Quoting with this forum software

HenryAZ

I am baffled, and I hope someone can lead me like a 3rd grader through the process of block quoting when replying to messages on this forum. I've been told it has to do with the icons above the reply box, but despite almost 30 years experience with Usenet/BBS/forum softwares of all brands and types, I cannot see how to insert a snippet of the message I am replying to. I see how to insert an image, a hyperlink, an emoticon, ordered and unordered lists, and to bold or italicize text, but the only "quote" hint I find does nothing but insert a left angle bracket. I feel that quoting brief snippets in one's reply helps give the response some context, which is why I am in favor of using the feature. As it stands, I can simply just write a reply, which is "good enough", but I am always on a quest to learn how to make it right. Thanks.

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henry

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sjk

Hi @HenryAZ,

I'm happy to lead you through this; is like an adult okay? :lol:

Using this quoted text as an example:

I cannot see how to insert a snippet of the message I am replying to.

You're not overlooking anything – there's no way to do it here directly. I quoted the above by first copying the text from your original post, pasting it into this draft and selecting it, then choosing the Quote function under the Format menu:

But frequently I'll simply type > before any text I want to quote, whether copied/pasted from somewhere else or entered manually.

The first few functions in the draft toolbar (including those under the Format menu) seem best intended to use on preselected blocks of text (especially larger and/or multi-lined ones). In many cases it can be quicker just typing the corresponding markup characters (from whatever flavor of Markdown it is that Vanilla software supports).

If a draft I'm working on has stylized text (like this one) I'll nearly always use Preview to check how it'll look… before the Post Comment.

but I am always on a quest to learn how to make it right.

I hope your quest for learning has been helped by the explanation/tips above. Cheers! :)

HenryAZ

But frequently I'll simply type > before any text I want to quote

That seems to me to be the quickest. I did click on that function, and saw the inserted angle bracket, but never pasted a block of text after it and Previewed, which would have shown me a way to do it.
 
Thanks.

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henry

sjk

Glad that's working for you, @HenryAZ.

You're not the first, and surely won't be the last, to question where 'insert quoted message' functionality is on this forum. ;)