If you use Mozilla Firefox, there are two little extensions you can use to help out. One is bbCodeXtra/htmlExtra, and the other is Insert Signature.
You might be interested in a Firefox extension that I've been coding called FRstyle for a while. Started as a Stylish script, revamped to Greasemonkey, now a full extension. Only released to a small beta test group (including John Robinson who codes FR's Perl now). Some screenshots at Photobucket (each link opens in a new tab or window).
thread view
posting comments view
embedded YouTube video
Sloppy code, I'm still working on it, testing features, removing stuff I don't like. I like the embedding of YouTubes, the easy editing, the styles that are easier on the eye than black text on white. Well, chances are I'll never release it publicly the way things are now here at FR. Not worth the trouble and interest isn't strong anyway. FR is very largely a crowd of older folk who run the browser that came with their machine (IE on Windows, Safari on Mac).
Styria, AJAX is a technique to organize data via standard XML data techniques and using Javascript to manipulate pages and offer features
while a web page is loading. This allows for lots of 'live' features, updating only the parts of a page that have changed, integrating with blogs and services like MySpace, Facebook, etc. One of the more obvious applications would be the kind of things I do with Firefox (pics above) but on all browsers. A highly desirable feature would be live updates where your browser would send off a request every so many seconds requesting a page refresh of threads you currently have open, e.g. you have a thread open and the last post is #70 and after 60 seconds, your browser fires off a request telling the FR server the thread URL and post #70 and then it sends back a response with posts 71-80 which have been posted in the last 60 seconds. It would give FR a live feel and eliminate a lot of extra full-page refreshes, save server bandwitdth. You could also include the posting stuff right on the webpage, not take the user to a separate posting page. Again, less bandwidth, fewer clicks, fewer page loads, more immediate responses.
Ajax (programming) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wow, wow, wow! That would be a fantastic addition to the user's toolbox. Don't give up on it--surely there are enough people who would love it. I would, and I'm in my fifties!
Sincerely,
d
Interesting-looking beta. Stay with it, you may have something here. Thanks for all the work, too.