69 votes

Markdown for strikethrough and tables is now enabled

Previously, the only way to do strikethrough or tables on Tildes was by using HTML. I've updated the markdown parser now so that it supports the methods of doing them through markdown. The Formatting help page on the docs has been updated as well with info about how they work.

I don't think there should be any conflicts between strikethrough and linking to groups, but it's possible that there are some weird edge cases, so please let me know if you notice anything. Generally, strikethrough requires you to have two tildes both before and after the text you want to strike out, whereas group links will only have one before. So something like This ~~should work~~ doesn't work will result in should work instead of a link to a group named ~should.

37 comments

  1. [3]
    Lazarus
    Link
    i love you thanks so much for all the hard work!

    i love you thanks so much for all the hard work!

    11 votes
    1. [2]
      frickindeal
      Link Parent
      This still works <del>This still works</del> ~So does this~ ~So does this~ Sorry, testing. Both still seem to work. I've used <del> </del> the few times I've had to do it so far.

      This still works

      <del>This still works</del>
      

      ~So does this~

      ~So does this~
      

      Sorry, testing. Both still seem to work. I've used <del> </del> the few times I've had to do it so far.

      1 vote
      1. Deimos
        Link Parent
        Yep, everything that you can do with markdown you can also do by just using HTML directly. The process works by converting markdown into HTML (and passing through any existing HTML), then running...

        Yep, everything that you can do with markdown you can also do by just using HTML directly. The process works by converting markdown into HTML (and passing through any existing HTML), then running the result from that through an HTML sanitizer. By writing HTML you're basically just skipping the first step.

        5 votes
  2. yellow
    Link
    New Feature Character Used Strikethrough Tildes Tables Pipes Cool
    New Feature Character Used
    Strikethrough Tildes
    Tables Pipes

    Cool

    11 votes
  3. [14]
    lars
    Link
    Thanks This is awesome. I like the labels too. Thanks for all the effort. Edit - I did a table and thought it didn't work at first because of the almost white on white in the alternated color...
    Thanks
    This
    is
    awesome.

    I like the labels too. Thanks for all the effort.

    Edit - I did a table and thought it didn't work at first because of the almost white on white in the alternated color column was confusing.

    4 votes
    1. [13]
      Amarok
      Link Parent
      We should copy one more feature from reddit... the [source] button under the replies. Or is that RES? I can't tell anymore. It'll help spread awareness of how to use all the fun toys when people...

      We should copy one more feature from reddit... the [source] button under the replies. Or is that RES? I can't tell anymore. It'll help spread awareness of how to use all the fun toys when people see them in the wild.

      9 votes
      1. [11]
        Deimos
        Link Parent
        That's RES. There's an issue for it though: https://gitlab.com/tildes/tildes/issues/67 Implementation-wise it's extremely simple, but my biggest concern with it is that we really don't need to put...

        That's RES. There's an issue for it though: https://gitlab.com/tildes/tildes/issues/67

        Implementation-wise it's extremely simple, but my biggest concern with it is that we really don't need to put a "Source" button on every single comment when it will almost never get used (maybe one time out of thousands and thousands of comments). So I'm not sure how I want to do it yet.

        7 votes
        1. 666
          Link Parent
          Use </> instead of the text source, align it to the right of the top bar, and load the source using ajax to avoid increasing page size too much (I know Voat includes all comment and post sources...

          Use </> instead of the text source, align it to the right of the top bar, and load the source using ajax to avoid increasing page size too much (I know Voat includes all comment and post sources in the generated html and that seems like a waste of bandwidth).

          A quick mockup I made: https://i.imgur.com/IScczLx.png (I used flex:2; text-align: right on a div with an a element inside, but I'm sure there are better ways to solve this).

          4 votes
        2. [9]
          tvfj
          Link Parent
          Here's an idea: [-] Deimos (OP) 6 hours, 27 minutes ago Link ⋯ ┌───────────────┐ │ Parent │ │ View markdown │ │ Report │ └───────────────┘

          Here's an idea:

          [-] Deimos (OP) 6 hours, 27 minutes ago Link ⋯
                                                      ┌───────────────┐
                                                      │ Parent        │
                                                      │ View markdown │
                                                      │ Report        │
                                                      └───────────────┘
          
          2 votes
          1. [8]
            Algernon_Asimov
            Link Parent
            A three-dot drop-down menu? Do you know how much absolutely vitriolic hate the developers at Reddit have been copping for the past few months because their redesign relies on three-dot drop-down...

