EEVblog Electronics Community Forum

e.g. https://eevblog.store/ does *NOT* go to the EEVblog  Store.

Yeah, but this one does: https://ic6do.com/CmkSqT_claim_gift_card.dll

(Deliberately left as a raw link to make it obvious that that's the actual link).

Quote from: Analog Kid on January 18, 2026, 01:26:09 am

Quote from: PlainName on January 18, 2026, 12:21:50 am

Quote from: Analog Kid on January 17, 2026, 11:03:14 pm

Me, I'd be happy if we could get an "insert HTML link" thingy like the other SMF forum I'm on has, so you don't have to type the stupid '=' and then insert the URL. But somehow I doubt that'll ever be fixed, and besides, it's such a picayune complaint.

Is the 'insert hyperlink' thing not that?

Not quite.
On the other SMF forum I read, their "insert hyperlink" button pops up a little dialog that asks for both the URL and the text of the link (already there if you highlight some text first), so you don't have to remember to type in a '=' and then paste the URL.

Small thing but it's a nice feature. I asked about adding that to this forum some time ago, but the response was basically "meh".

 
You just paste the link and the SMF software converts it to link, for example, I don't need to use the "Insert Hyperlink" button to insert this link:

https://eevblog.store/

Same with Youtube links etc.

Beside custom link text (like Monkeh shows), the other case where manually creating the link is necessary is when a URL contains characters that the SMF parser assumes to be the end of the URL, resulting in a nonfunctional link. I forget off the top of my head which punctuation it is, but this pops up from time to time when people paste in a URL and don’t verify its clickability after posting.

Quote from: EEVblog on January 18, 2026, 01:34:32 am

Quote from: Analog Kid on January 18, 2026, 01:26:09 am

Quote from: PlainName on January 18, 2026, 12:21:50 am

Quote from: Analog Kid on January 17, 2026, 11:03:14 pm

Me, I'd be happy if we could get an "insert HTML link" thingy like the other SMF forum I'm on has, so you don't have to type the stupid '=' and then insert the URL. But somehow I doubt that'll ever be fixed, and besides, it's such a picayune complaint.

Is the 'insert hyperlink' thing not that?

Not quite.
On the other SMF forum I read, their "insert hyperlink" button pops up a little dialog that asks for both the URL and the text of the link (already there if you highlight some text first), so you don't have to remember to type in a '=' and then paste the URL.

Small thing but it's a nice feature. I asked about adding that to this forum some time ago, but the response was basically "meh".

 
You just paste the link and the SMF software converts it to link, for example, I don't need to use the "Insert Hyperlink" button to insert this link:

https://eevblog.store/

Same with Youtube links etc.

Beside custom link text (like Monkeh shows), the other case where manually creating the link is necessary is when a URL contains characters that the SMF parser assumes to be the end of the URL, resulting in a nonfunctional link. I forget off the top of my head which punctuation it is, but this pops up from time to time when people paste in a URL and don’t verify its clickability after posting.

Typically a ? will break a URL and a / will also.

For those of us that have been around a while we check our posts and any URL's posted to see if the URL is broken as it's easily spotted as some of it is highlighted and some of it not.
Easily corrected by using the Insert Hyperlink button below the Italics one. 

What's the problem with typing

Code: [Select]

[url=https://link]text[/url]?

Typing?

Quite often I've done that and got the closing brace or something in the wrong place so it doesn't work (and looks bad).

I’ll tell you where GUI tools to help enter links would be a godsend: on mobile, where text editing suuuuucks and necessary punctuation for bb syntax are hidden two layers deep in the on-screen keyboards…

Quote from: shapirus on January 18, 2026, 10:57:39 am

What's the problem with typing

Code: [Select]

[url=https://link]text[/url]?

Typing?

Quite often I've done that and got the closing brace or something in the wrong place so it doesn't work (and looks bad).

Have you tried using the forum's WYSIWYG editor?

