s not necessary to quote the whole of a previous post. If you only quote the lines you are specifically replying to, it not only makes your point clearer; it saves the rest of us from having to scroll past acres of quote to get to what you have to say. The boards are a lot easier to read if everyone takes the trouble to quote selectively!
HOW TO QUOTE PART OF A POST:
1) Copy the text you want to quote (by highlighting, copying etc).
2) Paste it into the composition box where you are writing your reply.
3) Highlight it again.
4) click on the button labelled "Quote" which appears above the composition box (next to bold, underline, italic buttons). This should have the effect of bracketing the text with things that look like: [quote] ... [/quote].
5) Hit the preview button to see what happened. If it worked, the text should now come out looking like a quote
If it isn’t working, check that you haven’t got the “disable BBcodes” box ticked (look below the Preview/Submit buttons).
Now the fancy stuff:
6) To preface the quotation with the poster’s name (ie "December Wrote") you have to go back and edit the first [quote]. Change it so it reads: [quote="December"] (You can do this by inserting the cursor after the "e" in "quote" and then typing the rest). If you do this EXACTLY (with quotation marks and no extraneous spaces), then when you submit or preview the quote should now say "December Wrote" at the top. If it doesn't work, check carefully that you haven't added or left out something.
7) If you want to quote something which itself has a quotation inside it, do it as follows:
• First, copy and paste the whole thing (steps 1-2 above). When you paste, you'll find that the inner quotation no longer appears as a quote -- it will have become ordinary text.
• Next, put the inner quotation into quote brackets (steps 3-6).
• Finally, do the same for the outer quotation. Sometimes the inner quotation runs right to the end of the text you want to quote (ie the outer quotation). If so, be sure and include it when you put quote brackets around the outer quote! Otherwise it won't end up INSIDE the outer quote).
The result should be nested quotations.
This is a first attempt at writing these instructions. If you find them confusing -- or they don't work -- please pm me and let me know!
HOW TO QUOTE PART OF A POST:
1) Copy the text you want to quote (by highlighting, copying etc).
2) Paste it into the composition box where you are writing your reply.
3) Highlight it again.
4) click on the button labelled "Quote" which appears above the composition box (next to bold, underline, italic buttons). This should have the effect of bracketing the text with things that look like: [quote] ... [/quote].
5) Hit the preview button to see what happened. If it worked, the text should now come out looking like a quote
If it isn’t working, check that you haven’t got the “disable BBcodes” box ticked (look below the Preview/Submit buttons).
Now the fancy stuff:
6) To preface the quotation with the poster’s name (ie "December Wrote") you have to go back and edit the first [quote]. Change it so it reads: [quote="December"] (You can do this by inserting the cursor after the "e" in "quote" and then typing the rest). If you do this EXACTLY (with quotation marks and no extraneous spaces), then when you submit or preview the quote should now say "December Wrote" at the top. If it doesn't work, check carefully that you haven't added or left out something.
7) If you want to quote something which itself has a quotation inside it, do it as follows:
• First, copy and paste the whole thing (steps 1-2 above). When you paste, you'll find that the inner quotation no longer appears as a quote -- it will have become ordinary text.
• Next, put the inner quotation into quote brackets (steps 3-6).
• Finally, do the same for the outer quotation. Sometimes the inner quotation runs right to the end of the text you want to quote (ie the outer quotation). If so, be sure and include it when you put quote brackets around the outer quote! Otherwise it won't end up INSIDE the outer quote).
The result should be nested quotations.
This is a first attempt at writing these instructions. If you find them confusing -- or they don't work -- please pm me and let me know!