A Proposal To Modify the Pseudo-GreenText BBCode Implementation 2010 Specification
I’d like to propose a modification to the current /prog/ Pseudo-GreenText BBCode Implementation 2010 specification.
The current standard:
' >text
and its accepted (though discouraged) variants:
'>text '> text ' > text
are prone to breakage during typical use. Often a poster will find the need to use an apostrophe, perhaps to create a contraction; unfortunately, that syntax has already been used earlier in the implementation. This (honest) mistake leads to a very nasty bug — non-GreenText — completely and utterly defeating the purpose of the standard in the first place.
Bearing this in mind, please consider my suggested modification:
" >text
with the expected variants:
">text "> text " > text
This implementation uses the less typical inch mark to invoke the GreenText effect. The inch mark is most often used for the purpose of demarcating quotations, given that it belongs to the ASCII character set (unlike true quotation marks) and that it only requires one keystroke to type (unlike so called ``faggot quotes''.) Thus, it can be argued that both the inch mark and the foot mark are commonly found in forum posts. However, the inch mark has a clear advantage over the foot mark with regards to this implementation, due to the unique grammatical and syntactic structure of the PGT. Given that PGT themselves are a type of quote, quotation marks (and, therefore, inch marks) are often rendered unnecessary. In fact, in most cases, their use would be considered poor form, which would give this new implementation the added benefit of discouraging malformed PGTs. Overall, the inch mark enjoys a clear benefit over the foot mark in that it is not only less common, but also not expected, when compared to the foot mark.
I think there remains no question that our old and dear PGT standard could use a modern upgrade to handle today’s new, difficult, and exciting challenges. I hope you’ll find that my suggestion — being simple, powerful, and to-the-point — will help the future meet those challenges head on, using the technologies they already know and love.