Is it possible to keep your original formatting when you copy and paste a story here -- (Author) Flopsy
Is it possible to keep your original formatting when you copy and paste a story here -- (Author) Flopsy
############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Author: Flopsy
Timestamp: Jul 29, 2021 at 8:46 AM
Content: Hi there, the site seems to automatically format, so when you paste text you lose the paragraph indentations and everything just starts at the beginning of the line. This is terrible for stories - formatting is really important in how they read! Does anyone know if you can paste and keep the original formatting?
Thanks!
Flopsy
############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Author: Flopsy
Timestamp: Jul 30, 2021 at 8:34 AM
Content:
kerry said:
Have you tried a different word processor? This issue seems to have been exacerbated with our new server, but I'm sure there is a good solution. Hive mind, go for it!
[End of quote]
Actually, i had an idea, if it is OK.. Looks like I can take screenshots of the orginal and post them rather than text. I'd really like to keep the orginal formatting, including the font as well as the layout.
For ADISC, I'd suggest that it is worth sorting this out! Could it be raised as an issue? I've noticed that other stories have been presented with terrible formatting - I was blaming the writers, but now I understand it's happening automatically on the website.
############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Author: Flopsy
Timestamp: Jul 30, 2021 at 9:57 AM
Content:
LudoErgoSum said:
One thing I have noticed about the editor here is there is a page with a magnifying glass in the upper right corner that toggles between a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) mode and a BBCode mode. When in WYSIWYG mode the formatting icons are enabled. Otherwise they are disabled. If you paste in WYSIWYG mode it maintains more formatting.
(I have made up the mode names based on my experience as a web developer. If I researched what controls are used here I might have used different names.)
[End of quote]
I can't see the toggling magnifying glass! Otherwise, sounds like it might be worth trying.
############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Author: Flopsy
Timestamp: Jul 30, 2021 at 10:16 AM
Content:
Flopsy said:
I can't see the toggling magnifying glass! Otherwise, sounds like it might be worth trying.
[End of quote]
..actually no, didn't work!
############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Author: Flopsy
Timestamp: Aug 2, 2021 at 6:31 PM
Content:
Chess said:
That would be bad from a usability point of view.
Visually impaired wouldn't be able to read it at all.
Search engines wouldn't be able to index the text.
And we all wouldn't be able to:
* search in the text,
* format the text to fit our actual screen size,
* paste and copy text to lookup words in dictionaries or translators etc. (some people like to translate it to their native language),
* use a screen reader if we prefer that (dyslexics may need it)
So I think that is a bad idea and should be avoided.
[End of quote]
A bit like traditional paper books, maybe! I can see some advantages. And, for visually impaired people, while you can't use a screen reader, you can zoom into an image to make the text bigger. But I've been trying the screenshot technique, and it is quite a faff with a long story.
I really feel very strongly that writers should be able to choose the format of their work - for instance, to set stories out in the conventional way, with paragraphs marked by indentations, not to be forced to used an office document layout. Allowing this could be just a matter of tweaking the design of the website.
############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Author: Flopsy
Timestamp: Aug 3, 2021 at 7:31 AM
Content:
kerry said:
I just attempted a cut-and-paste from a Google Docs story. The basic formatting (paragraphs, spacing) worked fine, though the bold and italics did not transfer. You can go back and add these after the main paste if you wish. @Flopsy, what processor are you using?
[End of quote]
Interesting! I did try with Google Docs, but it did the same thing. The original story was written in Pages and saved as a word document. I've tried Safari instead of Firefox to see if that made a difference, but no.
It seems to me that other story writers have had the same auto-formatting issue, as I say.