Posted under Bugs & Features
Should I add a comment for that? Should I put it in the commentary? Should I put it in a note on the image? How should I format it?
These are all fairly important questions that need answering, otherwise we won't have a consistent standardization of the "alt text" formatting for images containing alt text in their source. Whether it be from hovering over the image, clicking "alt", or the image failing to load and displaying text in it's place.
Comment: Definitely no
Commentary: iirc this is where it's currently done. Not ideal, but works
Note on image: unsure, hadn't even thought of it.
Don't know if a new box/section like we have for commentary is technically feasible for the site, but if it is, that'd be my suggestion
It should be added in the commentary field because it is just another way for the artist to add a commentary/description to their work.
I suggest using [tn]Alt text:[/tn] as label followed by two line breaks and the alt text.
This format is clear and visually consistent with how we note the source for commentaries from multiple sources:
Commentary blah blah foo bar quux
Alt text:
If you're reading this you're stinky
Nameless_Contributor said:
It should be added in the commentary field because it is just another way for the artist to add a commentary/description to their work.
I suggest using
[tn]Alt text:[/tn]as label followed by two line breaks and the alt text.
This format is clear and visually consistent with how we note the source for commentaries from multiple sources:
Agreed on having it featured in the commentary field, and agreed on having some sort of unified standard if we do include them in the commentary, to make sure it is apparent that it's the alt text and not the core commentary text. I see no issue with your proposed [tn]Alt text:[/tn].
Nameless_Contributor said:
The curly braces look ugly and are there to be machine-readable, they aren't necessary since we have the alt_text tag.
On a related note in regards to 'necessity', the way the alt text is grabbed needs to be adjusted, especially in regards to Tumblr. The way it currently functions, it renders the commentary in this format:
ALTthis is the commentary
So if you end up in a scenario where there are multiple alt texts in a Tumblr post, you get:
ALT"THIS IS THE ALT TEXT 2
ALTthis is finally the commentary
or;
ALTso this is the first part of the commentary but next up is an extra image that also has alt text
ALTain't that neat? also if it isn't clear, the alt text is linking to the image it was attached to, which isn't exactly necessary but can be useful in some contexts
It makes the commentaries on posts such as that much harder to read. Sure, it actually grabs the alt text automatically, in contrast to Twitter or Bluesky (where you have to do it manually, or automate it like BrokenEagle), but the way it is done right now isn't exactly the best.
Damian0358 said:
On a related note in regards to 'necessity', the way the alt text is grabbed needs to be adjusted, especially in regards to Tumblr. The way it currently functions, it renders the commentary in this format:
So if you end up in a scenario where there are multiple alt texts in a Tumblr post, you get:
or;
It makes the commentaries on posts such as that much harder to read. Sure, it actually grabs the alt text automatically, in contrast to Twitter or Bluesky (where you have to do it manually, or automate it like BrokenEagle), but the way it is done right now isn't exactly the best.
Tell me more about BrokenEagle's automation
viliml said:
Tell me more about BrokenEagle's automation
BrokenEagle has a specific bot that goes through and retrieves the alt text from Twitter posts, simple as that. Danbooru does not currently automatically retrieve Twitter alt texts, thus a user-made solution. The format you see in Sessyoin Kiara's post is the format that BrokenEagle's bot renders alt text, example, and he has been using that format consistently since late June 2022.
The vast, vast majority of alt text commentaries on Danbooru are thanks to his bot, effectively imposing his chosen formatting on the site even if others disagree with it (see Nameless Contributor). So even if there is a standard, it isn't codified nor is it universally accepted. That then causes trouble if, say, someone wants to correct the broken alt text in Tumblr commentaries, because if there is no universal standard, what are you supposed to correct broken alt text to?
