hal

so remember that in cohost, you can use a limited set of html tags, and the only way you can style them is through the style="" attribute
prechoster allows more kinds of code and converts them into html+ for cohost posts
my main use for it is style inlining, where i write html with class attributes and a separate css stylesheet that targets those classes, and then prechoster inlines the styles
i also use it for editing long posts as it has a decent text editor and a preview

other resource lists

cohost's official list of third-party tools
awesome cohost, which is based on the awesome piracy list
Coposting Encyclopedia for Beginners by @dumplingowl

pages to follow

styling and css

cohost's official markdown reference
css for css baby post series by lexyeevee
how to embed images by ChrisStapley
embedding pixel art images by daffodilian
tutorial: how to make a toggleable button by blackle
tutorial: how to make movable objects by blackle
width-hacking tutorial by Corncycle
tutorial: how to make cohost accept basically any animation you want by @oatmealine
character dialogue box css
- original by werewolfbarista
- next iteration by evilscientist3
- another by vurren
alert message boxes like these
- by onnes
- by ebu
- by akhcade
show reptiles button by magicscience
grid of blinkies by pearshapes
CSS pride flags by lexyeevee
various examples of css crimes by exerian
css crimes integrating dark mode?? i don't understand it yet, but here are some links for when i'm ready to get it

tools i like

markdown PLUS allows you to make epic text without html/css knowledge, I like this for the discord-like spoilers
inline details generator, though it has several caveats and I haven't personally used it
these user scripts require a browser extension, like tampermonkey (firefox)
- view source userscript adds a view source button, views the actual source text inputted in the make post dialog
- cohostinator by apexpredator, featuring: top navbar!! and wide posts!!
these user stylesheets also require a browser extension, like Stylus (firefox)
- Compact Comments makes comments more compact
- undescribed media highlighter by kinluwi highlights images that doesn't have alt text
cohost adventure engine by blackle with source
twine for cohost by everest called ravel, like details-summary foldable outline reminiscent of click word to reveal more text kind of twine interactive fiction
are you tired of writing the same html snippets all the time?
- you can use a text expander like espanso, which I recommend
- you can use browser extensions for text snippets, such as these firefox extensions (I haven't tried them but they look good)
  - autofill
  - clippings

how to math

Convert TeX to HTML by pommicket, which outputs flat HTML that you can just paste into your post. However note that the MathJax font used doesn't render in my mobile firefox.
- example: 1+1𝑥𝑥
prechoster also allows using KaTeX in writing posts
1. go to the sidebar
2. go to examples and templates
3. use the "KaTeX MathML" template
  - this works because cohost supports MathML, so all prechoster is doing is running a script that looks for content enclosed in $, converting that into MathML, and inserting that into the post

advice & how to cohost

alt text, image descriptions, screen reader accessibility

cohosters on alt texts & image descriptions
- a really long alt text post by lori
- tips on how to get started writing alt texts by eladnarra
- The #alt text request tag by eladnarra
making css crimes not destroy screenreaders by artemis
How to write alt text and image descriptions for food
Alt-texts: The ultimate guide
Cooper Hewitt guidelines for image description

@astr-hal shared with:

#save

hal @astr-hal4/5/2024, 8:02 AM

slimegirl @slimegirl-scientist

nami @nomnomnami3/29/2024, 6:18 PM

let me tell you about neocities

if you're like me, you got a little taste of geocities as a kid before yahoo pulled the plug on it in 2009. if you're like me, you heard someone started a revival effort called neocities, and thought "aww, that’s nice" without looking into it any further. you maybe visited the neocites homepage once and figured it would take too much time/effort to learn html to make a decent website for yourself, and why would you do that when you already have social media? what is there to gain? it sounds hard, and you have better things to do with your time...

but do you really? does making a personal site need a cost-benefit analysis? what the past me (and maybe you too, sorry i'll stop speaking for you,) didn't realize was, NEOCITIES IS REALLY FUN???? i think there's just a small barrier to entry that stops people from reaching the fun part--and i don't mean learning to build a site!!! because i don't think that's universally fun!!!!!! but the amount of self-expression happening on neocities makes it SUCH A JOY to browse. i think here in 2024 it's harder to realize you can just wander the internet without a specific goal, and without an algorithm to throw it all at you. (i mean, you're here on cohost so i'm sure you get it!!)

the old web you may or may not have nostalgia for is still alive in a new form and you don't have to keep sitting here lamenting the current state of the internet (bad). you can just go on neocities and see a thousand little handmade websites of people sharing things they care about. it's amazing. i'm legitimately so sad that i skipped out this place for so long, because i wrongly thought there was nothing for me in there!!!

so i have written a beginner's guide to enjoying neocities. i'm still completely new to it (i only started building my site 2 weeks ago) so i don't even know that much, but i really really wanted to share how to have fun browsing sites at least because YOU CAN JUST DO THAT!! I THINK IT'S HARD TO REMEMBER YOU CAN JUST CLICK ON THINGS AND GO ANYWHERE!!!!! please let me tell you how because this has been my new favorite hobby and i want everyone to experience the fun!!!!!!!!!!!

#neocities