How to Use and Not Use the Quote feature

[Admin]

Some people have a tendency to hit the quote button instead of the reply button. This can result in excessive duplication of a post when everyone who wants to reply to it repeats it in its entirety. There is a current thread where a post has now been duplicated in its entirety three times in a row and the responses are one line statements that could have been posted without quoting anything in the post much less the entire post.

How to use the Quote feature:
The Quote function should be used to isolate specific sentences in a post that you wish to respond to directly and the rest of the post should not be duplicated. If a post is really long, the quote feature can be used to break it up into isolated chunks if you wish to respond to multiple parts of the post.

If a post you wish to reply to is somewhere two or three posts up in the thread, you can simply address the post to the posters name to draw attention to whom you are replying. The post is already there on the thread. It does not need to be duplicated to be replied to.

Please pause before hitting Quote. Is it absolutely necessary? Are you responding to one specific point that needs to be isolated from the rest? If not, then you should probably not use quote.

[Jon Guy]

The Quote function should be used to isolate specific sentences in a post that you wish to respond to directly and the rest of the post should not be duplicated.If a post is really long, the quote feature can be used to break it up into isolated chunks if you wish to respond to multiple parts of the post.

Hello Admin

How do I use the quote feature to break up the post so that I can respond to multiple parts ?

[Graham]

Good question, Jon - I don't know either!

Graham

[Ravenstone]

Good question, Jon

Like this?

- I don't know either!

Graham

Type [ quote ] and [ / quote] (without the spaces) in between the bits you want. So put [ / quote] at the end of the first part, [ quote] at the start of the next, and so on as desired.

That's the only way I know how to do it.

[Admin]

Copy and paste the entire post into your reply.

1. Highlight a section you wish to quote.
2. Look at the toolbar above the white box you type your replies in. It should start out with B, I, etc. In that line of edit features, almost towards the end/right you will see a yellow box that looks like a speech box with lines to represent writing inside it. It is between the box with the mountains (the image attachment button) and the # symbol.
3. Click on it.

Whatever you had highlighted is now in quotes. Repeat with each individual section you wish to put in quotes.

If you use the Reply button that is embedded in an individual post rather than the Post Reply at the end of a thread, the reply box that opens up is a shortened version. It contains no icons, etc. The Quote button you would need to hit is then the LAST button on the toolbar line. It still looks like a square speech bubble with lines "written" in it.
Let me know if that is clear enough or if my answer needs to be tweaked a bit.

[caz]

I get all that, but I still find it easier to do a DIY cut and paste job on the entire quote when I want to break it up.

What I don't get is the "Multi-Quote This Message" icon, last but one after Edit, Reply and Quote. I assumed it would be an all-singing, all-dancing way of doing it quickly but it doesn't seem to do anything when I click on it apart from go from blue to red. I thought it was just me.

Love,

Caz
X

[Admin]

I had originally considered saying you could do it two ways, the second was just quote the whole thing, then do the highlight-hit quote button, but I have seen too many people forget to take off the beginning and end quote tags and end up with the whole thing totally quoted instead of individually. The method does work does work as well, and one less step than copy and paste as long as you remember to take off the initial quote tags at the beginning and the end of the original post.