TBH I don’t mind a wall of buttons taking up real estate, The image I posted previous is nothing compared to the triple row advanced editor we had at vBulletin or some of the IDEs I’ve used.
But there is a bit of a learning curve and all users may not have the patience and perseverance that I have to learn what they all do.
IMHO it is better to not overwhelm those that want a simple editor menu with a mess of buttons they likely will rarely, if ever, use.
On the other hand, I would have no problem with one additional “advanced” button that displayed more.
A “help” button that showed what format to use might be enough. True, it would require more typing and be more prone to typo errors, but if someone took the time to review their post and edit any mistakes that shouldn’t be a problem. (problem being, it seems many don’t review their posts).
So that leaves the question of screen real estate.
I guess it would be more doable on desktop, but less so on mobile.
I have learned that one can never please everyone. Some will want more, some will want less. At some point a decision has to be made.
Do you think it would meet majority approval if there was an advanced option for desktop only?