The "times 3" turns into a smiley

[CrossyCross]

To clarify, when you type

x3

it turns into this

It's kind of, annoying, since x 3 (I have to space them now) is often used in some numerical mechanics descriptions. (As an example, designating Multiple Shots in a warhammer ruleset, etc.). Or just numerical shorthand in general.

Similar to how x2 can be often used to indicate a doubling of some sort.

Is there a way to change this? To make it not trigger a smiley at the website?

Basically asking if some textbox results can be changed.

 

[orbital]

It's a bit of a hassle, but you can use [plain]x3[/plain] to prevent the x3 from being interpreted as . Breaking up the exact character string with empty tags also works, e.g. x[b][/b]3.

 

[Vanbers]

It also happens with , :D which can be annoying sometimes. Though , x3 is the most common suspect I see, dues to, like you said, it being shorthand for 'times 3', or specifying amounts.

Though I do quite often use , :v, which is useful for saving time having to select a smiley. So swings and roundabouts I suppose. I've used that smiley more than the others have impacted my posts, so I don't know if I'd want the feature gone entirely.

Is it possible to implement some kind of way to toggle automatic smilies? Or is that too complex to do reasonably? I know that forum stuff can get weirdly complicated.