Features for writing posts: special characters, sub- and superscripts, w/o knowing LaTeX or tags

[Dr.Peterson]

I don't see a way to make simple subscripts or superscripts (without using Latex or knowing tags). Is that possible, to help out newcomers?

Also, it would be really nice to be able to quickly insert special characters, rather than going somewhere else and pasting them in. Is that a possible add-in?

Finally, I don't see any sort of help page to tell the newcomer (or me) how to use the site. Does the software not come with any sort of instructions like that? It's very nice, but a lot of little things are not obvious.

 

[MarkFL]

I don't see a way to make simple subscripts or superscripts (without using Latex or knowing tags). Is that possible, to help out newcomers?

Mark (mmm4444bot) discovered this issue a couple of days ago, and I have proposed a solution for Ted to implement within the AdminCP to add these as custom BBCodes. It is an easy fix and should be taken care of soon.

Also, it would be really nice to be able to quickly insert special characters, rather than going somewhere else and pasting them in. Is that a possible add-in?

It may be possible to address this with a custom BBCode as well.

Finally, I don't see any sort of help page to tell the newcomer (or me) how to use the site. Does the software not come with any sort of instructions like that? It's very nice, but a lot of little things are not obvious.

XenForo does not have a default FAQ page like vB has. At the moment the best we can offer is to encourage our users to post any questions they have regarding how to do things and we will do our best to answer these questions.

 

[mmm4444bot]

XenForo doesn't include BBCodes or , but MarkFL has provided Ted with a fix, so hopefully that's pending.

… it would be really nice to be able to quickly insert special characters …

Agree! Perhaps an add-on has been created for something like that. ?

 

[Otis]

Which special characters do folks think should be available?

I could gather them together in one place, for a near-term fix. Members would still need to copy-n-paste, but a sticky thread somewhere convenient could make them easier to find.

Also, there's a way to insert a few characters using keyboard shortcuts (in Windows, at least). I could post the keystroke sequences (with instructions), in the same sticky thread. Keyboard shortcut is the method I use, for the following characters.

× ÷ º ± ¼ ½ ¾ ² ¢ £ €

Other characters that I use regularly don't have keyboard shortcuts, but they're available from the Windows Character Map.

∙ ≈ ≠ ≡ ≤ ≥ ∂ ∆ ∏ ∑ ∙ √ ∞ ∫ ∩ → ↔ ⅓ ⅔ ⅛ ⅝ ⅞ Ω ℓ ⁰ ¹ ³ ⁴ ⁵ ⁶ ⁷ ⁸ ⁹ µ •