News & Updates In Regards to BBCode+ and BBscript

[Kaerri]

This announcement is not an easy one, but it has become a necessary one. We love the creativity that our custom BBCode+ inspires and the community of coders that has blossomed over the years. However, with a heavy heart we have to inform those who create, share, and utilize this custom BBCode+ language that we will no longer be supporting it.

The harsh truth of the matter is in the long-term it simply is not sustainable for us. We are not a for-profit site and currently are dependent on the goodwill of those who volunteer to update and maintain the custom language that makes it function.

Every update and change to the forum software comes with many concerns because there is always the chance and risk there will be an update to our forum software that devastates the custom BBCode+.

We know many love RpNation because we offer the ability to create complex BBCode+ designs unlike anywhere else. However, first and foremost we are a roleplaying site; a writing site.

The reason for this difficult announcement is that we’ve decided we shall no longer be focusing on the custom BBCode+ we have been providing. We want to give everyone enough time to backup their designs and codes because once the plug is pulled - unfortunately - those coded posts will break.

We know this is going to be upsetting to some and this was a decision that was not made lightly. However, this isn’t yet the end. We will continue to support regular, basic BBCode, and while the more complex BBCode+ will need to be let go for now, that doesn’t mean we don’t have something planned for the future; something sustainable, more easily maintained, and dare we say even better. We don’t have a timeline for it yet, but rest assured we’ll make an announcement when we do!

Our current plan is to remove the BBCode+ and BBscript functions one month from today. We want to give our coders the chance to backup their codes, and many of you will also want to alter your posts as any post made with BBCode+ will change its appearance drastically when the support for it is taken down.

Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Tags getting removed in a month:

[div= ][/div]
[div class=][/div]
[class=][/class]
[class name=][/class]
[animation=][/animation]
[keyframe=][/keyframe]
[script=][/script]
[script class=][/script]
[input][/input]
[nobr][/nobr]
[br][/br]
[import=][/import]
[export][/export]

Make sure to read the thread to see how some of these are returning. The Dark Wizard has made some posts through out the thread.

 

[Naberius]

I've known Wizard for a long time, years actually, so I know when he and his team do something big like this it's with the benefit of everyone who uses the site in mind. As a whole, the community is what matters, and having fun. Sure the designs that people come up with can be fairly amazing, but at the end of the day we're all just here to have a good time! Just because some things are changing doesn't mean we lose any of the magic that makes the games on this site so incredible! ^.^

 

[spacepanda]

Thanks for the notice! As long as I have some sort of basic bbcode to make things neat im usually happy lol. Are you guys planning on switching to html again in the future, or will the standard bbcode remain? Thanks for all the hard work!

 

[The Dark Wizard]

Just as a note so no confusion arises:

This is what is going away while a replacement is in the works: Tutorial - RpNation - BBCode+ Guide

This is staying and still supported and new ones are always coming out: Tutorial - RpNation - BBcode Guide

 

[Gabe]

It makes sense, I can see how the increasingly complex codes can hinder the development of the site,but it won't take the core of the site, which is to provide a platform for writers everywhere to have fun. Thanks for your hard work!

 

[Kaerri]

We haven't yet finalized the future plans, which is why we don't have a timeline for it. The standard BBCode (the second link in Wizard's post) will remain, but we're hoping to add back the option for more complex things later.

 

[Mitheral]

Well, that still works. About all I managed to learn was Tab, Spoiler, and ... well, that's about it. Sort of like figuring out how to turn on the TV with a universal remote when I have no 5 year old handy. Not much to unlearn here.

 

[The Dark Wizard]

Thanks for the notice! As long as I have some sort of basic bbcode to make things neat im usually happy lol. Are you guys planning on switching to html again in the future, or will the standard bbcode remain? Thanks for all the hard work!

Hi panda

The normal bbcode suite is staying and is constantly being exported. BBCode+ is a custom language that doesn't exist anywhere on the internet and is too grand of a scope to maintain on the site. When it was created, an entirely custom renderer was designed for it. We are currently exploring the following:

• HTML/CSS with proper whitelist/blacklisting and purification. This has reached new levels that weren't possible a few years ago.
• BBC+ v3 made without said custom renderer.
• A few other things.

We would have preferred to maintain support until we had a replacement, but every post that is made in BBC+ is essentially a new hostage in terms of breaking if it breaks outside of our control in the future before we are ready. It is much better to remove support for this now, while it is still small on the site. It in a sense has become actual madness.

Well, that still works. About all I managed to learn was Tab, Spoiler, and ... well, that's about it. Sort of like figuring out how to turn on the TV with a universal remote when I have no 5 year old handy. Not much to unlearn here.

Thankfully those are all normal BBCode that will continue to be supported and expanded upon .

