Forum / formatting

Soon to be deleted
Mar 20, 04:07pm

Is anyone having trouble with this when posting? I have tried over and over to make line spacing stay intact but all it does is remove the spaces and bunch it all in one paragraph. This happens when I have tried to post a poem as well. Very frustrating, and I have not had an issue with this on the site until today. What is going on???

Soon to be deleted
Mar 20, 04:10pm

It appears that now you have to insert a bunch of HTML codes. Well, I don't want to do that. I've always just done simple copy/paste and nothing else. What gives.

James Lloyd Davis
Mar 20, 06:12pm

I have had major trouble with formatting for weeks, but now it is an absolute disaster.

I'm a writer, not a code buff. This is a site for writers and writing. Unless the formatting reverts to what it was when I could copy and paste, then I see no personal benefit to posting any of my work here in the future. I've already taken down all but one of my stories because the formatting made them look like the work of a third grader.

I do hope they go back to the older form, at least for the posting of stories. Otherwise, I'm finished posting here altogether. And that's not a thing I say in anger. I say it with regret. I've always considered Fictionaut to be a useful and convenient platform and I've enjoyed the community atmosphere. I do hope the problem will be addressed.

Dolemite
Mar 20, 06:46pm

This happened for a couple of days about two years ago.

This too shall pass.

Building/working on a website like this is a HUGE juggling act. Occasionally something gets out'a whack.

As far as the ads go, I sure as hell wouldn't create/run a site like this for free. They don't owe "us" a damn thing.

I hope they make kaboodles of money, but I doubt they will.

........................

As some of you know, I've quit this place before (for a variety of reasons).

But something I've come to believe is the importance of using FN in a manner that benefits YOU (and avoid that which makes you puke--as eventually any activity that involves other people will, unless you ARE one of Them...).

Reminds me of something I read by a prisoner, something about "I do time, time doesn't do me." False bravado, I know, but, if you ARE a repeat offender (and what writer isn't?) possibly words to live by.

I use FN to bring new pieces to near-completion before submitting. That's the serious stuff. And I care but don't care what people have to say. It's a purely selfish act designed to benefit the work, not me.

AND to post simple things for simple fun.

AND to find something to read that generates honest pleasure. It's a rare bird, but I let people know when I spot 'em.

Ultimately, nothing here is important but that which benefits your work (or gives you a shot of fun/a laugh/a giggle).

All the rest, the faves, the reads, the exclamation points, the squeals, the comment-blurbs, the whatever, is just candy for children. ultimately neither good nor bad (unless you come to think they're important, then your mental teeth will surely rot).

Fn is a tool, a means to an end BEYOND FN, not an end in itself.

Use it, don't be used by it.

eamon byrne
Mar 20, 08:21pm

Well, if it really means that fictionaut will parse html properly, that is a good thing.

I haven't posted for a long time because I wasn't sure that my work would render the way I would like it to. The only thing I can suggest is to take the chance and post it - and if it doesn't render correctly, remove it immediately and revise. Repost, remove, revise, repost ..

When it's as you want it, keep a copy of the coded post and use that as a template.

Otherwise, submit a word file.

Anyone posting plain text or otherwise not bothering to correctly format and test their postings is to my mind being plain lazy and unprofessional, not to mention showing a lack of understanding of the importance of the visual appearance of their work.

There is a lot of very sloppy submissions in this regard, and it detracts from the site and by extension the work of all of us.

Gessy Alvarez
Mar 21, 12:50am

I know this is not ideal but if you type you will have line breaks...

Mark Reep
Mar 21, 02:20am

What Gessy said. Until the formatting issues are resolved it's not hard to insert line breaks.

The 'Preview' option is also handy for checking how your work will appear.

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 21, 03:33am

Thanks, Gessy! Just fixed my latest using that html. Much appreciated.

Dolemite
Mar 21, 05:19am

Yeah, thanks, Gessy.

I just used at the end of my lines and it worked(!)

Soon to be deleted
Mar 21, 11:13am

I figured that out too. But of course I don't want to have to do all that just to submit something. Why this has been changed is beyond me. It was a simple matter of copy/paste. Now it's coding, coding, coding.

Gessy Alvarez
Mar 22, 03:05am

I agree, Jeffrey...I'm hoping this is a temporary thing.

