Hidden text leaves behind a ton of blank space. Is there a way to get rid of it?

Question

Hi, very new user and first time question!

I have a page like this:

(Text)

[[Option 1]]
(if:$A is "on")[Here is a secret [[option 1a]]]
(if:$B is "on")[Here is a secret [[option 1b]]]
[[Option 2]]
[[Do something else.]]

Until the variables are set to "on", options 1a and 1b are hidden. But the user can still clearly see the blank space where they should go. I know I can collapse blank space using {}, but that also removes line breaks between the options and ruins the formatting.

I'm wondering if there's a way to TRULY hide an option such that everything within the brackets is reduced to nothing until $A is set to "on", at which point it is revealed, line breaks and all. Thanks!

Answer 1

The secret is to move the line-break you want the hidden text/option to have into the associated hook, and then to suppress the one after the end of the associated hook. That way the line-break is only added if the related condition is true.

(set: $A to "off")
(set: $B to "on")

(Text)

[[Option 1]]
(if: $A is "on")[Here is a secret [[option 1a]]
]\
(if: $B is "on")[Here is a secret [[option 1b]]
]\
[[Option 2]]
[[Do something else.]]

 

note: If your $A and $B variables are meant to represent a Boolean condition (on/off, yes/no, etc..) then it is generally better to use the Boolean true and false values rather than two String values.

(set: $A to true)
(set: $B to false)

(if: $A)[The A value is true.]
(if: not $B)[The B variable is false]

 

Comments

Thank you! This was really helpful.

Answer 2

You can just use {} and do the formatting yourself. I found this the easiest solution. <br/> will create a line break for example.

(Text)

{[[Option 1]]<br/>
(if:$A is "on")[Here is a secret [[option 1a]]<br/>]
(if:$B is "on")[Here is a secret [[option 1b]]<br/>]}
[[Option 2]]
[[Do something else.]]

 

Comments

This is also a really good solution! Thanks!

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Also, sorry about this not being related to the question, but where you have the secret links, it looks to me like it would be better if it just said [[option 1]]. If you do [[option 1 ->option 1a]], it would look like option 1 but take you to the option 1a passage. sorry if this wasn't helpful or you already knew it.