Inline expansion of abbreviations and acronyms

[whole diary]

[Bmblbzzz]

Excellent idea to have differential expansion for guests and members. 

But I seem to have to turn the expansion on each time I visit the site. Is it meant to be that way?

[grahame]

But I seem to have to turn the expansion on each time I visit the site. Is it meant to be that way?

I will have a play with that later.   It's supposed to stick.

[grahame]

But I seem to have to turn the expansion on each time I visit the site. Is it meant to be that way?

I will have a play with that later.   It's supposed to stick.

Edit to test live train links too - PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains), BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains), and of course MKM^» (Melksham (Station code) - next trains) and DMH^▸ (Dilton Marsh Halt)  ... others too!

[Bmblbzzz]

But I seem to have to turn the expansion on each time I visit the site. Is it meant to be that way?

I will have a play with that later.   It's supposed to stick.

Having turned it on earlier today, it's still on now.

[eXPassenger]

I see that the acronym expansion of CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele-Vision) uses less common words to explain the 'V'

[grahame]

I see that the acronym expansion of CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele-Vision) uses less common words to explain the 'V'

Should probably join up Tele and Vision into Television. Noted; will do in next update cycle - probably in a couple of days.

But I seem to have to turn the expansion on each time I visit the site. Is it meant to be that way?

I will have a play with that later.   It's supposed to stick.

Having turned it on earlier today, it's still on now.

I *think* it's working ... its is "per browser" so if you uses (as I do) Firefox, Safari and Chrome on the same laptop you'll have three lots of settings.  Also to note - if the link at the top says "turn off" it is currently on, and vice versa; I am not too thrilled with that as I find it confusing, and I wrote the darned thing!

[JayMac]

Edit to test live train links too - PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains), BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains), and of course MKM^» (Melksham (Station code) - next trains) and DMH^▸ (Dilton Marsh Halt)  ... others too!

My recent post mentioning the Rail Delivery Group had to be typed in full. RDG^▸ (Rail Delivery Group, or Reading station, depending on context) would have confused.

[grahame]

Edit to test live train links too - PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains), BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains), and of course MKM^» (Melksham (Station code) - next trains) and DMH^▸ (Dilton Marsh Halt)  ... others too!

My recent post mentioning the Rail Delivery Group had to be typed in full. RDG^▸ (Rail Delivery Group, or Reading station, depending on context) would have confused.

And there you open list back the covers and reveal one of the biggest problems - where things could expand multiple ways. I mentioned TV^▸ (Thames Valley) (Television v Thames Valley) and DVT^▸ (Driving Van Trailer (carriage) or Deep Vein Thrombosis, depending on context) (Deep Vein Thrombosis v DriVing Trailer). I cannot see a practical coding way of getting there 98% right which would be the sort of target we would need, and even then we would have the issue of them being got wrong at the very time someone wanted to understand an unusual use.  Ongoing R&D may suggest a solution but for the moment (next update to the list) I will un-expand RDG.  You will still need to explain in your posts - but at least we will not be feeding members with porkies!

P.S.  If you type not EXD but EX[I][/I]D you will avoid expansion.   Example here is NOT Reading so that its will still show up as I intend after the change above.

Also to note - expansions do not show in previews as you post, nor (I don't believe) in personal messages.  I know why; big move round of code blocks to make it work and I fear introducing significant bugs.   May do and test it at a quiet time.

[Bmblbzzz]

Would it be possible to link RDG^▸ (Rail Delivery Group, or Reading station, depending on context) and others to both expansions? It should be clear from context which one applies.

[grahame]

Would it be possible to link RDG^▸ (Rail Delivery Group, or Reading station, depending on context) and others to both expansions? It should be clear from context which one applies.

I did wonder / am thinking along those lines.  Very much a question of balance and compromise without providing a mind-blowingly complex control panel for everyone, and without spewing up so much extra text ...

EDIT - I am trying some things out - RDG only at the moment.  You will see a double dagger saying that it can be expanded in 2 (or more!) ways. May add a pop-up to link to the acronyms page or part of it to resolve if people need to.

[grahame]

EDIT - I am trying some things out - RDG^▸ (Rail Delivery Group, or Reading station, depending on context) only at the moment.  You will see a double dagger saying that it can be expanded in 2 (or more!) ways. May add a pop-up to link to the acronyms page or part of it to resolve if people need to.

There are now 9 acronyms which have that double dagger - click on "Resolve" and it will take you - in a new frame - to the acronyms page offering just that particular abbreviation.

[grahame]

What does CLC^▸ (Castle Cary) stand for?

I'm picking up that example to highlight the compromises taken thus far with the inline expansion helper.

It is NOT easy to choose which expansions to put in; my shouting of NOT as some of our members do would come in as "Nottingham" if we expanded that. 

Adding in an extra 2500 would cause all sort of issues as the British National Party was reported at a station in North Devon, and First Great Western being seen at a station in West Wales. About thirty key stations - those which we offer as ongoing connections live feeds - are expanded; even there, we have already had an issue [Reading / Rail Delivery Group] , resolved by providing a link to the filtered acronyms page rather than a direct resolution.  My feeling is that the balance is about right as we stand; a few more code adjustments may be advantageous and significant ongoing updates to the general resolutions list (thanks, VickiS for picking this up).

[eightonedee]

Might it be (at least as a temporary expedient) an idea to encourage contributors to use the full station name in posts?

[grahame]

Might it be (at least as a temporary expedient) an idea to encourage contributors to use the full station name in posts?

We do / always have done. But seeing your first 769 at CHO, CUM or even CUA can lead to some shortened posting in excitement which overlooks the understandability ... for guests or even members not familiar with the line in question.

[grahame]

Significant number of abbreviations added ... there are now 713 that resolve for members by default, and a further 40 for guests.  There are a further 199 abbreviations and acronmys in the page at http://www.passenger.chat/acronyms.html . Big thanks to VickyS for all the hard work.    There are bound to be odd cases where our expansion system is over complex or an abbreviation has multiple expansions and we have only caught one.  Please post a follow up or send a pm to Vicky or me with corrections.