 

[Windsock]

What about that slappin' DIVIDE and SCROLL stuff? Will that still work? Those and SPOILER are the only ones I've been using with mild regularity.

 

[Thirteen_Galaxie]

I'm not tech savvy so maybe this is a dumb question but will we still be able to use bold, italics, colors, text size and different fonts? Can we still insert/attach media?

Example:
Bold
Italics
Colors
Text Size

 

[The Dark Wizard]

I'm not tech savvy so maybe this is a dumb question but will we still be able to use bold, italics, colors, text size and different fonts? Can we still insert/attach media?

Example:
Bold
Italics
Colors
Text Size

Yes. That is all normal and staying .

 

[The Dark Wizard]

What about that slappin' DIVIDE and SCROLL stuff? Will that still work? Those and SPOILER are the only ones I've been using with mild regularity.

Spoilers are not a part of BBC+ and thus are staying. I assume you mean the dividers in BBC? If so those are staying. Scrolls are definitely BBC+ and will be going offline.

 

[Thirteen_Galaxie]

Yes. That is all normal and staying .

Thanks for clarifying!

 

[The Dark Wizard]

Thanks for clarifying!

No problem C:

 

[Idea]

How long do we have until this happens? I'm pretty busy at this time, so it may be hard to find the space to go make a back-up for all the things I wanna save (not that they can truly be saved, as there is nowhere such code could fit into).

 

[The Dark Wizard]

How long do we have until this happens? I'm pretty busy at this time, so it may be hard to find the space to go make a back-up for all the things I wanna save (not that they can truly be saved, as there is nowhere such code could fit into).

A month. Though in theory, you don't have to back up anything if you don't want to. Removing BBC+ support just exposes all the code in the post. We have no intention of removing those posts. So you could just leave them there forever if you want.

 

[Idea]

A month. Though in theory, you don't have to back up anything if you don't want to. Removing BBC+ support just exposes all the code in the post. We have no intention of removing those posts. So you could just leave them there forever if you want.

Thanks, but from what I've seen code breaking tends to mess up said code. Since some of these have to be very finely tuned to work in any capacity, the safest option is probably to back them up.

Still, a month IS plenty of time to do that, assuming there isn't a "pre-patch" that messes things early.

Thanks for the answer.

 

[The Dark Wizard]

Thanks, but from what I've seen code breaking tends to mess up said code. Since some of these have to be very finely tuned to work in any capacity, the safest option is probably to back them up.

Still, a month IS plenty of time to do that, assuming there isn't a "pre-patch" that messes things early.

Thanks for the answer.

As far as I can tell, it won't actually do anything anymore, there won't be a parser for it. That isn't to say that people shouldn't clean up their posts.

 

[timshel]

this blows. i'm sure i'm not alone in this sentiment, but rpn is going to lose a lot of aesthetic value for many users with this change.

 

[Idea]

this blows. i'm sure i'm not alone in this sentiment, but rpn is going to lose a lot of aesthetic value for many users with this change.

This is true, but it can't be helped. It's certainly gonna loose some uniqueness due to the fact that RPN was the only place to offer this kind of customization potential, but there is still a pretty wonderful community in my opinion that is really the core of what makes RPN great.

 

[Nano]

*lights a candle*

 

[The Dark Wizard]

this blows. i'm sure i'm not alone in this sentiment, but rpn is going to lose a lot of aesthetic value for many users with this change.

A good chunk of the staff uses it as well, this wasn't an easy decision. BBC+ is an entirely custom language that doesn't exist anywhere else and is insanely difficult to maintain and update. We are working on replacements and should phase this out sooner rather than later before something actually bad happens. BBC+ is essentially one step removed from actual HTML/CSS/JS and are also working on just trying to support that properly. We are also working on alternatives to BBC+ that don't involve a custom renderer to be designed. It is a race to see which method works out better.

It's certainly gonna loose some uniqueness due to the fact that RPN was the only place to offer this kind of customization potential

That is also part of the problem, we are the only site around to offer this. This isn't to say that our bbcode suite is going away, we are still one of the only sites around with such a large library of different codes.

We just have to find a more sustainable way to handle BBC+. The first order of business will also be to not call it BBC+ any more, so that there isn't any more confusion as to what we are talking about.

 

[timshel]

This is true, but it can't be helped. It's certainly gonna loose some uniqueness due to the fact that RPN was the only place to offer this kind of customization potential, but there is still a pretty wonderful community in my opinion that is really the core of what makes RPN great.

i'm glad you've found some community here. however, manipulating and using codes for roleplays has added in a tremendously positive way to my experience of this site. it's about to lose a lot of appeal.

 

[EldridSmith]

Are tabs BBC+?

 

[The Dark Wizard]

Are tabs BBC+?

No.