Skip to main content
Andrew Neil
Super User
July 9, 2026
Question

Need a way to post "preformatted" text which is not code

  • July 9, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 30 views

For example, a table like this:

This has been posted using the code editor, so it has inappropriate C syntax highlighting.

 

On the old forum, there was a ‘Preformatted’ option in the paragraph formats menu:

 

The ‘Code’ option in the new forum is not equivalent:

It’s a character format - not a paragraph format.

It doesn’t work for blocks of text (such as the table example above) - it’s for highlighting individual keywords within a paragraph.

 

 

I made a post about this for the old forum in the How to write your question to maximize your chances to find a solution article (note that the new forum has mangled the examples in that post).

We need an equivalent for the new forum

Perhaps a ‘Plain Text’ option in the code editor?

2 replies

Andrew Neil
Super User
July 9, 2026

This forum doesn’t even have the option to use a mono-spaced (fixed-width) font.

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked.A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work.
Andrew Neil
Super User
July 14, 2026

Hmmm … it looks like the ‘Markdown’ language option in the Code editor might be usable:

 


+-----+ +---------+
| | | |
| a | a directed line | another |
| +--------------------->+ |
| box | | box |
| | | |
+-----+ +---------+

 

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked.A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work.
Andrew Neil
Super User
July 14, 2026

This is how it appeared in the post editor:

 

But what we actually get is this:

I guess it’s better than nothing - but still not great.

 

And still WYSINWYG - What You See Is Not What You Get !

 

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked.A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work.