Add smileys support ?

Having excpe caracters is too much complicated imho. It's here, the same reservations à have on a full support of the markdow stadard. A simple exemple is the requirement too put two spaces beforestarting a new line. This is as un-intuitive as possible. I really think we should do some compromises for the comfort of the user, knowing that everyone has a background and some basic reflexes. To me, we should adapt a bit to these basic reflexes...

I agree, we need icons and an option to enable or disable them.

Emoticons are not just things "kikoolol" but really a way to show an emotion or state of mind. I also think it would be a good idea to discuss added to the interface on D *. Do not go to the extreme either, just a few basic. It has always existed since MSN, why not blame them ? As Alberto Aru said, those who do not want it can turn it off !

@augier I dunno, for me, using a backslash to escape characters is a "basic reflex". In fact, when something won't let me escape with a backslash, I get annoyed. What's a better alternative?

@brentbartlett : I think the best idea is to make an option to activated by default.

We must understand that people joining us will in a vast majority come with basic reflexes taken from Facebook, Twitter, MSN like @stefofficiel said. They will try to adopt the same reflexes here. They might not understand that things that don't work on diaspora* are choices, not bugs or lacks of features.

This might look as details, but details are what make people comfortable and cosy. IMHO, it would be sad to see people start trashing diaspora* for little things like that.

It's a matter of choice. the two solutions are good to me. But we have to make a important choice here : do we choose to continue doing our geeky things with geaky features, potentially creating a gap with the less comfortable-with-technology people, or should we try to make it easier for them, potentially crating disturbing features for old users ?

I think that it's a feautre. Nothing more, nothing less. It won't hurt to let it be, as soon as it's possible to deactivate it. The third possibility we have is the github-style : when the person starts to write something that can be a smiley, displaying a list of smileys propostition, without inserting it for him/her ? A bit more complicated to implement, but a good compromise ?

Since I use a computer, since I started using the Internet, I've always seen and used smileys. Of course, do not make smiley base so noobies like Facebook with thumbnails, big smiley, no. But as @augier said he must consider the future users of Diaspora as they are, that is, the average user or users from Facebook. We obviously do not want a Facebook-Like but smileys are a means of expression as well as the text. It's a simple way to tell if you joking or not. And far beyond, the smiley dresses the text is a little emphasis on the web. Formally resign with smileys is like saying it would be better to redo the base diaspora in xHTML, it does not make sense. And of course, I understand people who do not want it, it's called freedom. The easiest way is to make an option to enable or disable smilies.

My three cents:

1. The software should NOT convert my plain characters into smileys (or emoticons, or emoji, or whatever).

2. If other users want to enable an auto-conversion feature for themselves, fine with me.

3. The software SHOULD show me everyone else's smileys (or emoticons, or emoji..) exactly as they intended it. I'm not sure, but it sounds like some people are saying they never even want to see a smiley (for aesthetic purposes?) and so want an option to filter them out while reading other people's posts. That sounds pretty misguided, bordering on censorship. You might as well filter out all swear words, or words that begin with the letter Q, or the names of football teams you don't like...

To summarize: smileys and whatnot are obviously annoying and overused, and ought to be used sparingly, if at all, in the interest of good taste. But we are not the taste police, and they are, in fact, a form of expression, and we're all about freedom of expression, no?

First, I don't think that we should do things just because it's something that Facebook is doing, in an attempt to woo Facebook users to our platform. Diaspora should do what it's users want, not what Facebook's users want.

Second, I agree with @rob12 . The user setting for Emojis/Emoticons should change the way I post, not the way other posts look. So, for instance, if we decide that :) should be substituted with a smiley graphic, then, if I have the Emoji setting on, :) will become a smiley graphic for all users, and if I have it off, it will be :) (colon paren) for all users. This will also help prevent accidental substitutions, such as can happen with strings like TL;DR or blocks of code. If you think that your post will accidentally trigger the emoticons, you can turn it off, post, then turn it back on again, and your post will format as intended.

Put another way, whatever is done with smileys/emoticons/emoji, it should definitely be done upon input, not output.

Diaspora should do what it’s users want, not what Facebook’s users want.

Smileys have always existed ... It is not just Facebook only ...
I have seen it over the output, ie if I do not want a smiley, well I do not mind. If :-) must be transformed into this: ☺ where is the problem?
All over the internet smileys exist, why try at all costs to override the "rule"?