Sally Houtman
Mar 22, 03:17am

Gessy, I'm so glad you posted that tip. I'd never have known. My last post really needed spacing and it was just lucky I'd seen that. You're a gem.

Gessy Alvarez
Mar 22, 09:52pm

You welcome Sally! One more tip, use if you want a double-line break...

Dolemite
Mar 22, 10:07pm

I just discovered that the page now automatically uses the , which means that if you want single spaces you have to delete THEM and insert at the end of each line.

This is getting curiouser and curiouser...

Gessy Alvarez
Mar 22, 10:16pm

goodness...lucky I'm a techie at heart, but still a nuisance, ugh!

Sally Houtman
Mar 22, 11:44pm

I think i need to stop posting for a while...afraid I'll catch a code.

Dolemite
Mar 23, 12:04am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZgBHMyxF0g

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 23, 03:43am

Yeah, I'm with you, Sally!

Sally Houtman
Mar 23, 04:01am

Did you click on Matt's link? I was expecting some dry, computer coding lesson. I laughed so hard I cried. I needed that.

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 23, 04:19am

No, did not click. Will click now. I need a good hard laugh cry myself.

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 23, 04:20am

ha! that's great.

Soon to be deleted
Mar 23, 04:54pm

Loved the cute vid. Yeah, I don't want to post any poetry here now because of the coding snafu. I am rather surprised that no one admin-wise has addressed the issue at all. Mainly, I'm confused why it's a snafu in the first place. It was fine for the longest time, so who changed it and why? Of course these are rhetorical. Go Shirley.

Soon to be deleted
Mar 23, 04:58pm

In fact, posting anything here that has line spacing is out of the question. Bummed out.

Sally Houtman
Mar 23, 08:35pm

Jeffrey, I posted a piece yesterday and didn't need to utter any magic incantations, and no virgins were sacrificed to the formatting gods...and the spacing was fine. Issue may be fixed now. Don't know...is it just me? Give it another go.

Michael Gillan Maxwell
Mar 23, 09:10pm

I have been trying over and over to post a poem, but am unable to do so because of formatting issues. The piece has a very specific format of verses that are 3 lines each, but when I post it, it appears without any line breaks. When I attempt to edit it, it appears as code. I'm flummoxed and my story space is an empty page. Is the universe trying to tell me something?

Sally Houtman
Mar 23, 09:18pm

Oh, seems a bigger issue with poetry due to line breaks. Michael, when I had that problem before, I used Gessy's code above. Copied and pasted it where I wanted spaces. Yes, when you edit the piece the code is visible, but I found it disappeared when you hit 'preview' or 'save changes' - don't panic. The universe wants to see your work. If I can do it...

Michael Gillan Maxwell
Mar 23, 09:25pm

sorry people - I should have read all the comments before cluttering up the white space with a rehash of everything that's been already said. I did get a chuckle out of Sally's comment about "catching a code" though. For the time being I got nuttin' honey - no stories no nuttin' - I got jack shit, diddly squat, bupkis, nothin' but the shirt on my writing back - so I guess you won't have Mike Maxwell though kick around for a while. Guess I'll go underground and start preparing for my "big comeback" Is Mercury still in retrograde? Farewell Angelina!

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 23, 10:20pm

Mercury is still in retrograde, yes...until the first week in April, I think. Mercury going backward can really fuck shit up. No excuse! Those Who Are In Charge Of Such Things...fix this problem, stat!

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 23, 10:24pm

http://www.alphalifetrends.com/mercuryretrogradeonlinenews.html

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 23, 10:33pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 23, 10:37pm

even better:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WWtzq67HDQ&feature=related

Michael Gillan Maxwell
Mar 23, 11:25pm

Thanks Misti. It was enlightening for me to learn the following from the first site: "Mercury connects with Uranus on March 5th, which is one of three occurrences of this aspect during this Mercury retrograde phase. Mercury brings in information and when it connects with Uranus, the winds begins to blow in new and unexpected information." That explains everything. People have been telling me for weeks I have my head up my ass. I feel a little better knowing there is a logical explanation as to how and why. ;-)

Dolemite
Mar 23, 11:32pm

Oddly enough. there are plans to rename Uranus.

