MTG Salvation

So I'm looking at your primer, and this is what I see:
So it seems to me like it works, or..?

Anyway, as for cardtags and mana symbols, sure, that'll work fine. Example:

(here I'm using [cards]-tags, [center]-tags, and :symX:. You can quote my post to see the tags)

Quote from cryogen »

Keep in mind that if you choose this option the width of your screen will determine how many boxes fit side by side. For instance, on my normal laptop six boxes side by side mimicking a deck list fit perfectly. However, on my desktop widescreen monitor I have room for a few more boxes, and when I look at the post on my phone it will only fit four boxes and the remaining two are underneath.

You can also use [boxvar]-tags to force the box tags to be of a certain width, potentially making them narrow enough to fit on a smaller screen.

You can use the [box]-tag to create makeshift columns. Just don't do a line break between the boxes. For example:

The code for this:

I have now updated this thread to contain not only cardtags, but a slew of other relevant (and corner case) tags as well. Have fun y'all

...but why doesn't this work? [card]Lightning Bolt|Magic 2011 (M11)[/card]

Quote from thedroidsyourelookingfor »

How do you tag a card from a core set with a year? i.e. Lightning Bolt I've tried "M11," "Magic 2011," "Magic 2011(M11)," "Magic: the Gathering Core Set-2011" and "Magic: the Gathering- 2011." I've had the same problem with Scooze, and Grim Lavamancer (M12).

This is an admitted flaw with our current database system. You have to spell the set name exactly as it is in the card database. For example:

[card]Scavenging Ooze|Magic: The Gathering-Commander[/card] = Scavenging Ooze

(though you seem to be aware of this already)

Additionally, because of the name the new Core Sets have been given in the database (for example: "Magic 2011 (M11)"), you can't make the cardtags refer to those at all, as far as I know. In an optimal world, each set should have multiple different names that each will get you to the correct card. For example, for M11, the optimal thing would be to have Magic 2011, M11, etc, all be interchangeable. This is something we're looking into, and we've reported it to the owners as a desirable feature. We'd also like it to be possible to have the cardtags refer to a specific verion of a card, for example the Wolf version of Hymn to Tourach.

So we do have the Colorless mana symbol, actually. :SYMC: =

I'll add it to the guide!

Pretty sure it's in the works.

By the way, I'll fix those darned icon images. I swear the url of those changes every other day...

Quote from MRB_Illustration »

Is there any way to link to a specific art within a deck tag?

No, not that I am aware of.

Quote from mynameinbinary »

Can I link to a deck using shorthand based on the deck thread, or am I stuck hyperlinking to the full site?

You can't link to the deck, no. But you can link to the specific post; just right-click on the number in the upper-right corner, then copy link address.

@rjpavlas: You're welcome!

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Table of contents:

• 1 – Cardtags
• 1a – [card]-tag
• 1b – [cardimg]-tag
• 1c – [cards]-tag
• 1d – [deck]-tag
• 1e – [mana]-tag and other mana symbols
• 2 – The Post Editor Tags
• 2a – [list]-tag and [numlist]-tag
• 2b – [size]-tag
• 2c – [color]-tag
• 2d – [spoiler]-tag
• 3 – The Hidden Tags
• 3a – [noparse]-tag
• 3b – [anchor]-tag and [alink]-tag
• 3c – [youtube]-tag
• 3d – [tab]-tag and [space]-tag
• 3e – [box]-tag and [boxvar]-tag
• 3f – [float]-tag
• 3g – [wiki]-tag
• 3h – [hr]-tag
• 3i – [font]-tag

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1 – Cardtags

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It's recommended that you use cardtags on MTG Salvation to make discussion of deck lists and individual cards easier. Cardtags are tags you can put around card names or around complete deck lists, which makes the image of the card pop up when you hover your mouse over the card name. The card name also turns into a link you can click on for additional information about oracle wording, price, other printings, and so on.

Fortunately, cardtags are quite easy, and in this tutorial I'll explain all you need to know about these handy little things!

