As became apparent in another thread, a lot (most?) people have never heard of this forum's "VBook" feature. And when I try to explain what it is, people get all confused. Understandably so since this is a unique feature of this forum and as far as I know, no other forum offers this feature.

First let me give the definition of a VBook:

A VBook is a collection of "outtakes" of the current thread taken from the messages of the OP (original poster), presented in a printable style.

Now for the explanation.

Suppose I've started a build thread. It's a popular thread and there's lots of discussion going on, a lot of questions are being asked and there are even a few flamewars. In fact, it's a typical PFF thread. The original poster loves the fact his thread is so popular but his build posts are a bit buried between all the "clutter" and "noise" and he wishes he had a way to present only the information from this thread he chooses. And with VBooks he can.

All he needs to do is add special VBook-tags to his posts. With these tags he can determine which parts of his posts are "printed" in his VBook. To tell the forum software you want a certain part of your post in the VBook, enclose the text in the [booktext] ... [/booktext] tags. When the forum detects these tags, it automatically adds a link to the VBook at the top of the page:



In my next posts I will show you the VBook in action.

As you will notice, there's a "Print VBook" link at the top of this page. That's because I added the "booktext" tags in this post. Click the "Print VBook" link above, then click the "Edit" button of this post to see how I have put the following line in my VBook.

This is the first line I want added to my VBook.

Of course I can add complete paragraphs including images and what not to my VBook. Everything between the "booktext" tags is added to my VBook.

A VBook is always created "on the fly". That means that you can always go back to a post and edit the text between the "booktext"-tags.

Also, the OP is the only person who can add to the VBook. "booktext" tags in messages from people other than the OP, are ignored by the forum software.

Btw, that creates a link you can send or post...

https://www.fiero.nl/cgi-bin...d=065241&style=vbook

You can add multiple sections of a post to the VBook. Just add multiple booktext-tags. Your VBook will use all formatting tags found in the text (like bold, italics, fonts, alignment, etc.). Again, click the "Edit" button to view how the text was added to the VBook:

This is the second line of my VBook.

This line isn't part of my VBook.

And this is the third line of my VBook. Please note that the VBook also shows the words in bold and italic, just like in my post.

It all makes sense now. Thanks Cliff. Another great feature only found in PFF (that I know of). I will definately be using it.

EDIT: now I really get it. I just clicked the edit button in your post to see how you had typed it up. Now I too can add v-books to my posts. You are really good at this. thanks Cliff

[This message has been edited by Fieroseverywhere (edited 05-08-2007).]

Thanks Cliff,

I was one that had never heard of the Vbooks. This is a great feature.

Now on the other hand, you have just added another task to my to-do list such that I will never, ever complete all of it.

I got one for you.
Is there a way to quote questions that people ask in your v-book. I have been using the copy and paste method to add it to my response post to list the question along with my answer in the v-book. Is there an easier way to do it?

Edit: Let me re-phrase that. If people post questions and nobody else has posted since I will just answer the question without quoting them. Is there a way to add a quote of their question post to your response post in order to add it to the v-book? I know I cant add thier posts to the v-book and if they use the booktext tags it wont show up in my v-book. Im trying but I am not as computer literate as you are. thanks for you help.

[This message has been edited by Fieroseverywhere (edited 05-08-2007).]

quote Originally posted by Fieroseverywhere: I got one for you. Is there a way to quote questions that people ask in your v-book. I have been using the copy and paste method to add it to my response post to list the question along with my answer in the v-book. Is there an easier way to do it?

No, right now the only way to add it to your VBook is to quote their question in your response. I can't really think of any other way to do it...

Now that you have a general understanding of what a VBook is, let me explain a few more features of VBooks. Because a VBook is essentially a booklet you are creating, you have a few special formatting tags that only show up in a VBook (as opposed to tags that show up in both your thread-post and your VBook). These tags are only valid inside the booktext tags btw.

One such tag is the [pagebreak] tag. When found inside the booktext tags, a pagebreak will be added to your VBook. Note that pagebreaks don't show up when viewing a VBook, only when printing a VBook. To illustrate, I will add the next two lines to my VBook, but I will add a pagebreak between the two, causing the second line to appear on a new page:


Here is some more text I want added to my VBook, but I want the next line on a new page.

This line will appear on a new page in my VBook.


Click the "Edit" button of this post to see what I did, next click the "Print VBook" link at the top of the page (or click here). When viewing the VBook, click "File" and then "Print Preview..." in your browser and you will see what the pagebreak does.

I figured out how to do it. I click on quote on their post, then highlight the quote and copy. Then I back out and go back to my reply post and click edit. I can then paste thier question as a quote above my response. Seem to work and doesn't take very long at all. This is only if I did not quote them in my original response.

This is one great feature I never knew about untill today! thanks Cliff!

sweet! i WILL use this!

Requires a sticky to keep it up front for all to read.

quote Originally posted by Fieroseverywhere: So adding a pagebreak will give you a space between the posts you are puting in the v-book? But when you print it will print out on a seperate page? Just want to be sure I am understanding correctly.

Yes, that's it. HTML pages don't support pagebreaks so that's why you don't see anything when you are viewing a VBook, only when you print it (or do a Print Preview).

Now it's time to explain another VBook tag, the "chapter" tag. To create a "header" from a text in your VBook, enclose the text in the [chapter]...[/chapter] tags:



This is a new chapter
This is the text of the new chapter. I also added a [pagebreak] tag so the new chapter starts on a new page when printing the VBook.


(do the "Edit" and "View VBook") to see what I just did.

Awsome, What a stunningly simple idea.