Format for site. Why is it so difficult ?

[PBax]

Gang. Please help. So I get that I should save my stuff locally in plain text before submitting it to the site so it formats correctly (I think). And since I use Word I've noticed the word "do this" sign about replacing ^p^p with ^p and  setting  0 and auto and I'm doing all this and ......

All I keep ending up with is too many lines between paragraphs, no paragraphs, sometimes no spaces between lines, improper tabbing, etc. Plain text or otherwise or the ^p^p stuff  everything just feels like a mystery. I'm getting frustrated. I just want to friggin set parameters, save it and be done with it. But every time I try to save the file everything changes.

I use Word--very old and very legal version of Word 2007. For those in disbelief, yes it actually is a real thing. If you want to see a pic of the original discs and packaging let me know. The stuff is like antiques now, I know. Anything on a disc from 2007, ROFL. 

Anyway, the problem is with me I'm pretty sure. Help. @Carlos Hazday is there any chance you can help me find the right buttons again?

[Carlos Hazday]

@PBax

I am not a techie! Hell, I'm having problems installing a new modem at home.

There are cases where GA can not handle formatting set by a word processor. In previous cases, staff has mentioned removing all formatting from the document when you load something in, A BLACK BAR near the screen's bottom will offer the option. If you have italics or other special formatting, you can then add it in using the GA editor.

Sorry, not much of an assist, but that's the best I can do. Maybe a staff member will jump in and offer additional help.

Best of luck, I know it can be frustrating.

[kbois]

3 hours ago, PBax said:

Gang. Please help. So I get that I should save my stuff locally in plain text before submitting it to the site so it formats correctly (I think). And since I use Word I've noticed the word "do this" sign about replacing ^p^p with ^p and  setting  0 and auto and I'm doing all this and ......

All I keep ending up with is too many lines between paragraphs, no paragraphs, sometimes no spaces between lines, improper tabbing, etc. Plain text or otherwise or the ^p^p stuff  everything just feels like a mystery. I'm getting frustrated. I just want to friggin set parameters, save it and be done with it. But every time I try to save the file everything changes.

I use Word--very old and very legal version of Word 2007. For those in disbelief, yes it actually is a real thing. If you want to see a pic of the original discs and packaging let me know. The stuff is like antiques now, I know. Anything on a disc from 2007, ROFL. 

Anyway, the problem is with me I'm pretty sure. Help. @Carlos Hazday is there any chance you can help me find the right buttons again?

You may need to clear all of the formatting. To do that highlight all the text then go to the FORMAT tab and drop down to click CLEAR FORMATTING. 

(This option might be under the EDIT tab on the older versions)

You'll have to go back and redo your italics or bold fonts, but it should clear up the spacing problems. 

When all else fails Google it. There are tons of short videos that give you a visual step-by-step. 

Good luck!

[Luca E]

Try to paste from the clipboard instead of copy/paste from the document. For me this preserves the correct new line spacing and new paragraph spacing, one blank, two blank, lines respectively. Italics, bold, are not saved and copied and need to be edited in online or don't use them because editing online is not too easy.

[PBax]

Thanks for the suggestions and support! I spent way more time than I intended trying to find the kind of solution I was hoping to find. I'm still trying to decide my favorite tool to work with plain text files but the hard part is done. Regardless, I was able to tame the factors that kept eluding me previously. I can make a file format correctly now. More importantly, I can make it format incorrectly on purpose too, and in more than one way, put it back together and have it survive the plain text translator on GayAuthors in perfect order. I have battered at this more than I should probably admit, LOL. Anyway, thanks again for lending help @Carlos Hazday @kbois @Luca E  (As an aside, I have no recollection how I dealt with this back in 2015. It all feels totally new to me. Odd.) 

  

 

  

[Kelevra]

I’ve grown to just embrace the final edit it makes you do, rereading and clearing out the extra spaces. 

[Myr]

Welcome to the Internet.  Where there are thousands of combinations of browsers, operating systems, and writing software.  And any combination of those can cause some hairball.  Add to that, software is updated constantly, browsers, operating systems, writing software, the site's software updates too, including at least 30 updates to the site software in the last couple of years.