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1a – [card]-tag

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If you want to cardtag an individual card, you can just put [card] directly before and [/card] directly after the card name.

Example:
will turn into . Pretty simple stuff.
Do note, of course, that you need to accurately type the card name - [card]Wooly Thoctar[/card] will not link to Woolly Thoctar, [card]Islands[/card] will not link to Island, and [card]Squee[/card] will not link to Squee, Goblin Nabob.

There are various other things you can do with the card tag as well. If you want to link to a card from a specific set (the default is the newest set it has been printed in), you can do that.

Example:
will turn into .

You can also cardtag indirectly, in that you can make any text into a cardtag for any given card.

Example:
will turn into .

You can even combine the two.

Example:
will turn into .

You can also use the [c]-tag in place of the [card]-tag. These are completely interchangeable.

For reference, here is a list of the set names you need to use for the cardtags to recognize them (for example, "Alpha" won't do; you need to write "Limited Edition Alpha"):

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1b – [cardimg]-tag

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This is a very useful tag if you want to post, say, the contents of a booster pack, as it allows you skip the annoying find-image-then-copy-paste-using-image-tags part, and instead just let the cardtags to do the work for you.

Example:

will turn into:


Just like with the [card]-tag, you can also specify which version of the card you want to display.

Example:

will turn into:

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1c – [cards]-tag

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The [cards]-tag allows you to easily cardtag a list of cards.

Example:

will turn into:


As you can see, there are a few things to note here:

1. Numbers and numbers followed by Xs won't break the cardtags. However, if you write x2 instead of 2x, for example, you will mess up the tags.
2. The card link stops when the sentence is completed, or is interrupted by parentheses, brackets and dashes. This means you should use these if you want to include comments in the card list. Note that braces - { } - won't work.
3. Other tags (like bold, italics or underline) in the middle of the [cards]-tag will break up the tag.

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1d – [deck]-tag

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If you're posting a full decklist, it's recommended that you use the [deck]-tag. The [deck]-tags tag all the cards between them, and make your deck show up as a pretty box that gives a more professional look to your decklist. Using the [deck]-tags is quite easy. You just need to put [deck] before and [/deck] directly after your decklist, and all the card names in that list will be automatically linked.

Example:

will turn into:


Neat-o!

Additionally, you can title your decklist (the default is [username]'s deck).

Example:
would in this case turn into .

You can also add section names. All you need to do is have it immediately before a section (say, lands) and don't write a number in front.

Example:

which will turn into:


Another thing: The same rules apply to the [deck]-tag as to the [cards]-tag, namely:

1. 1 or 1x will work, x1 will not.
2. Use parentheses, brackets or dashes if you want to add comments to individual cards.
3. Other tags inside the [deck]-tag will break it.

Also, do note that you'll need to put a number in front of all cards in your list, otherwise those cards won't show up in the decklist at all. So even if you're making a Commander decklist with only one of every card, you still have to type "1" in front of all cards in your list!

Lastly, see those icons in the top right corner?

• is a quick link to buying the cards in the deck on TCGPlayer.com.
• lets you download the decklist in Apprentice-format.
• lets you download the decklist in OCTGN-format (Online Card and Tabletop Gaming Network).
• lets you download the decklist in Magic Online-format.

Sometimes the latter three won't work until you refresh the page.

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1e – [mana]-tag and other mana symbols

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Manatags exist to make your post aesthetically pleasing, and is particularly crucial in the Custom Card Creation forums. Manatags turn letters into colored mana symbols and numbers into colorless mana symbols.

Example:
will turn into .
You can also get other specialty symbols this way using the mana tags:

Anything else will result in the planechase symbol. For instance:

If you need to make hybrid/phyrexian mana symbols, you need to use icons. Here are the codes:

:SYMWG: or :SYMGW: =
:SYMRW: or :SYMWR: =
And so on.
:SYM2G: =
You get the gist.

