# BBcode toolbar



## ain'ttranslationfun?

Hi,

Over the last day or so when I want to post a comment, the toolbar is in light gray and I can't click on Bold, italics, Underline, etc. (neither can I do so in this post!). Does anyone have any idea why, and how to resolve this issue? Many thanks in advance!

P. S., It's a new computer (HP) and we're using Microsoft Edge.


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## swift

Have you tried turning on the bb codes using the square brackets?


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## Peterdg

To add to Swift's comment: press the [] icon on the top right side of toolbar (next to the diskette  icon). The toolbar will appear again.


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

Thank you, swift; please forgive my techno-ignorance, swift, but what is a "bb code"?

Edit: swift, Peterdg (Thank you!) has just answered my question (I think); I'll try that!

*It *_worked_! to both of you!


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## Paulfromitaly

task bar inactivated


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## Myridon

ain'ttranslationfun? said:


> Thank you, swift; please forgive my techno-ignorance, swift, but what is a "bb code"?


BBCode (Bulletin Board Code) is the name of the  syntax for the text formatting tags like  [ Q U O T E ] and the like.
BBCode.org, bbcode users guide and tricks on implementing it


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## pointvirgule

There is an issue with the BB code icon: once you activate it, it stays on even when you leave the thread to read a different one. Ideally, it should revert to off by default. Can that be fixed? 
@mkellogg?


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## Paulfromitaly

pointvirgule said:


> There is an issue with the BB code icon: once you activate it, it stays on even when you leave the thread to read a different one. Ideally, it should revert to off by default. Can that be fixed?


It's not an issue, that's how it's supposed to work.
If, for some reason, I wanted the BBcode disabled, it'd make no sense if I had to turn it off every single time I write a post.


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## pointvirgule

Paulfromitaly said:


> If, for some reason, I wanted the BBcode disabled, it'd make no sense if I had to turn it off every single time I write a post.


I'm sorry, I'm not following your logic there. 

I'm not saying you should have to turn them off every time. I'm saying they should already be off _by default_ whenever one writes or edits a post, and to only have to turn them on manually _when needed_. That is not the case presently.

The way it works presently is indeed an issue for those who happened to inadvertently enable BB-code mode, and wonder why the editing toolbar disappeared permanently.


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## Paulfromitaly

pointvirgule said:


> That is not the case presently.


It is for me.
It stays the way I set it, regardless of whether I move to a different thread, post, private message or I log off.


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## Myridon

Paulfromitaly said:


> It's not an issue, that's how it's supposed to work.


Regardless, it's very annoying.  I turn it off to fix something by hand. Then, quite some time later, I try to paste a picture and nothing happens.  I spend five minutes trying to figure out what's wrong. Oh, I had to fix that Quote tag yesterday.
It should default to the normal mode (the one where you can use the menu) in a new post.  New posts do not remember that Bold was turned on in your last post. If I Preview this post and go to another thread, will my new post be in Preview mode already? No.


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## pointvirgule

Myridon said:


> It should default to the normal mode (the one where you can use the menu) in a new post.


Yes, thank you, that's what I was trying to say.


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## Paulfromitaly

Myridon said:


> Regardless, it's very annoying.


I for one would find it really annoying if I had to turn the BBcode off each and every time I'm writing a new post. Why should I do that if I myself chose to turn it off?
When I turn my cellphone ringtone off I want it to be off until I turn it on again, I don't want it come back on each time I get a new call... and I can't blame my cellphone if I forget to turn it back on.


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## Peterdg

Like we used to say: it's not a bug, it's a feature. 

It's possible that changing this behaviour is not easy, if at all possible.

If I understand it correctly, the editor is not really part of the Xenforo forum software but is a plug-in that is developed by an independent company which Xenforo has licensed to be used in their software. As such, the "interpret BBcode" or "use raw editor" is a session setting like your login credentials, your forum theme and your interface language. You log in with your username and password and you choose your forum theme and your language and these also stay the same until you change them.

I guess you will have to live with it as it is (unless Mike sees a possibility to easily change it, if at all considered desirable).


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## lauranazario

Let's try things a bit differently; let's try to explain in a visual manner.

*This is the default system setting*. All the icons representing functions (bold, italic, underline, smilies, etc., etc., etc.), appear in black and are there for you to use.







However, if you touch the *toggle to BB code icon*, all the other items/functions become gray and are not available for you to use.
If you toggle to BB code (like depicted below), you can only write in plain text and whatever other function you wish to include must be written using a very specific syntax: BB code!





Therefore, if you find yourself with a screen that looks like the one immediately above (where everything is gray) and are not familiar with the specifics of BB code, then I strongly suggest that you touch the *[ ]* icon to go back to the default setting shown in the first image.

Hope this helps.


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## Myridon

Paulfromitaly said:


> I for one would find it really annoying if I had to turn the BBcode off each and every time I'm writing a new post. Why should I do that if I myself chose to turn it off?


None of the other options in the menu are sticky like that.  If you want an option to change the default edit mode, that should be at the profile level.


Paulfromitaly said:


> When I turn my cellphone ringtone off I want it to be off until I turn it on again, I don't want it come back on each time I get a new call... and I can't blame my cellphone if I forget to turn it back on.


That's at the level of the phone's profile.  This is more like if you stop the sound of one call while it's ringing.  You want the next call to ring.

You don't want things you do to one phone call to affect all phone calls.  I don't want things done to one post to affect all posts.


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## OtroLencho

Myridon said:


> None of the other options in the menu are sticky like that.  If you want an option to change the default edit mode, that should be at the profile level.



Personally, I prefer it as it is.  Sometimes I want to run in visual mode, sometimes I don't, and I find it annoying to have the system toggling my choice without my permission.


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