[...]
if ($1 == .addquote) {
write %quotes_file $ctime $nick $2-
[...]
}
elseif ($1 == .quote) && ($2 isnum 1-) && ($read(%quotes_file,n,$2)) {
; $v1 is now the unformatted line as read from the file (i.e. non-evaluated)
; now calculate the first "word" back into date/time, take the second "word" for the nick, the remaining is the quote itself.
var %date = $date($gettok($v1,1,32)), %time = $time($gettok($v1,1,32)), %nick = $gettok($v1,2,32), %quote = $gettok($v1,3-,32)
; having these put in variables, you can easily create your colored output line (example only)
var %quote = $+ %sys_color2 $+ QUOTE $readn of $lines(%quotes_file) (by %nick on %date - %time $+ ): %quote
; "%quote" is now the formatted line and may be sent to the chan (or split into multiple lines first, like in the code by Riamus2)
[...]
}