This is a test post for @sod

@JohnPhilpin Striking! 😊

The s tag worked.

@JohnPhilpin How did you do it?

@odd tags 's' and '/s' either side of the words

@JohnPhilpin Like ‘s’this’/s’?

@odd no…

@odd You enclose the strike through words in the <s> and </s> tags.

@sod Why are braces in my code in a reply getting encoded as lt/gt HTML codes, even though I’m placing them in the back ticked code block?

@odd 💪

@pimoore I’m pretty sure I did that earlier yesterday, but it showed the whole thing… I try <s>again</s>…

@odd @pimoore <s>let's see</s> ...

Edit: ugh. Not only does the Mac app show it working in the preview but not the timeline, when I then go back into edit the HTML is all mangled...

Unpredictable parsing of formatting in the timeline is one of the reasons I've mostly resorted to plain text. Which is a shame since I can now write in Markdown without having to think about it.

@SimonWoods Yes, I can see how we don’t want every other post containing striked through words, but strike through is a pretty common formatting since the typewriter days, and although we do have the luxury of electronic writing (…and editing) now, this can add meaning and be used to show edited content without explaining further. I understand that it isn’t necessary to have all the options of a word processor, but I wish strike through was an option next to bold and italics.

@odd The latest I've seen from Manton is a vague idea about "some things not working".

The problem there is that a lack of guide for reference (to be fair, I haven't checked if there is one so that could be my fault) combined with nothing in the UI to even hint as to what you can do means that confusions and frustration is inevitable. I have no idea if we're in enough of a majority to warrant attention with this issue; it could be that the vast majority of people on the timeline never try to use any formatting.

I agree that strikethrough should be considered in common enough usage as to rank alongside italics and bold. However, I have no idea if that is as easy to implement as italics and bold. Hopefully it is just as easy, since then I think there's a good chance we'll get it.

@SimonWoods @odd It’s very frustrating, I still also get mangling of HTML in posts sometimes. I’m then forced to back into the post and edit everything—too late to fix the RSS though, it already would’ve pushed out. It should be noted this is usually with shortcodes. It’s the number two reason I’m considering ditching them entirely, next to the lock-in.

@jasonekratz @JohnBrady One day I'll have a good old public rant about this but not today! Essentially, John, yes and yes. And that's the beauty of ... ✨the open web✨

(no worries answering, Jason; I am forever comfortable with people answering for me and getting involved when it comes to stuff like this — all replies are welcome always 👍)

@pimoore Between that, unlimited characters and no threading in replies, limited filtering of the timeline, and relatively sparse moderating tools I am more than happy to agree with Manton that Micro.blog is much better off with a smaller number of customers.

(it's also why I have some frustrations but this is not the place for ranting!)

I am, however, looking forward to the gradual improvement of these parts of the platform over time. In that sense I am thoroughly in support of the long-term mentality taken by the team towards development and progression. A lot of people panic in the moment about missing X or Y, and then proceeds to forget about the accomplishment once their requests are fulfilled.

@SimonWoods Couldn’t agree more with any of that—slow and steady wins the race. While there are still changes I also hope to see, I also notice everything Manton and the team add or improve—already or planned—on a consistent basis. As you rightly point out, the long term vision and commitment is there for Micro.blog, and it shows.

@pimoore My guess is that the code responsible for scrubbing away most HTML from replies needs tweaking.