Click . Now you can post a link by clicking, . Enter the URL and click Ok. Place the text cursor in the middle of the URL in the editor and replace it with any text you like. It won't damage the URL. Post as usual.

Quote from: tooki on January 18, 2026, 01:02:55 pm

I’ll tell you where GUI tools to help enter links would be a godsend: on mobile, where text editing suuuuucks and necessary punctuation for bb syntax are hidden two layers deep in the on-screen keyboards…

That's right. I've never considered posting to a forum from a smartphone. That'd be a royal PITA indeed.

Moreover, not just on a phone, but on a tablet, which is fundamentally a fantastic browsing device.

Quote from: shapirus on January 18, 2026, 01:05:55 pm

That's right. I've never considered posting to a forum from a smartphone. That'd be a royal PITA indeed.

Moreover, not just on a phone, but on a tablet, which is fundamentally a fantastic browsing device.

Yes, browsing. Not typing.

Quote from: shapirus on January 18, 2026, 01:05:55 pm

Quote from: tooki on January 18, 2026, 01:02:55 pm

I’ll tell you where GUI tools to help enter links would be a godsend: on mobile, where text editing suuuuucks and necessary punctuation for bb syntax are hidden two layers deep in the on-screen keyboards…

That's right. I've never considered posting to a forum from a smartphone. That'd be a royal PITA indeed.

I almost never use the forum on my phone.

I sometimes do (like right now), and I'd still leave if it was changed to Discourse or anything other than perhaps phpBB, or maybe older vBulletin. SMF is fine, works without JS and has decent information density. Can't say the same of most other forums these days...

Quote from: PlainName on January 18, 2026, 02:46:52 pm

Only sensible fix is the one the Kid is hankering after: an edit box for the URL and another for the description.

(In other words, a li'l dialog that pops up.)

All right.
Now we just have to convince Dave that this is something worth doing ...

Don't use it often enough to be bothered by the current setup, to be honest. Sorry

Quote from: PlainName on January 18, 2026, 11:07:58 pm

Don't use it often enough to be bothered by the current setup, to be honest. Sorry

What the hell kind of argument is that?

"I don't use it much, so you don't need to either"?

He did not say "so you don't need to either".

I agree with his point. The current setup isn't something I use a lot. Perhaps it could be better. I'm not against that but if it is it just won't be a great benefit to me.

The original revival of this topic was very vague on detail as to how a proposed change to Discord would benefit members. I objected to proposal for change without clearly describing the benefits. That's the proper way to advocate and influence change. I don't use Discord so I needed to have it spelled out. Otherwise I'm content with the current setup.

More than 5 years later my opinion hasn't really changed all that much.

If a migration happens, i would still vastly prefer a proper forumsoftware. I still like Xenforo, at least the one i am very active in. But i also see that Xenforo development has somewhat stalled. But in that regard it isn't much different that SMF
My favorite aspect of XenForo is it's seamless scaling from portrait-mode smartphone screens to wide PC screens, and no reliance on a *completely* different mobile view.

My main gripe with SMF is the image upload and the quoting system.
Just pasting images from your clipboard to the forum is such an easy way of handling images.

The KiCAD Forum is one example of a Discourse forum that i know. And it's usability is atrocious. Just alone that it doesn't properly paginate and has an "endless" scrolling overview is crap.

EDIT: And if a micration to Discord, of all places, would happen, very likely me and a lot of other people will be out. Discord is a blight on the internet. It has killed so many open forums and essentially removed them, and all their accumulated information, from the internet. Discord is a closed system that you can only access with their client, and only after you have registered and are invited to the actual community. It's essentially a chat service on steroids.

Perhaps a forum like this one looks old-fashioned. But it allows me to find topics and access all the information related to them.
I am a guest on several Discord servers (because these companies don't have a decent forum) – and all of them, really all of them, are a disaster. There's no chance of getting the available information in a concentrated form like here. That's why the same questions are asked over and over and over and over again. Discord is so annoying.... If EEVBlog were on Discord, many valuable posters would definitely be out.