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For games, like movies or books, one of the worst things that can happen to you is that they spoil details of the story or even the finale.

How do we behave with questions/answers that reveal spoilers?

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    Good point, I wonder if @Jeff would want to implement a [spoiler][/spoiler] markup
    – Ivo Flipse
    Commented Jul 7, 2010 at 20:06
  • Keep in mind that stackexchange runs off the same software as all the other Stack sites. Also, there will be potentially hundreds or more active stackexchange sites which have no concept of a "spoiler" or even a need for one. So to expect the developers to add such functionality specifically for this site is presumptuous. Appropriate solutions for this must make use of the tools we are provided.
    – hobodave
    Commented Jul 7, 2010 at 21:31
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    @ivo - +1 great idea. @hobo the platform will need to be flexible enough to support the communities that use it.
    – Antony
    Commented Jul 8, 2010 at 2:16
  • @ivo I like it.
    – user59
    Commented Jul 8, 2010 at 8:53
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    @hobodave I agree that maintain the same software for all Stack sites will help developers. But I think that the success of a website is reached also through small details like this.
    – user59
    Commented Jul 8, 2010 at 8:54
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    @hobodave In the comments box of almost every answer here you really overestimate how hard it is to add such a tag. Who cares if the functionality is in Stack Overflow or another site anyway, if it's not going to be used.
    – user56
    Commented Jul 10, 2010 at 14:45
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    This is an open feature-request on meta.so.
    – Larry Wang
    Commented Aug 24, 2010 at 1:41
  • possible duplicate of Is editing a question to use the Spoiler format acceptable?
    – Robotnik Mod
    Commented Jul 22, 2015 at 4:34
  • possible duplicate of Of spoilers, plot twists and our mission and/or Should answers on questions that ask for spoiler information be put in spoiler markup or not?
    – galacticninja
    Commented Jul 22, 2015 at 7:04

9 Answers 9

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I think we need a spoiler extension to Markdown.

Similar to how the jsMath piece works on MathOverflow.net

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  • See comment to others.
    – hobodave
    Commented Jul 7, 2010 at 21:32
  • Perhaps @Jeff or @Robert can comment on the possibilities for this?
    – Ivo Flipse
    Commented Jul 12, 2010 at 18:29
  • What about the title?
    – ripper234
    Commented Aug 19, 2010 at 5:10
  • This has been posted as a [feature-request] here on meta.gaming.se. The meta.so [feature-request] is here.
    – Larry Wang
    Commented Aug 26, 2010 at 22:43
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No spoilers in the title plus [spoiler] tags. Rot13 the comment text if you really want to?

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    I think rot13 might be a bit excessive, and a hindrance to non-technically inclined users.
    – hobodave
    Commented Jul 7, 2010 at 19:45
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    The question preview displays 2 lines of text though. Wouldn't there have to be another rule that the question itself can't have spoilers in the first few lines?
    – Brandon
    Commented Jul 7, 2010 at 19:56
  • If it specifically says "SPOILERS" in the title, I think having a spoiler in a mouse-over is still acceptable.
    – Jeffrey
    Commented Jul 7, 2010 at 20:07
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    @Jeffrey, I mean in the Questions -> Newest/Hot/Votes/Active section. Not the home page.
    – Brandon
    Commented Jul 7, 2010 at 20:09
  • @monorailkitty sorry for the ignorance but what is Rot13?
    – user59
    Commented Jul 11, 2010 at 14:19
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    @marco.ragogna Rotate 13, you rotate each character by 13 alphabet places. A becomes N, B becomes O, etc etc.
    – Jesse Dorsey
    Commented Jul 13, 2010 at 18:36
  • having a spoiler tag is enough, as users can add his to to their ignored tags, also, the front page doesn't how those two lines, so no loss there too.
    – alexanderpas
    Commented Jul 13, 2010 at 20:18
  • @Noctrine oh thank you :) never heard before
    – user59
    Commented Jul 13, 2010 at 20:26
  • Isn't the use of spoiler as a tag too meta, and an abuse of the tagging system? blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/08/the-death-of-meta-tags
    – Zoredache
    Commented Nov 1, 2010 at 20:39
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I'm not sure a tag will cover everything. Sometimes a question might not ask for a spoiler, but an answer will provide one.

I would love to see a spoiler formatting option in mark down. Perhaps this would just display a "spoiler" link that would reveal the text when clicked on.

