Composing your submissions as attachments

[Brutus]

Hi Folks. I have a suggestion that might help make the board scroll easier. In your lengthier submissions try composing your post as a word doc and then add it to your post as an attachment. Doesn't take up as much room, sayin'? Thoughts?

[ForceTen]

A couple of issues with doing is that way:

1) Not everyone has MS Word so the .doc format isn't universal
2) Chance of spreading viruses
3) Scroll screen usually isn't an issue on lengthy submissions unless you're on a slow connection. It's when it's not broken down into paragraphs that makes it difficult to read.


All in all, I like it here and am curious to see how it grown. I'm not really much of a cook. But, I'm always willing to try something new.

[Brutus]

(04-22-2010 09:35 AM)ForceTen Wrote:  A couple of issues with doing is that way:

1) Not everyone has MS Word so the .doc format isn't universal
2) Chance of spreading viruses
3) Scroll screen usually isn't an issue on lengthy submissions unless you're on a slow connection. It's when it's not broken down into paragraphs that makes it difficult to read.


All in all, I like it here and am curious to see how it grown. I'm not really much of a cook. But, I'm always willing to try something new.

Thanks for the response. I just assumed that MS Word was kind of everywhere but I'm learning it's not. What about PDF files? If anyone is having problems opening my attachments let me know and tell me another way to post them. Is there a way for me to convert my existing Word docs to PDF or perhaps a tiff file? Anything I can do to make it friendlier for the user?

[ForceTen]

PDF files are generally more tricky for the average user to create as it's another program or create online. If you want to stick with attachments, you can save them as .txt files.

Personally, I like to shy away from attachments and go for all text in the post/thread because it's searchable.

[Brutus]

(04-22-2010 10:16 AM)ForceTen Wrote:  PDF files are generally more tricky for the average user to create as it's another program or create online. If you want to stick with attachments, you can save them as .txt files.

Personally, I like to shy away from attachments and go for all text in the post/thread because it's searchable.

Being searchable is an excellent point.

[digitalphil]

Hey Folks...I might as well mention that I use Open Office and this program is free and open source too. I can save a "doc" or a "pdf". Just thought I'd share that. I would only go that route for special circumstances...maybe a huge article or illustrations I guess. TTFN, Phil

[MacDaddy08]

I agree with ForceTen. Scrolling is not a huge issue to me either. Also, I'm on a Mac, so, not overly concerned about getting viruses. But I would not want to pass one on to a PC user either, Just sayin'..........

[Brutus]

(04-23-2010 04:42 PM)MacDaddy08 Wrote:  I agree with ForceTen. Scrolling is not a huge issue to me either. Also, I'm on a Mac, so, not overly concerned about getting viruses. But I would not want to pass one on to a PC user either, Just sayin'..........

Yeah, I'm thinking scrollin' is cool too. BUT!!!! If it's a really long submission (check out my Newfoundland Triptik) what would you suggest?

[ForceTen]

OpenOffice is a great program. I have it installed on all of my computers at home and work (Linux and Windows). It'll save in MS Office formats as well as others so it is an option. That being said, the premise behind forums is to be easy and free flowing while nearly "live" without the need for other software to read postings and articles.

Brutus, regarding your Newfoundland article (great read, btw!), that could easily be done as a forum post without being an attachment. You can do links, text formatting, colours, etc all within the browser. Just need to know a little bit of code. Or, most forum software allows you to click and do it as well if you're unsure how.

For example:

To link and show an image:

Code:

[img]http://www.domain.com/image.jpg[/img]

To link to a webpage without showing the actual link:

Code:

[url=http://www.bubbawares.com]Bubba's threads 'n gear[/url]

To do italics:

Code:

[i]italics[/i]

To do bold lettering:

Code:

[b]bold[/b]

There's a large number of things one can do in a forum if you know the code. If not, there are shotcuts/icons for doing it automatically above the reply box (though, not the quick reply) which does about the same. A little bit of time and it'll come as second nature.

[Saul]

Wow! I've learned a lot just by reading this post. Thanks a lot folks, I can use these tips here and elsewhere in my universe. Now, please pass the pickle-ade.