How To Allow Line Breaks But keep html entities

[johnsmith153]

I am doing a message board.

 

I am using html entities to stop people using tags etc.

 

However if I typed exactly what I have typed here in my message board, I would get:

 

"

I am doing a message board.

I am using html entities to stop people using tags etc.

However if I typed exactly what I have typed here in my message board, I would get:

"

 

I still want people to be able to press enter etc. - what do I do?

[DamienRoche]

Not sure what you mean with the "

 

You can try encapsulate your posts with <pre> </pre> which preserves line breaks.

[The Little Guy]

Save the info into your database.

 

When you read it back do this:

// Make you sql query
$row = mysql_fetch_array($sql);
echo nl2br($row['message']);

[xoligy]

I have line breaks added via bbcode so if the bbcode file is missing the line you wrote wouldnt have line breaks it be all joined together. If your thinking of using bbcode for smiles then maybe you could try that this allows line breaks as i use it on a news script.

[johnsmith153]

great, thanks.

 

The Little Guy's solution is perfect.

 

Just another thought. What if people tried to press enter many times. Would I be able to stop this?

 

Ie PHP to pick up more than 4 line breaks and convert it all into 2 etc.

 

Test: see how PHP Freaks deals with this:

 

Hello

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello

[wildteen88]

Test: see how PHP Freaks deals with this:

 

Hello

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello

 

You'll have to use regex to convert multiple new lines in to a single newline, eg

 

$str = "Hello





Hello


World";

$str = preg_replace('|(\s){3,}|s', "\n", $str);

echo nl2br($str);

[johnsmith153]

Sorry, one more.

 

Wildteen88 has a good solution, but this would convert:

 

Hello

 

How are you?

 

 

 

 

 

From Jim

 

into:

 

Hello

How are you?

From Jim

 

 

Ideally it would do:

 

Hello

 

How are you?

 

From Jim

 

 

In other words, it allows 2 line breaks, but converts 20 (for example) into 2 (not 1)

[xoligy]

thats a good question and a nice answer! Cause a double line break is always helpful i may have to borrow the code too lol