[Suggestion] BBCode tags for regional delegate and founder

[HMS Unicorn]

Would it be possible to add BBcode tags, gameside and perhaps forumside, that would produce dynamically-updating links to a region's delegate or founder?

Here is an example of how this could work. Writing the code

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[delegate]the north pacific[/delegate]

would produce the following hyperlink: Zemnaya Svoboda .

Alternatively, one could write the code

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[delegate=the north pacific]a link to TNP's delegate[/delegate]

which would produce the following hyperlink: a link to TNP's delegate

Both links would currently direct to Zemnaya Svoboda. Then, should The North Pacific's delegate change tomorrow, the links would be automatically updated to point to the new delegate nation, without the need to edit the code. And similarly for regional founders.

These BBcode tags would be incredibly useful in dispatches. Many regions have dispatches that are meant to remain in place for a long time, and which describe the regional government or other infrastructure. These dispatches frequently need to reference regional officials such as the delegate or founder, and updating them can be very tedious. A representative example would be The North Pacific WA Development Program, but I'm sure there are dozens of regional dispatches that have similar links.

Given all the code already in place for the various other BBcode tags, e.g., the NATION tag with the dynamically updating flag, I imagine that adding the above tags would be simple from a coding perspective.

Thanks in advance!

[Mousebumples]

Possible bug/glitch: What if a region doesn't have a WA Delegate? What is displayed?

Otherwise, I agree that this could be useful for dispatches or WFE's.

[Topid]

I like this idea. Well at least for delegates. I can't imagine why you'd need one for founders, founders do not change very often at all.

One other consideration is that if this could be done it should be one of the BBCode left out of WA proposals. I can see a less-experienced person using it in a SC resolution and the rest of us not noticing the difference between tags. Then when the delegate changes in the future the resolution makes no sense.

[HMS Unicorn]

Possible bug/glitch: What if a region doesn't have a WA Delegate? What is displayed?

As with nations that CTE, it could be some non-hyperlinked text, e.g., "REGION_NAME delegate". Seems easy enough.

One other consideration is that if this could be done it should be one of the BBCode left out of WA proposals. I can see a less-experienced person using it in a SC resolution and the rest of us not noticing the difference between tags. Then when the delegate changes in the future the resolution makes no sense.

Aye, it should be entirely disabled for WA proposals. Or, if that's not possible, made illegal by mods.

[SillyString]

I love this idea!

I suppose it wouldn't be necessary to include founders, but I don't see it doing any harm, either. It could come in handy in an unexpected place.

[Kaboomlandia]

I love this idea!

I suppose it wouldn't be necessary to include founders, but I don't see it doing any harm, either. It could come in handy in an unexpected place.

It would be very handy for WFEs that say "endorse X nation".

[Imperium Anglorum]

I love this idea!

I suppose it wouldn't be necessary to include founders, but I don't see it doing any harm, either. It could come in handy in an unexpected place.

But that's just because you are in the North Pacific, which doesn't have a founder. What if I'm in Europe, which clearly does?

[Misley]

I love this idea!

I suppose it wouldn't be necessary to include founders, but I don't see it doing any harm, either. It could come in handy in an unexpected place.

But that's just because you are in the North Pacific, which doesn't have a founder. What if I'm in Europe, which clearly does?

I don't think SillyString is saying it's unnecessary because TNP doesn't have a founder, but rather because founders change very, very rarely. I don't see a whole lot of value in a founder tag that can't be addressed by using a

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[nation]whatever the founder nation is[/nation]

tag instead. [region=The Internationale] has been around for six years. The founder has changed once. I can't picture an instance in which it would have been useful to have a [founder] tag to refer to either founder nation.

The addition of a delegate tag, as delegates change relatively frequently, would by contrast be very handy.

[Free Republics]

I love this idea!

I suppose it wouldn't be necessary to include founders, but I don't see it doing any harm, either. It could come in handy in an unexpected place.

It would be very handy for WFEs that say "endorse X nation".

It'd also be very handy for successful invaders, since the WFE would automatically say "endorse [raider delegate]" rather than "endorse [native delegate]" after the delegacy changed hands in a raid. They wouldn't even have to change the WFE to try and trick some natives into unwittingly supporting the occupation of their region.

[Rhodevus]

Possible bug/glitch: What if a region doesn't have a WA Delegate? What is displayed?

Otherwise, I agree that this could be useful for dispatches or WFE's.

I think that what should be displayed would just be a link to the region's WFE (if there is no delegate for that region)

[HMS Unicorn]

I don't have strong feelings either way regarding the FOUNDER option. I suggested it mostly for symmetry.

It's true that it's not nearly as useful as the DELEGATE tag, given how infrequently founders change. At the same time, I can't think of any drawbacks, and it may have some little use as a shortcut.

[Cora II]

Same nation can be elected delegate of 2 different regions simultaneously, if it is elected first in later updating region, and during very next update in an earlier updating one. Maximum time for this can be time between updates of the first and the last regions in order of update.