From a recent report by an unnamed official who wishes to remain anonymous, Urrectum is topping the list.

Michael Gillan Maxwell
Mar 23, 11:53pm

That would be just my luck! I just had 50,000 business cards printed up with "Uranus" on them! ;-) I think this coding thing is even more off the rails. No matter what I put in there it all comes up in html code when I hit "preview" and that's the way it would publish. That means it's time for me to start drinking. It's Friday night, it's dark outside and I'm already behind. Where are my priorities?

Dolemite
Mar 23, 11:59pm

It appears now that every "Return" produces a double-spaced line break.

Here's how you fix it.

Paste your poem in. Preview it to get it into the system. Go to Edit and you will see it layed out as prose with a short bit of HTML code at the end of your lines.

CUT OUT THAT CODE
and replace with:

 

As you will have COPIED IT from here, you'll be able to PASTE it at the end of your lines once you've cut out the other code.

Take about 2 minutes max.

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 23, 11:59pm

Drinking, yes. Jack Daniels!

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 24, 12:01am

I know what I'll do. I'll get drunk on Jack Daniels then post a poem here, preview and play around with html. Talk about experimental.

Dolemite
Mar 24, 12:02am

que?

Dolemite
Mar 24, 12:07am

my question was intended for your first post above. Seemed a bit "random" as you kids say these days!

Have one for me. Daddy don't drink no mo'

;-(
,
,
,

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 24, 12:22am

Ha...no more random than a Shirley Temple video, Daddy!

Michael had mentioned drinking. Seemed a good idea. I thought it might be fun to get drunk (on Jack Daniels) then write a poem, post it here, preview and play around with html, making for one helluva experimental poem!

It's all nada enchilada, truly.

Steven Gowin
Mar 24, 02:02am

Yeah, the works fine.

Bill Yarrow
Mar 24, 03:16am

Use for line breaks.

Use for stanza breaks.

For tabs:
"To use the non-breaking space, you simply type   as many times as you need it. So if you wanted to move your word 5 spaces over, you would type       and then your word."
This works.

Michael Gillan Maxwell
Mar 24, 04:42am

I can't even publish though. There's no option for that. Only preview. I'm melting...I'm melting...what a world...what a world.....thank you Bill Yarrow for helping ...go on...you need to save yourselves...blub...blub...blub.....

Jürgen Fauth
Mar 24, 04:30pm

Hey all, apologies for the problems. Carson tells me he was trying to improve the formatting system a few days ago, but whatever he did happened to "break it in unforseen ways." He's doing his best to have it fixed & working again asap. Once again, apologies for the hassle. I know that slinging that HTML code is no fun, and for some reason, getting the formatting system right has been one of the trickier problems in building this site. Thanks for your patience, and the videos...

Dolemite
Mar 24, 04:48pm

Jurgen--

It would be luverly if different fonts are supported when it all gets going again.

Michael Gillan Maxwell
Mar 24, 05:58pm

Thanks so much Jurgen! Greatly appreciated. Good to know I'm not going totally off the rails. (any more than usual) Reports of my untimely demise and my HTML code writing idiocy are greatly exaggerated. I will rise again like a Phoenix .... from Arizona! Excelsior!

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 24, 06:05pm

Thanks, Jurgen.

Sally Houtman
Mar 24, 06:27pm

This is great news.

And Michael, until it's fixed, take two ampersands and call me in the morning...

Michael Gillan Maxwell
Mar 24, 09:03pm

I don't know Sally. I'm up to my eyeballs in semi colons already.

James Lloyd Davis
Mar 26, 03:49pm

???????

Soon to be deleted
Mar 26, 04:39pm

Looks like it's been fixed. Yes.

Dolemite
Mar 26, 05:02pm

There are still no editing functions within the edit box and it still doesn't support different fonts, but, yes...

Darryl Price
Mar 26, 06:35pm

This problem has frustrated me too,to no end lately,because-I want to be the one and only decider of my own lines, etc.,not a machine or a written code of any sort. The way I finally got around it was to have a copy of my work I wanted to post physically on hand sitting next to me on my desk as I plop in front of the computer and then write it in--every word--- myself into the post instead of a copy and paste. A little bit longer to do, a little bit more work, but a lot more personal satisfaction and control in the end. My last piece looks exactly the way I wrote it and wanted it to be seen(SEES,KINDNESS,AND MADE), which makes me very happy!To all the above, don't leave out of frustration. This thread alone should prove you're not alone in the situation. And keep writing and posting.Loved Matt's answers above. I mean,c'mon,that's cool stuff.

