Styles
You might like to change the look of B&B on your browser, so that it better suits your personality or the computer you use. The style chooser at the bottom of every page lets you select from "B&B Default" and "vB Default Style". The latter is a little faster on low-power devices such as older computers, tablets, and phones.
You can also install styles from userstyles.org. This works especially well using Stylish for Firefox or Stylish for Chrome. You can also create your own styles.
BB Code
The BB Code is the code that a user would write when posting in a thread. Those codes go anywhere from Bold text to a youtube clip. The complete list and how to use those can be found at http://badgerandblade.com/vb/misc.php?ltr=R&do=bbcode
Following Threads
The easiest way to follow a thread is to subscribe to it. At the top of the page, click on Thread Tools then Subscribe to this Thread... You can also subscribe to threads automatically, as you post to them. Go to Settings > General Settings > Default Thread Subscription Mode. Either way, you will see new posts to your subscribed threads whenever you visit your control panel.
Get New Posts
Some B&B members like to pick and choose posts from each forum. Others mostly use the Get New Posts link, which is in the toolbar at the top of every page.
Bookmarklets
If you want to take this approach a little further, here are two javascript-based bookmarks ("bookmarklets") that streamline the process. These have been tested using Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. They may (or may not) work with other browsers.
The first bookmarklet is essentially just Get New Posts. If you add it to your bookmark toolbar you can click on it any time. Or associate it with keyword 'bb', so that typing 'bb' in the location bar will show the latest posts in all forums.
If you aren't interested in all forums, you can exclude the ones that you don't want to follow. Here is an example that excludes straight razors. We found out that "Straight Razor Talk" was forum number 32 by looking at the location bar after navigating to http://badgerandblade.com/vb/ then "General Straight Razor Talk", and observing that the location bar displayed http://badgerandblade.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=32. The subforums turned out to be 79, 80, and 81: "Straight Razors", "Honing", and "Strops".
Here's a link that excludes all four:
So the first bookmark displays a page of search results. But who wants to click on 40 links? Let's write a second bookmarklet, using the keyword 'bball'. Typing 'ctrl-l bball' opens each thread in a new tab, and points the browser at the latest unread post. Here's the bookmarklet:
Google Chrome seems to have changed its behavior recently, and this bookmarklet may work better:
Note that if you use this bookmarklet on a page that isn't part of any B&B search results, unpredictable things may happen.
Together, these two bookmarklets make it easier to keep up with the increasing level of traffic on B&B. Enjoy!
The first bookmarklet is essentially just Get New Posts. If you add it to your bookmark toolbar you can click on it any time. Or associate it with keyword 'bb', so that typing 'bb' in the location bar will show the latest posts in all forums.
If you aren't interested in all forums, you can exclude the ones that you don't want to follow. Here is an example that excludes straight razors. We found out that "Straight Razor Talk" was forum number 32 by looking at the location bar after navigating to http://badgerandblade.com/vb/ then "General Straight Razor Talk", and observing that the location bar displayed http://badgerandblade.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=32. The subforums turned out to be 79, 80, and 81: "Straight Razors", "Honing", and "Strops".
Here's a link that excludes all four:
Code:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/search.php?do=getnew&exclude=32,79,80,81
Code:
javascript:var links=document.querySelectorAll( 'div.threadinfo>div.inner>h3>a:nth-of-type(1)');for(var i=0;i<links.length;i++){ window.open(links[i].href+(links[i].href.indexOf( '?goto=newpost')?'':'?goto=newpost'), '_blank')}window.focus();Google Chrome seems to have changed its behavior recently, and this bookmarklet may work better:
Code:
javascript:var links=document.querySelectorAll( 'div.threadinfo>div.inner>h3>a:nth-of-type(1)');for(var i=0;i<links.length;i++){ var e=document.createEvent("MouseEvents"); e.initMouseEvent("click",true,true,window,0,0,0,0,0,true,false,false,true,0,null); links[i].dispatchEvent(e)}Note that if you use this bookmarklet on a page that isn't part of any B&B search results, unpredictable things may happen.
Together, these two bookmarklets make it easier to keep up with the increasing level of traffic on B&B. Enjoy!
Advanced Search
Where is Advanced Search?
Until the new skin lands, you can get to advanced search by http://badgerandblade.com/vb/search.php or by entering an empty search into the "Quick search" form at the top of the page.
How do I search for new posts by a user?
From Advanced Search, click on the "Search Single Content Type" tab. Set following:
- Search Type: Posts
- Additional Options > Show Results as: Threads
- User Name: some user name
- Exact name: checked
You can select "Find Posts by User" or "Find Threads Started by User", and you can save your preferences for next time. The search results will look much like the "New Posts" results, with the thread title in bold when there are unread posts.
If you want to bookmark this search, start with this link for threads started by the user or this link for any posts by the user. Then edit the new bookmark to change the username. Look for XXX at the end of the bookmark URL, and change it to the username you want to search for. The procedure for editing bookmarks will vary from browser to browser: consult your browser's online help, or search the web.
How do I search for mentions of a user?
Bookmark this link, replacing XXX at the end with the user handle: Search for mentions of XXX
As above, you can create a bookmark for this if you like. The procedure for editing bookmarks will vary from browser to browser: consult your browser's online help, or search the web.a