Sending your post to the list in "Plain Text"

[Suzee]

Today we had an issue arise when there were multiple entries for the same NPC in the crayons and I just wanted to address this issue as it's a wider problem than many of you may realize.

I see the problem- he is listed twice

K'yne (NPC) (Brownrider)
"I Walk the Line"

O'kar (Rider of brown Mordoth)
Baby, It's Cold Outside

Carstel (Apprentice)
Oak or Ash

E'var (Wingrider)
Cutting Loose

C'lar (Wingrider)
Thread on the Sky, part 1/3
Thread on the Sky, part 2/3
Thread on the Sky, part 3/3

Tibitha (Hold)
Fresh Air and Sunlight

K'yne (Wingrider)
Old Wounds

Yeah, so.... I know everyone has been warned about using plain text when sending your posts to the list and this is what happens when you don't.  The database is holding those two versions of the name as "Different" npcs.  The reason is when you use Rich Text the apostrophe ' can be angled or straight up and down. BUT the kicker is that in some fonts you can't see the difference, and there IS a difference.

So, we paste in what is sent to the list and it looks fine but the database doesn't see it that way. The character number (which is usually standard) is actually different from one to the other whether the font author uses the same image for both numbers. (I won't go into the magic behind rich text fonts that make your 'quotes' do the hula when you put them around content... but it happens.) I can't tell you how many times over the years I've pasted in a characters name like R'enh and the database insists this is a new NPC when we all know he isn't... all I have to do is change that ' and like magic it knows who to connect the post to.

Bottom line.... every one should send their posts to the list in plain text.

**Steps off soapbox**

[Heather]

I always email in plain text (at least, it is always "on" while I am typing.) I do, however, sometimes reply and send posts via my iPhone/iPad and I am wondering if that makes a difference?

[Suzee]

I always email in plain text (at least, it is always "on" while I am typing.) I do, however, sometimes reply and send posts via my iPhone/iPad and I am wondering if that makes a difference?

It can, but if you're using something like google even on your ipad there should be a way to make sure it's plain text when you send it to the list.   Replies back and forth don't matter... just the final document.

[Heather]

I shall have to investigate!

[Suzee]

Time once again to bump this topic.  It is very important that you send your posts to the list in "Plain Text" format.  I've been seeing an increasing number of posts coming into my inbox that are "Rich Text"

Because of the way our database stores information this can be an issue.  Please do what it takes to comply with this.  It makes a big difference to the time our volunteers spend in timelining our posts.

Let's be considerate of their time.

Thank you so much!

[Avery]

For those of you who don't know how to do PlainText:

In Gmail, when you're composing a message in the web app, you can go to the lower right corner (by the Trash icon) and select the arrow. There's a "Plain Text Mode" checkbox, selecting that before you send a post to list will make sure that it goes as plaintext.

You could do what I do and have a @triadweyrs.org account and use SquirrelMail webmail to send as plaintext. They're very cheap with marks and can be great as sending accounts!

Most email applications on a PC or Mac should have a setting in the Options or Preferences somewhere for plain text. Google tells me Outlook has it in a Compose section. Thunderbird allows both setting all messages to Plain Text, or allows adding a recipient to the Address Book and saying to send all messages to that recipient in Plain Text (example: the mailing lists).

If you need more tech support for a specific application, post here or email me and I'll work with you! IT support is my day job and if it's something I don't know I can google ;)

[Leigh]

I forgot to ask how to do the plain text thing, so thank you for apparently reading my mind and mentioning this. :-)

[Eimi]

Thanks Avery!  I actually didn't know how to tell if my message were in plain text mode or not!  I will try to remember to do that from now on

[Eimi]

So for those of you who know more about gmail than me (which is I assume just about everyone who uses it!), ever since I have checked the "plain text" box, I keep getting this long bit of code at the end of all my posts.  I think it replaces the avg image/link that was on it in html.  Anyone know how to get rid of that? 

[Heather]

So for those of you who know more about gmail than me (which is I assume just about everyone who uses it!), ever since I have checked the "plain text" box, I keep getting this long bit of code at the end of all my posts.  I think it replaces the avg image/link that was on it in html.  Anyone know how to get rid of that?

You can go into your anti-virus settings and disable it from adding its signature to your emails, I believe.

Here's a couple of articles, you can try them out and see if they work

https://support.avg.com/answers?id=906b0000000Dif4AAC

https://lifehacker.com/stop-avast-from-adding-its-signature-into-your-outgoing-1748130504

[Eimi]

Thanks Heather!  I will see if that works!