Disappearing HTML from nested Macros in Collection

Heya everyone,   I have been experiencing a "vanishing HTML" (or I think it's HTML) issue when making macros that call other macros.  I can write out and test the macros just fine... the nesting works... but when I save my changes in the Collection, the "!
" in my macro vanishes, leaving only the "!", and a carriage return is put in instead of the "
".  This, of course, breaks the macro. Is there a workaround for this?  Is there a setting I have selected that turns the "
" into an <Enter> when it is read by the Collection?  I can write the same macro in a character's Attributes and Abilities section, and it'll keep the "!
" perfectly, but if I copy it and put it into the Collection, the "!
" vanishes.... Spooky. Any help would be appreciated.... I also have a pro account, so if there is a better API to use, please suggest it to me. Cheers, Tom

That's a common and known issue - the workaround is to use a Macro Character Sheet to store your macros. Ironically, this changes the syntax to call the macro so you no longer need the HTML entities, for example [Button](~Macros|AttackMacro).

Thank you Oosh... I'll tamper with it. The ide of not having to cut and past a million macros for future campaigns sounds like a good idea to me too... Quick question, though.... Do the players have to have control of the macro character in order to use the macros "it" carries? Cheers, Tom

They need permission on the sheet to be able to call macros from it, yes. But you don't need to make the character sheet visible in their Journals if you want to make sure they don't mess up any of the macros. Making a backup of (or exporting) the character is obviously a good idea. So it depends on your players, really. If there's nothing spoilery in the macros, you can make the sheet fully visible to them in the Journal - this means they can open the Attributes & Abilities tab, and choose which macros to make available on their own macro bar. If you don't want them seeing the sheet, they still need permission to be able to call the macros. But either they need the knowledge to be able to call those macros with %{Macros|MyMacro1} syntax themselves, or you'll need to create a Collections version and share it with them. This all depends on the players' level of knowledge, really. And how many macros each player needs access to. For example, this is a pretty basic player menu (I was sure Keith posted a shot of a cracker of a Player Menu, but I couldn't find it), saved in the Collections tab and shared with All Players, each button is just a link to a macro on the Macros character sheet: It's just a chat menu full of [Short Rest](~Macros|ShortRest) button links, but it makes things extremely simple for the player. And although it does involve giving them permission on the sheet, AFAIK there's no way they can actually edit any of the macros. Anyways, really depends on your macros, your players and your personal preferences. Splitting the macros between two sheets is another option - give players full access and visibility on PlayerMacros, then all your GM stuff can go on GMMacros for example.

The approach I use is to give the Macros sheet Editable by All, but leave Visibility unset, so it doesnt appear in the PCs Collection. Then create normal macros that are just used to launch the abilities on the Macro Sheet, with a command like %{Macros|ability-name}, and set these macros as Visible to All. And of course set up macros to build Chat Menus with logical groups of abilities. This approach means that players get access to the macros, but they cant access the macro sheet and edit the abilities - I dont want them messing with them :) Even with the best of intentions, there's a chance a curious player could accidentally mess things up.