            A three-dot drop-down menu? Do you know how much absolutely vitriolic hate the developers at Reddit have been copping for the past few months because their redesign relies on three-dot drop-down menus? People hate this design approach - especially when there's plenty of room to display all the menu options in line. Why add a second click to access an option when it can be available in only one click?

            Let's not put poor Deimos in that firing line. :)

            4 votes
            1. tvfj
              Link Parent
              People hate complicating things. Reddit complicated people's workflow by hiding things behind overflow menus. But Tildes is nice and simple, so complicating it is cluttering it with barely used...

              People hate complicating things. Reddit complicated people's workflow by hiding things behind overflow menus. But Tildes is nice and simple, so complicating it is cluttering it with barely used buttons.

              Good UX does involve limiting the number of clicks across the entire UI, but it doesn't mean we can't use basic menus. They don't have to be animated, or remotely loaded, or anything like that. Hell, you can make a basic menu like that with pure CSS and it'll be instant.

              If people really do care about having those buttons permanently visible, it could always be a setting. Could even let people choose specific items to have in the menu. Personally I prefer avoiding the clutter, so I would probably have most of them.

              4 votes
            2. [6]
              Amarok
              Link Parent
              There's also the option of adding this sort of stuff to a Tildes enhancement suite plugin. It's kinda inevitable that it'll exist. Those plugins would open up new ways of interacting with the site...

              There's also the option of adding this sort of stuff to a Tildes enhancement suite plugin. It's kinda inevitable that it'll exist. Those plugins would open up new ways of interacting with the site too.

              I think Deimos is right, given how infrequently something like that is clicked, it's a waste of space. We certainly don't want to be hiding things like 'report' behind a hamburger menu, either.

              1 vote
              1. [4]
                Algernon_Asimov
                Link Parent
                There's already a Tildes extension that people keep promoting all over the place.

                a Tildes enhancement suite plugin. It's kinda inevitable that it'll exist.

                There's already a Tildes extension that people keep promoting all over the place.

                2 votes
                1. [3]
                  Amarok
                  Link Parent
                  Is it a full browser plugin yet? I thought it was still just some utility scripts.

                  Is it a full browser plugin yet? I thought it was still just some utility scripts.

                  1. crius
                    Link Parent
                    It is. I had to slow down the development in the last month or so for a big increase of my daily job, but it is still active. @Bauke has completed the navigation by keyboard, it just need testing.

                    It is.

                    I had to slow down the development in the last month or so for a big increase of my daily job, but it is still active.

                    @Bauke has completed the navigation by keyboard, it just need testing.

                    2 votes
                  2. Algernon_Asimov
                    Link Parent
                    I don't know what those things are. I don't even know what the extension is. I just know people keep recommending it all over the place.

                    I don't know what those things are. I don't even know what the extension is. I just know people keep recommending it all over the place.

                    1 vote
              2. unknown user
                Link Parent
                :( then it's inaccessible to anyone on a phone...

                :( then it's inaccessible to anyone on a phone...

      2. lars
        Link Parent
        Yeah, I like the source function. I really like the white and black themes. I hope it stays simple. Using the black theme on mobile is amazing.

        Yeah, I like the source function. I really like the white and black themes. I hope it stays simple. Using the black theme on mobile is amazing.

        3 votes
  4. [3]
    Algernon_Asimov
    Link
    You might want to update the documentation about strikethrough: in this post, you've explained that we can use single tildes to strike through text, but the documentation demonstrates this with...

    You might want to update the documentation about strikethrough: in this post, you've explained that we can use single tildes to strike through text, but the documentation demonstrates this with double tildes. I've tested, and both methods work. You might want to update the documentation to reflect this.

    However... if you're worried about this feature clashing with links to groups, you could remove the ability for single tildes to enable strikethrough, and restrict it to double tildes only.

    4 votes
    1. Deimos
      Link Parent
      Yeah, seems to be any number that works. The official spec says it's double tildes, so I just went with that for the documentation too: https://github.github.com/gfm/#strikethrough-extension-

      Yeah, seems to be any number that works. The official spec says it's double tildes, so I just went with that for the documentation too: https://github.github.com/gfm/#strikethrough-extension-

      3 votes
    2. crius
      Link Parent
      I agree with making it works only with double tildes. No reason to complicate things with single tildes that require to determine if it is a strikethrough or a link to a group.

      I agree with making it works only with double tildes.

      No reason to complicate things with single tildes that require to determine if it is a strikethrough or a link to a group.