James Lloyd Davis
Mar 26, 07:06pm

If I can't control format without coding... If I can't cut and paste as I could before... If the font looks small and web generic like the font and format in this thread, then no, it's not fixed but decidedly inferior for a site that has so many fine writers, as a showcase for their work. You go to a museum and you don't see a Degas tacked to the wall frameless in a dark corner.

But I don't see any notice from Carson that he's done, so I'll wait.

All the work I had in here previously, work I made private after the changes... when I go to edit, the plain text that was there previously is now riddled and stuffed with code, so I'm going to take everything out until this is done.

My wife says I'm complaining too much about this, but it's something that seriously detracts fromn the web site and its purpose. I think it's essential and respectful to the writers here to enable them to have the control they had previously. I have work I would like to post here, but won't under these conditions.

Nonetheless, this will be the last time I bring it up.

Sally Houtman
Mar 26, 11:30pm

 &nb sp    &nbsp ><& >< / > &nb

That's alls I'm sayin'

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 27, 12:02am

You're breakin' my brain!@##$$

James Lloyd Davis
Mar 27, 03:16pm

Hooray! It's fixed.

Soon to be deleted
Mar 27, 04:14pm

Excellent!

J. Mykell Collinz
Mar 27, 04:34pm

It's not fixed for me. I changed browsers from IE to Firefox. That didn't change anything. The formatting is still unresponsive. There is a big red X at the top right of the editing window that says "Remove formatting." And when I try to reformat, it is removed.

James Lloyd Davis
Mar 27, 06:26pm

Yah. I spoke too soon. It's an awful lot of cleaning up to do after you cut and paste from Word. It was never perfect, but I don't remember having that much trouble before. Still, the old stories I saved in Private seem to be okay.

Anyway, I put a new one up aftrer much fixing and fuss.

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 27, 10:23pm

posted a story last night
it was fine
copied and pasted it to my e-mail
tried to post it again just now
and the formatting was fucked
tried to fix it
could not

oh well
the piece is at my wordpress blog

Dolemite
Mar 27, 10:24pm

it's still goofy, ain't it.

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 27, 10:26pm

yes
goofier than carrot top
in a musical thong!

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 27, 10:27pm

in the immortal words of Huey Lewis

I Want A New Drug

Pat Pujolas
Mar 28, 07:50pm

i tried several times to post a story, but experienced LOTS of formatting problems, not just line breaks but crazy, crazy stuff. hoping they can fix it soon! love the site!

eamon byrne
Mar 28, 10:23pm

I used to post html versions of my pieces and they rendered fine. Now they don't.

Just posted a simple example - "some texts": the site is just literally displaying the source. Clearly not my intention.

Carson, maybe you could comment on this.

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 29, 12:50am

I am so frustrated I wanna set my panties on fire. Still, this snafu inspired me to write an experimental poem. I'm happy with the poem.

Joani Reese
Mar 29, 01:23pm

I've got a new twist. My poem, "Father" was perfectly formatted for three days and this morning I find it squished into a lump on the page. How does it reformat even after it's been sitting on the board for days?

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Mar 29, 01:38pm

Wow. That's weird. What the hell is going on???

David Ackley
Mar 29, 02:57pm

When I first got on Fictionaut I didn't know how to Copy and Paste a typical risible gap in my computer awareness. Most of my earlier pieces were written onsite, some of them in a sitting. You can get some wierd and interesting results by changing the circumstances of your writing and not being too attached to old ways and old habits. Plus it kind of frees you from the inevitable angst when the technology of choice screws you up, as it inevitably will at some point. Daryl speaks to the howto in his earlier posting.

James Lloyd Davis
Mar 29, 03:56pm

The formatting on my story posted yesterday, formatting that I worked on for 20 minutes to put into a satisfactory presentation has changed.

I give up.

Jürgen Fauth
Mar 29, 05:05pm

I'll check in with Carson. Sorry for all the headaches.
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