For what it's worth, Latest version of Word on the latest version of FireFox on the latest version of Windows 11 on the latest version of the site, as of this posting, I can just straight copy from Word and paste into editor and it just works.

The problem starts when you start doing special formatting in Word.  The editor on the site tries to match the non-default formatting and well...  Good luck.

Older versions of Word (And I have disks for Office 2000, Office 2007, Office 2010, Office 2013...)  had a tendency to be less friendly with the amount of crap hidden in the code when you copy and paste. The editor tends to choke on it.

When you are in Word, make sure you have no spaces between paragraphs as those tend to double.

Direct copy and paste from Word, screenshot above:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Maecenas porttitor congue massa. Fusce posuere, magna sed pulvinar ultricies, purus lectus malesuada libero, sit amet commodo magna eros quis urna. Nunc viverra imperdiet enim. Fusce est. Vivamus a tellus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas.

Proin pharetra nonummy pede. Mauris et orci. Aenean nec lorem. In porttitor. Donec laoreet nonummy augue. Suspendisse dui purus, scelerisque at, vulputate vitae, pretium mattis, nunc. Mauris eget neque at sem venenatis eleifend. Ut nonummy. Fusce aliquet pede non pede. Suspendisse dapibus lorem pellentesque magna. Integer nulla. Donec blandit feugiat ligula. Donec hendrerit, felis et imperdiet euismod, purus ipsum pretium metus, in lacinia nulla nisl eget sapien.

Donec ut est in lectus consequat consequat. Etiam eget dui. Aliquam erat volutpat. Sed at lorem in nunc porta tristique. Proin nec augue. Quisque aliquam tempor magna. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Nunc ac magna. Maecenas odio dolor, vulputate vel, auctor ac, accumsan id, felis. Pellentesque cursus sagittis felis. Pellentesque porttitor, velit lacinia egestas auctor, diam eros tempus arcu, nec vulputate augue magna vel risus.

Cras non magna vel ante adipiscing rhoncus. Vivamus a mi. Morbi neque. Aliquam erat volutpat. Integer ultrices lobortis eros. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Proin semper, ante vitae sollicitudin posuere, metus quam iaculis nibh, vitae scelerisque nunc massa eget pede. Sed velit urna, interdum vel, ultricies vel, faucibus at, quam. Donec elit est, consectetuer eget, consequat quis, tempus quis, wisi.

In in nunc. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos. Donec ullamcorper fringilla eros. Fusce in sapien eu purus dapibus commodo. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Cras faucibus condimentum odio. Sed ac ligula. Aliquam at eros. Etiam at ligula et tellus ullamcorper ultrices. In fermentum, lorem non cursus porttitor, diam urna accumsan lacus, sed interdum wisi nibh nec nisl. Ut tincidunt volutpat urna. Mauris eleifend nulla eget mauris. Sed cursus quam id felis. Curabitur posuere quam vel nibh. Cras dapibus dapibus nisl. Vestibulum quis dolor a felis congue vehicula. Maecenas pede purus, tristique ac, tempus eget, egestas quis, mauris. Curabitur non eros. Nullam hendrerit bibendum justo. Fusce iaculis, est quis lacinia pretium, pede metus molestie lacus, at gravida wisi ante at libero.

 

[Myr]

As you can see... if you prep Word properly, it copy and pastes fine into the editor.

[PBax]

Yes. @Myr I discovered this. First, use single line spacing. Second, do not let the writing software automatically add spaces between paragraphs. That solved most of my issue. 

Edit: @Myr To clarify, I had not intended my reply to sound like a dismissal of your reply, but on hindsight I can see it might have appeared that way. I was trying to only emphasize that you had hit the nail on the head with your image and guarding against let Word put spaces between paragraphs. I apologize.

Edited March 3, 2023 by PBax
Clarification

[Luca E]

If anyone else here uses WPS for word processing then you need double line spacing to copy and paste resulting in single line spacing on the site, or you paste from the clipboard in which case you don't need the double line spacing.