      3 votes
  5. [2]
    Tenlock
    Link
    Hmm what if I want to mention ~news, ~talk, and ~movies in the same sentence? ~Let's test.~ Edit: It works! ~news~

    Hmm what if I want to mention ~news, ~talk, and ~movies in the same sentence? ~Let's test.~

    Edit: It works! ~news~

    3 votes
    1. [2]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. pseudolobster
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        Alright, but how about ~news ~talk ~movies? Edit: Well, it's good that works but technically nonbreaking spaces should be treated like: ~news~talk~movies

        Alright, but how about ~news ~talk ~movies?

        Edit: Well, it's good that works but technically nonbreaking spaces should be treated like: ~news~talk~movies

        1 vote
  6. [4]
    Silbern
    Link
    ~Can we strikethrough ~news, ~talk, and ~movies?~ Probably not, but let's see... Edit: Nope, it confuses the parser, doesn't look like you can strikethrough tildes. Awesome regardless though, now...

    ~Can we strikethrough ~news, ~talk, and ~movies?~ Probably not, but let's see...

    Edit: Nope, it confuses the parser, doesn't look like you can strikethrough tildes. Awesome regardless though, now I'll no longer have to lookup the HTML codes for these. Thanks! :D

    3 votes
    1. [2]
      Jedi
      Link Parent
      Yes, just escape the tilde before the group: ~news

      Yes, just escape the tilde before the group: ~news

      4 votes
      1. unknown user
        Link Parent
        ~Like ~this?~ ~Like \~this!~

        ~Like ~this?~

        ~Like \~this!~
        
        5 votes
    2. unknown user
      Link Parent
      How about if you use multiple ~tildes? E: nope. (That was ~~if ... ~tildes?~~.)

      How about if you use multiple ~tildes?

      E: nope. (That was ~~if ... ~tildes?~~.)

  7. [4]
    frank
    (edited )
    Link
    Can you strike a tilde by triple-prefixing? Lets see: ~~~news~~ EDIT: Nope. Perhaps that could be a way to handle both at once. ~~~news~~ ~~\~news~~ ~news

    Can you strike a tilde by triple-prefixing? Lets see: ~~~news~~

    EDIT: Nope. Perhaps that could be a way to handle both at once. ~~~news~~
    ~~\~news~~ ~news

    1 vote
    1. [2]
      Archimedes
      Link Parent
      You can escape a tilde using a backslash: ~~\~news~~

      You can escape a tilde using a backslash: ~~\~news~~

      1 vote
      1. frank
        Link Parent
        Easy enough, thanks!

        Easy enough, thanks!

  8. [3]
    dredmorbius
    Link
    Now why would anybody want that? In Tables Space Alien Cats Can be Trusted False Smell funny True Krell Aware NaN Super^script

    Now why would anybody want that?

    In Tables Space Alien Cats
    Can be Trusted False
    Smell funny True
    Krell Aware NaN

    Super^script

    1 vote
    1. [2]
      dredmorbius
      Link Parent
      Might bump up bottom margin for tables in CSS.

      Might bump up bottom margin for tables in CSS.

      2 votes
      1. Deimos
        Link Parent
        Added a margin, thanks.

        Added a margin, thanks.

        1 vote
  9. MetArtScroll
    Link
    *W=============E NNWNNE =W0E SSWSSE The above is pure HTML, not markdown. Table header cells th are supported everywhere. The align attribute is supported for any table cell (td and th).
    *W=============E
    NNWNNE
    =W0E
    SSWSSE

     

    The above is pure HTML, not markdown.

    • Table header cells th are supported everywhere.
    • The align attribute is supported for any table cell (td and th).
    1 vote
  10. [2]
    edward
    Link
    Why did you go with single tilde instead of the fairly standard (reddit, Github, Discord) double tilde? Edit: I guess double tilde technically works, but on other sites single tilde doesn't work,...

    Why did you go with single tilde instead of the fairly standard (reddit, Github, Discord) double tilde?

    Edit: I guess double tilde technically works, but on other sites single tilde doesn't work, instead just displaying ~text~.

    Since we are talking Markdown, maybe Github style syntax highlighting should work? That's something I always wished reddit had.

    1 vote
    1. Deimos
      Link Parent
      I didn't really make a decision about how it would work. I'm using GitHub's markdown parser, so it works the same as theirs. And yeah, syntax highlighting should be very possible to add. There's...

      I didn't really make a decision about how it would work. I'm using GitHub's markdown parser, so it works the same as theirs.

      And yeah, syntax highlighting should be very possible to add. There's an issue for it: https://gitlab.com/tildes/tildes/issues/78