:SYMPW: =
:SYMPU: =
:SYMPB: =
:SYMPR: =
:SYMPG: =

You can also just hit the smiley button and then "MTG" for a full gallery of various symbols, including guild symbols ( , etc) and various other mana symbols.

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2 – The Post Editor Tags

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The post editor tags are the common ones that you have access to via the podt editor, i.e:

These generally do not require a whole lot of explanation, but I will still select a few of them to talk about.

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2a – [list]-tag and [numlist]-tag

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We have two different list-tags: one that creates bullet points (•), and one that creates numbers. You'll have to surround what you'll turn into a list with the appropriate list-tags, and immediately before each point on the list, add [*].

Example:
will turn into .
You can also nest list-tags. You just put complete list tags within another list tag.

Example:
will turn into .
(there is an extra line break that occurs after the list; this is just a quirk that is a part of the tags for the time being)

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2b – [size]-tag

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The [size]-tag does not really require any additional explanation, but I wanted to add it just to give a visual example of each possible text size. We have seven text sizes in total, and you choose the appropriate one by wrapping the text in [size=X][/size], where X is the desired text size.

This is size 1.

This is size 2.

This is size 3.

This is size 4.

This is size 5.

This is size 6.

This is size 7. Whelp!

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2c – [color]-tag

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You can use [color]-tags to format your text with the color of your choice. You can, of course, choose [color=blue] or [color=darkgreen] or the like, but you could also be more specific by using HTML color codes.

Example:
will turn into .
You can get an assortment of HTML color codes from websites such as this one. Remember to use the hashtag, or it will not parse.

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2d – [spoiler]-tag

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[spoiler]-tags are used primarily to either hide information from those who might not want to see it (like the ending to a movie), or simply to make a block of text not take so much space on the screen.

Example:
will turn into .
You can also leave the spoilers themselves blank and/or nest them.
Example:
will turn into .

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3 – The Hidden Tags

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These are the tags that you won't find shortcuts to in the post editor; you'll have to already know them to use them. And that's what I'm here for, so here are the tags that you can use to give your thread just that little extra.

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3a – [noparse]-tag

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I can tell you right away that the [noparse]-tag has been the most useful tag in making this tutorial. What it does is quite simply to disable all tags surrounded by them.

Example:
will turn into .
Basically, nothing happened. And that's the entire point. So if you, like me, are in need of a handy tool to make a tutorial thread, look no further.

I will note that smilies will work in spite of [noparse]-tags. You can still get around this, however, should you wish to. Let's do some cheating.

Example:
will turn into .
On the other hand, had you used the [noparse]-tag, this would have happened:
turns into .
As you can see, it doesn't work. So you need to use some dummy tag to break up the smily tag. I prefer the [size]-tag; using something like the [color]-tag will technically work, but due to skins, it is not recommended. But for the [size]-tag, you need to insert nonsense into the tag, as you can't actually use it to replicate the forum's default text size, which is somewhere between 2 and 3. Using [size=initial] leaves it at the initial size.

So there you go. A bit of a corner case tag, but when it's useful, it's really useful.

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3b – [anchor]-tag and [alink]-tag

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This section is a 2-for-1, as these two tags are very much intertwined. [anchor]-tags create points within a thread that you can link to with the [alink]-tag. This is, of course, particularly useful when you have a very long post that you'd like to be a bit easier to navigate. For example, a detailed primer thread (or, I suppose, a tutorial thread...).

Example:
will turn into .

So you just call the Anchor something, and then have the Alink look for whatever you called the Anchor. Unsurprisingly, having multiple Anchors with the same name won't work out, so make sure you give them different names. Anchors/Alinks will also work across multiple posts in the same thread, so you can use Alinks in the first post of a thread to look for Anchors in, say, the fourth post of a thread. It will not work if the anchor is on a different page within the same thread, however; it needs to be on the same page.

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3c – [youtube]-tag

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Got an interesting/funny/topical YouTube video you want to share? You can embed it to MTG Salvation using the [youtube]-tag. What you need is the video ID. The video ID is the highlighted part here:

You then take that ID and surround it with [youtube]-tags.

