Publishing formating

[William King]

I would like to know if there is a way to publish my story which preserves the format I have used, centered, bold, italic text, font and size.

 

Should I be using some other file format than .doc?

Do I need to use html code? 

Is there an easy way to copy and paste that doesn't require editing the whole chapter with the limited choice of the Publishing Editor? 

 

Any thoughts? 

[Ron]

William, you and some others seem to be missing the point that stories, for practical purposes, are meant to be a consistent quantity on GA. What that means, and what that allows, is that each reader can fine tune each story to their own reading preference within the various parameters provided by the stories software and reader view in web browsers. Stop worrying about format and codes my friend, concentrate on your writing and post your story. Let your readers decide how they want to view what you write. This is, or, in my estimation will soon be, the only way to go. I get that design is a part of your creative process but bucking the system will leave you lagging behind, fluttering about fruitlessly and eventually left in the Stone Age.

[Timothy M.]

Bold and italics seem to work fine when I paste chapter text directly from Word. I always do the chapter notes and end notes with unformatted text (via Notepad) and add formatting afterwards.

[William King]

7 minutes ago, Timothy M. said:

Bold and italics seem to work fine when I paste chapter text directly from Word. I always do the chapter notes and end notes with unformatted text (via Notepad) and add formatting afterwards.

 

That is exactly the problem. Bold and italics do not paste from a .doc (Word) file and neither do centered section breaks. I don't mind too much about what the font is etc., but having to re-edit in bold and italics is a little onerous, and at least italics is essential to reading. I don't understand how it works for Timothy and not for me.

[Timothy M.]

20 minutes ago, William King said:

 I don't understand how it works for Timothy and not for me.

 

Now you made me all  about whether it does work for me. After all, I only have the occasional words in italics or bold. 

So I just made a small test, and the italics did work. I got the usual warning saying 'You have pasted content with formatting' - with the option to remove formatting. But ignoring the warning meant the italics stayed in place.

Maybe the fact you have other codes for font and size included messes things up?

We should ask @Headstall how it works for him, because he has quite a bit of italics in his Morningstar chapters, eg the most recent one A Team In All Things.

[William King]

3 hours ago, Timothy M. said:

 

Now you made me all  about whether it does work for me. After all, I only have the occasional words in italics or bold. 

So I just made a small test, and the italics did work. I got the usual warning saying 'You have pasted content with formatting' - with the option to remove formatting. But ignoring the warning meant the italics stayed in place.

Maybe the fact you have other codes for font and size included messes things up?

We should ask @Headstall how it works for him, because he has quite a bit of italics in his Morningstar chapters, eg the most recent one A Team In All Things.

 

I don't have any codes, nothing but text in a (Word) .doc file. I copy and paste and all formatting is lost. The formatting lost is: text size, bold and centered text (Chapter number and title at the start), italics within the text. Can I ask what version of Word you are using, I am using a Microsoft Word Document  97 - 2003. You may think, Ah!  It's because he's using a very old version of Word, so I used the latest version 1.0.1 2015 and it didn't keep the formatting.

 

Perhaps it is nothing to do with Word .doc files, but all to do with operating system, because when you copy and paste it goes to your system clipboard. I use Android, and I've tried it with Android 6.0.1, which is pretty upto date. Android is also a very widespread operating system.

 

I'm pretty sure I didn't get the "You have pasted content with formatting" I need to check. I have had that message on posting elsewhere, but not on publishing a chapter, but I do need to double check that.

Edited April 8, 2017 by William King

[Timothy M.]

17 minutes ago, William King said:

Can I ask what version of Word you are using, I am using a Microsoft Word Document  97 - 2003.

 

Perhaps it is nothing to do with Word .doc files, but all to do with operating system, because when you copy and paste it goes to your system clipboard. I use Android,

 

Good question, and probably one Myr and Gene would ask too. I use Word 2010 ie .docx files (on a laptop with Google Chrome). I have no idea about the operating system, but I'm pretty sure it isn't Android. How do I find out?

 

It says Windows 7 Enterprise 2009. Does that sound right?

 

PS I often have footnotes with embedded links in my chapters. I haven't tried yet whether they work in the new system.

Edited April 8, 2017 by Timothy M.
adding name of operating system

[William King]

Just now, Timothy M. said:

 

Good question, and probably one Myr and Gene would ask too. I use Word 2010 (on a laptop with Google Chrome). I have no idea about the operating system, but I'm pretty sure it isn't Android. How do I find out?

 

The operating system is usually listed in SETTINGS - ABOUT DEVICE or DEVICE INFORMATION, it varies, but you need to look for something like that. I don't think the browser you use is relevant, but I'm no expert.

 

I checked and I do not get the message 'you have pasted content with formatting' so no opportunity I guess to keep the formatting I've pasted.

[Myr]

First note... Android is a modern mobile operating system.  It is still pretty much shit for content creation.  (You need either Windows or Apple powered PC (or Linux if you are masochist).  If you are doing content creation on a primary touch device... well... good luck.  The software world is still working on that.

 

I just tried using Word on Android to copy a formatted story from Android Word to Android Chrome.  It did not carry the format over as it does with a real PC. 

 

This is not a bug on Gay Authors.  This is a bug on Android.  We obviously can't fix that (and neither can Google with their shit version control issues).  I'd recommend either using a real PC or using the editor to format.

Myr

[William King]

@Myr thank you for the answer to the problem. As I am not about to go out and buy a Windows PC I will just keep the formatting simple and touch it up on the editor.

@Timothy M. thanks for your input.

@Ron I'll just get on with writing then.

[Timothy M.]

I'm glad if our discussion was of any help. I guess this topic shows why @Myr is always telling us to list all the technical specifications of our device, browser and writing tools when we report a bug.

[Myr]

The problem with software these days is you have to make it for so many combinations of hardware and apps.  This is why Microsoft is perceived to be buggy where Apple is not so much.  This is just the difference between a completely open ecosystem versus a completely closed one.

 

[MrM]

Since I use an IPad with a legacy IOS version I just use a text editor called Daedalus to write and organize. I use old style line based 'formatting' like caps and ** to make emphasis. This used to drive my editors nuts, but it is due to my inability to do formatting with my app. It takes too long to reformat in the web site's text editor since it isn't friendly to Safari on IPad for that purpose. But I don't really care about that. Even though I'm a graphics designer by trade I don't fuss with it on here.

 

I am sad to lose the ability to determine my own font size however. The A+ Function doesn't always work for me and I like to make my text a bit bigger for easy reading. I have trouble in that department so I am sympathetic to older eyes. 

 

I like most everything else about the new site framework. Good job to Myr and the team for implementing it.

 

 

Edited April 9, 2017 by MrM

[William King]

4 hours ago, MrM said:

I am sad to lose the ability to determine my own font size however.

 

 

They won't all work.

Do not follow the advice that was here. -Myr

Edited April 9, 2017 by Myr
Removed advice that would cause further issues.

[Myr]

4 hours ago, MrM said:

The A+ Function doesn't always work for me and I like to make my text a bit bigger for easy reading. I have trouble in that department so I am sympathetic to older eyes. 

We need links for stories if it is not working.  Most are working properly, except poorly formatted chapters. Without going into the details of it.

 

 

[Myr]

You must paste content in on a PC to maintain formatting.  There is some sort of flaw in Android that prevents proper formatting.  Not sure in apple devices.

 

If you can't do that, then you must format using the editor using a modern mobile device.