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  • I don't think it would be excessive for markdown to support a simple spoiler link. Certainly a number of forum software supports this interface with success.
    – tzenes
    Commented Jul 7, 2010 at 20:02
  • Keep in mind that stackexchange runs off the same software as all the other Stack sites. Also, there will be potentially hundreds or more active stackexchange sites which have no concept of a "spoiler" or even a need for one. So to expect the developers to add such functionality specifically for this site is presumptuous. Appropriate solutions for this must make use of the tools we are provided.
    – hobodave
    Commented Jul 7, 2010 at 21:32
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    It could be easily done in jQuery, loads of other sites have done it. They added the logo and custom CSS, 3 extra lines of Javascript isn't going to take a lot of effort
    – Chris S
    Commented Jul 7, 2010 at 22:16
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Why not do similar to what TVTropes does, and have markup that will change the text to the same color as the background, with a dotted box around it? The user then highlights over the text to see what was hidden. This will allow for in-line spoilers.

(If you haven't used the site, try here for an example; look at the bulleted point for "Strong Bad's Cool Game", 4th bullet from last)

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I like the idea of a [spoiler] tag, but I'd like to point out that the first sentence or two shows up under the question title in the "latest questions" views. Maybe a customization should be built to prevent showing that preview for posts with the spoiler tag?

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    Or we put a note in the FAQ to remind people not to put spoilers in the title or first paragraph.
    – ChrisF
    Commented Jul 7, 2010 at 21:23
  • Keep in mind that stackexchange runs off the same software as all the other Stack sites. Also, there will be potentially hundreds or more active stackexchange sites which have no concept of a "spoiler" or even a need for one. So to expect the developers to add such functionality specifically for this site is presumptuous. Appropriate solutions for this must make use of the tools we are provided.
    – hobodave
    Commented Jul 7, 2010 at 21:30
  • @hobo: However, there are many more sites that could use the idea of a spoiler. Most forum software supports such a tag, because it is such a universal concept.
    – John Gietzen
    Commented Jul 8, 2010 at 21:08
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I think a spoiler tag is sufficient for questions. If an answer includes a spoiler though, perhaps a first-line attention grabber such as:

Spoiler Within

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    I wouldn't like having to add that to an answer
    – juan
    Commented Jul 7, 2010 at 20:10
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Another vote for spoiler tags... adding them wouldn't necessarily even involve mucking with Markdown, though. How about a JS-based solution like the one used by Jay is Games?

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Spoiler tags are good, but it should also be possible to have questions flagged for spoilers. I've seen questions with spoilers in the title. You can't unsee them, but flagging them (and kicking them back to the asker for a better title) would help fewer people see them.

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  • For now, feel free to flag such questions for moderator attention. That way, if no one else gets to it first, then we will be quite swift in handling it. Make sure, though, that you clearly point out which part is the spoiler when you write the message.
    – Grace Note StaffMod
    Commented Aug 27, 2010 at 10:32
-7

We should relax about spoilers. Reader beware! Spoier is about providing unasked for (and usually out of context of the conversation) information. How can answering a question on Q&A site be spoiling?

Most people will arrive to the site (via Google) looking for a spoiler. Those who are afraid of spoilers will not come. Those in between should go to excellent http://www.game-hints.com/

Avoiding spoilers is just too much work. Look at this excellent question (and answer). Did you look at the title and go: "Oh, the warden is going to be caged?" How do you avoid a spoiler in such a title w/o ruining the question?

Even if we had a spoiler formatting option, using it may be bad idea. Most forums have it, but most users have no idea how to use it, and never do. StackExchange tries to make contributing as easy as possible, spoiler formatting option erects an unnecessary barrier.

Whatever clever system we invent will probably be lost on newcomers, and they are always in majority. Do we want to spend our time fixing their mistakes? Do you care enough to insert thousands of spoiler tags for them? Because if we make it a policy, someone has to do that tedious work.

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    One of the worst things for me are the spoilers. Movies, books or videogames are the same. I don't like to know the end of a game, or if a certain player will dead or will survive, or if a friend will betray you, etc. etc.
    – user59
    Commented Jul 12, 2010 at 15:59
  • Spoiler alert: The friend will ALWAYS betray you in a video game, either by malice or incompetence. =)
    – JohnFx
    Commented Jul 28, 2010 at 15:43
  • I think 'spoiler' in this context doesn't simply mean something the asker doesn't know, but something that a gamer would not know without getting to point X in the game, and something that could change the gamer's experience if known in advance. Yes, it's work to avoid displaying spoilers, but it's not unlike proper tagging or question creation ... perhaps lots of work for a single person, which is why the work is distributed among several (or many).
    – Dave DuPlantis
    Commented Apr 19, 2011 at 21:18

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