To which region [delegate][/delegate] tag would link/direct in this kind cases?

ADD: ...and how about with nations that are founders of multiple regions?

In both aforementioned cases new tags won't do better then [nation][/nation] tag already does.

[Misley]

Same nation can be elected delegate of 2 different regions simultaneously, if it is elected first in later updating region, and during very next update in an earlier updating one. Maximum time for this can be time between updates of the first and the last regions in order of update.

To which region [delegate][/delegate] tag would link/direct in this kind cases?

ADD: ...and how about with nations that are founders of multiple regions?

In both aforementioned cases new tags won't do better then [nation][/nation] tag already does.

Cora, the delegate/founder tags would be for the region, not the nation holding those positions. So the tag would link to whoever currently holds the Delegate or Founder seat in the region in question.

For example, [delegate]The Internationale[/delegate] would link to Proletaire, who is currently TI's WAD. If someone else was elected to the WAD seat, then the same tag would link to the new WAD.

[HMS Unicorn]

Cora, I'm not sure what the issue is in either case. Misley already explained, but I'll give some more details.

Same nation can be elected delegate of 2 different regions simultaneously, if it is elected first in later updating region, and during very next update in an earlier updating one. Maximum time for this can be time between updates of the first and the last regions in order of update.

To which region [delegate][/delegate] tag would link/direct in this kind cases?

The proposed [delegate] tag would link to nations, not regions.

Say NationA is simultaneously delegate of RegionA and RegionB. Then, both

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[delegate]RegionA[/delegate]

and

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[delegate]RegionB[/delegate]

would produce links to NationA.

When NationA ceased to be delegate in either region, then the links would be automatically updated to point to the new delegate.

ADD: ...and how about with nations that are founders of multiple regions?

It's exactly the same as above. If NationA is founder of both RegionA and RegionB, then both

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[founder]RegionA[/founder]

and

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[founder]RegionB[/founder]

would link to NationA.

In both aforementioned cases new tags won't do better then [nation][/nation] tag already does.

I don't think the new tags and

[nation]

are comparable in the cases you describe. Their function is very different. I hope my explanation above has demonstrated this and clarified any confusion.

[Cora II]

Yep I see. I thought this thing from little weird angle, that use of such kind tags would automatically track and parse relevant region information of a founder's/delegate's nation link to a text. Something like this (in case of delegate for example):

blah blah bla-blaaaa, txtxt text, blah Nation X, the Delegate of region Y, blah blah, text text, more txt...

In where both nation and region(s) would be clickable links, in which case my notes on issue are more sensible.

ADD : In another words, [delegate] tag would produce line similar then coding

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 Delegate [nation]Nation X[/nation] of [region]Region Y[/region]

[HMS Unicorn]

I see, thanks, I understand your earlier post now. However, even if the tag were to produce to the text you suggest, I still don't think there would be problems.

The key here is that the specification that goes inside the tag is for a region, not a nation. So, the code [delegate]Region X[/delegate] could produce the text

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Delegate [nation]Nation X[/nation] of [region]Region X[/region]

Nation X may also be delegate of Region Y, and you can get a link for that region using [delegate]Region Y[/delegate]. But as far as [delegate]Region X[/delegate] is concerned, Nation X's other delegacies are irrelevant.

I agree with you that, for the scenario you describe, there would be problems if the specification inside the tag was for a nation, e.g., if you wanted to use the code [delegate]Nation X[/delegate] to produce the text

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Delegate [nation]Nation X[/nation] of [region]Region X[/region]

This case would indeed be troublesome, as the tag expansion script would need to figure out which of all the regions Nation X is delegate of it should use.
[hr]
I'll also use this post to bump this suggestion back to the first page, as there seemed to be interest in it from several other players.

[SillyString]

I still love this idea!

Oh, and Imperium Anglorum: My main nation is in a UCR, so I'm absolutely familiar with founders. But as Misley and others have said, they don't change very frequently (and in some cases, never), so the issue with having to update references doesn't exist.

On the other hand, I can see it coming in handy if you're trying to write something about many regions and don't know their founders off the top of your head - for example, perhaps a defender organization publishing a factbook listing all of their member regions and those regions' founders and delegates, for a handy reference. Then, being able to just quickly type [delegate]RegionA[/delegate] and [founder]RegionA[/founder] would save a lot of time.

[Tyrnica]

I believe this would be an extremely useful addition to the game and forum. I agree, yes, it should be disabled for WA proposals, but otherwise seems a very sound idea.

[HMS Unicorn]

As I was updating some dispatches to reflect delegate changes, I was reminded of this old suggestion of mine.

Given that several others expressed interest in this idea, I thought I'd give it another bump.

[McMasterdonia]

I thought I would bump this thread (hope that is okay?). Love the suggestion from HMS unicorn and think it would be extremely useful if it could be added by Admin.

[Almonaster Nuevo]

This seems like an excellent idea to me, too.

When regional officers are implemented, it might make sense to have equivalent links for them (assuming this is feasible).