document format string syntax

or at least attempt to

docs/configuration.rst

@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ Default
     ``"None"``
 Description
     Default value used for missing or undefined keyword names in
-    format strings.
+    `format strings`_.
 
 
 extractor.*.category-transfer
@@ -542,7 +542,9 @@ Type
 Example
     ``"{id}_{offset}"``
 Description
-    An alternative `format string`_ to build archive IDs with.
+    An alternative `format string`__ to build archive IDs with.
+
+.. __: https://docs.python.org/3/library/string.html#format-string-syntax
 
 
 extractor.*.postprocessors
@@ -708,7 +710,7 @@ Description
 
 
 extractor.*.date-format
-----------------------------
+-----------------------
 Type
     ``string``
 Default
@@ -3028,13 +3030,13 @@ Description
 .. _Last-Modified:      https://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec14.html#sec14.29
 .. _datetime:           https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#datetime-objects
 .. _datetime.max:       https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#datetime.datetime.max
-.. _format string:      https://docs.python.org/3/library/string.html#formatstrings
-.. _format strings:     https://docs.python.org/3/library/string.html#formatstrings
 .. _strptime:           https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-strptime-behavior
 .. _webbrowser.open():  https://docs.python.org/3/library/webbrowser.html
 .. _mature_content:     https://www.deviantart.com/developers/http/v1/20160316/object/deviation
 .. _Authentication:     https://github.com/mikf/gallery-dl#authentication
 .. _OAuth:              https://github.com/mikf/gallery-dl#oauth
+.. _format string:      https://github.com/mikf/gallery-dl/blob/master/docs/formatting.md
+.. _format strings:     https://github.com/mikf/gallery-dl/blob/master/docs/formatting.md
 .. _youtube-dl:         https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl
 .. _requests.request(): https://requests.readthedocs.io/en/master/api/#requests.request
 .. _timeout:            https://requests.readthedocs.io/en/master/user/advanced/#timeouts

docs/formatting.md

@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+# String Formatting
+
+Format strings in gallery-dl follow the general rules of [`str.format()`](https://docs.python.org/3/library/string.html#format-string-syntax) ([PEP 3101](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-3101/)) plus several extras.
+
+The syntax for replacement fields is `{<field-name>!<conversion>:<format-specifiers>}`, where `!<conversion>` and `:<format-specifiers>` are both optional and can be used to specify how the value selected by `<field-name>` should be transformed.
+
+
+## Field Names
+
+Field names select the metadata value to use in a replacement field.
+
+While simple names are usually enough, more complex forms like accessing values by attribute, element index, or slicing are also supported.
+
+| | Example | Result |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| Name             | `{title}`         | `Hello World` |
+| Element Index    | `{title[6]}`      | `W` |
+| Slicing          | `{title[3:8]}`    | `lo Wo` |
+| Alternatives     | `{empty\|title}`  | `Hello World` |
+| Element Access   | `{user[name]}`    | `John Doe` |
+| Attribute Access | `{extractor.url}` | `https://example.org/` |
+
+All of these methods can be combined as needed. For example `{title[24]|empty|extractor.url[15:-1]}` would result in `.org`.
+
+
+## Conversions
+
+Conversion specifiers allow to *convert* the value to a different form or type. Such a specifier must only consist of 1 character. gallery-dl supports the default three (`s`, `r`, `a`) as well as several others:
+
+| Conversion | Description | Example | Result |
+|:---:| --- | --- | --- |
+| `l` | Convert a string to lowercase | `{foo!l}` | `foo bar`
+| `u` | Convert a string to uppercase | `{foo!u}` | `FOO BAR`
+| `c` | Capitalize a string, i.e. convert the first character to uppercase and all others to lowercase | `{foo!c}` | `Foo bar`
+| `C` | Capitalize each word in a string | `{foo!C}` | `Foo Bar`
+| `t` | Trim a string, i.e. remove leading and trailing whitespace characters | `{bar!t}` | `FooBar`
+| `T` | Convert a `datetime` object to a unix timestamp | `{date!T}` | `1262304000`
+| `d` | Convert a unix timestamp to a `datetime` object | `{created!d}` | `2010-01-01 00:00:00`
+| `s` | Convert value to [`str`](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#text-sequence-type-str) | `{tags!s}` | `['sun', 'tree', 'water']`
+| `S` | Convert value to `str` and provide a human-readable representation for lists | `{tags!S}` | `sun, tree, water`
+| `r` | Convert value to `str` using [`repr()`](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#repr) |
+| `a` | Convert value to `str` using [`ascii()`](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#ascii) |
+
+
+## Format Specifiers
+
+Format specifiers can be used for advanced formatting by using the options provided by Python (see [Format Specification Mini-Language](https://docs.python.org/3/library/string.html#format-specification-mini-language)) like zero-filling a number (`{num:>03}`) or formatting a [`datetime`](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#datetime.datetime) object (`{date:%Y%m%d}`), or with gallery-dl's extra formatting specifiers:
+
+| Format Specifier | Description | Example | Result |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| `?<before>/<after>/` | Adds `<before>` and `<after>` to the actual value if it evaluates to `True`. Otherwise the whole replacement field becomes an empty string. | `{foo:?[/]/}` <br /> `{empty:?[/]/}` | `[Foo Bar]` <br /> ` `
+| `L<maxlen>/<repl>/` | Replaces the entire output with `<repl>` if its length exceeds `<maxlen>` | `{foo:L15/long/}` <br /> `{foo:L3/long/}` | `Foo Bar` <br /> `long`|
+| `J<separator>/` | Concatenates elements of a list with `<separator>` using [`str.join()`](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#str.join) | `{tags:J - /}` | `sun - tree - water` |
+| `R<old>/<new>/` | Replaces all occurrences of `<old>` with `<new>` using [`str.replace()`](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#str.replace) | `{foo:Ro/()/}` | `F()() Bar` |
+
+All special format specifiers (`?`, `L`, `J`, `R`) can be chained and combined with one another, but must always come before any standard format specifiers:
+
+For example `{foo:?//RF/B/Ro/e/> 10}` -> `   Bee Bar`
+- `?//` - Test if `foo` has a value
+- `RF/B/` - Replace `F` with `B`
+- `Ro/e/` - Replace `o` with `e`
+- `> 10` - Left-fill the string with spaces until it is 10 characters long