When do you use punctuation with parentheses(brackets)?

Question

When do you have a full-stop(period) before the parenthesis(brackets) & when after?

ie. I was going to use it like this.(but not now)
OR
I was going to use it like this(but not now).

Answer 1

lol okay I'll try to explain first of all its [()] only when nessary which is rare.
Now it gets kind a weird but () can be used both in the middle and at the end of a sentance (with the period like this). But only if its short. (I know its weird but if whats inside is a complete idea and not a momantary pause with short bit of info it can actually go like this.) Hope this helps.

Answer 2

A more common way of writing this sentence is to use commas. For example

I was going to use it like this, but not now.

Parentheses are used when the subject matter is not directly related to the topic of the main sentence.

Explanations of how to use them are found on the following websites.

http://www.libraryonline.com/default.asp?pID=38
http://www.englishgrammartutor.com/Punctuation.htm#parentheses

Answer 3

The second example is accepted usage. (The first is not.)