Example:
will turn into .
And that's it.

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3d – [tab]-tag and [space]-tag

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The [tab]-tag and [space]-tag are both tags that exist to create spaces and indents. They have slightly different functionality, which I'll explain here.

Example:
will turn into .
The [tab]-tag is one you don't have to close; just a single [tab] will do the trick. You can also stack [tab]-tags to create bigger indents.

Example:
will turn into .
Other things to note:

• [tab]-tags are not restricted to the beginning of sentences; you can use them in the middle of one to create an extra wide space.
• The [tab]-tag will not create an indent for a whole paragraph.

The [space]-tag is slightly different; it can be used to create indents for a whole paragraph, but it can't be used in the middle of sentences.

Example:
will turn into The [space]-tag uses a variable that you'll need to specify; this refers to how long (in pixels) the indent should be. Additionally, unlike the [tab]-tag, it requires a closing tag (i.e. [/space]).

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3e – [box]-tag and [boxvar]-tag

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The [box]-tag creates a customizable quote-like box that can be filled with text, images, videos, and the like. They're what I've used for all the examples in this tutorial!

Example:
[box]This is a box. There are many like it, but this one is mine.[/box]

will turn into


Additionally, we have the [boxvar]-tag. This is much like [box]; the difference is that you can customize its width. While [box] will be as wide as the longest sentence, you can force the [boxvar] to be of the width you want.

Example:
[boxvar=250]This box is 250 pixels wide.[/boxvar]

will turn into

One neat thing that [boxvar]-tags do is reducing image size. If you have a large image that you surround with [boxvar]-tags, it will automatically scale down to fit the box.

Example:
[boxvar=250][img]http://i.imgur.com/H3Ih5JZ.jpg[/img][/boxvar]

will turn into

The image is fairly large, but gets scaled down substantially. It's pretty neat and easy tool to have one or more images be of the exact size you wish it to.

Box tags can also be used quite effectively with [float]-tags. These will be covered in the next section!

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3f – [float]-tag

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[float]-tag are the best way to include images and such in your post that won't interrupt the overall text flow of the post. You can also use them to essentially create two separate columns. You can do either [float=left] or [float=right].

Example:
will turn into (look to the right)
In these examples, I've used the [box]-tag. This is, I think, by far the best way to use [float]-tags, as it lets you keep better control of the float-tag, and makes it easier to keep separate from the rest of the text. But you don't have to use [box]-tags. If you want to float a lot of text, like a long quote or the like, it would be prudent to use [boxvar]-tags.

Example:
will turn into (again, look to the right)

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3g – [wiki]-tag

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I'll go over this one really quickly, as it's quite simple. The [wiki]-tag is essentially an [url]-tag that only works for Wikipedia articles, but easier to use, as you just need to surround the topic that you think someone else really better read about in [wiki]-tags.

Example:
will turn into .
Very much not difficult.

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3h – [hr]-tag

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I shall not provide visual examples of these, I don't think, as it'd make my delicious formatting look silly. But the [hr]-tag (HR stands for horizontal reference, in case you're wondering) is what makes these lines that stretch across the entire post. The ones I use are [hr]black[/hr], which, unsurprisingly, create black lines. You can also make green ones, red, etc, similar to how the regular [color]; you can use color codes for these as well. [hr]#1F45FC[/hr], for example, would create a line with the color of blue orchid.

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3i – [font]-tag

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One tag that you might think is in the post editor, but isn't, is the [font]-tag. This one is, again, very simple. You wrap the tags around the desired area, and choose the font you prefer. Note that the default font on the site is Arial (size 10.5, in case you were curious).

Example:
will turn into
We do not have every single font out there, but the selection is quite substantial. Most fonts that you'll find in Office programs or the like, you'll find here as well. However, keep in mind that your fellow forumites are unlikely to appreciate it if you use the Wingdings font. NNN

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That's all, folks; I hope this tutorial has been helpful!