Equipped To Survive Equipped To Survive® Presents
The Survival Forum
Where do you want to go on ETS?

Page 7 of 8 < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >
Topic Options
#229271 - 08/05/11 07:48 PM Re: Help make your posts readable [Re: GarlyDog]
Teslinhiker Offline
Veteran

Registered: 12/14/09
Posts: 1418
Loc: Nothern Ontario
Originally Posted By: GarlyDog
So it was pasted text that caused the thread's format to go screwy?


Yes...
_________________________
Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.

John Lubbock

Top
#229276 - 08/05/11 08:01 PM Re: Help make your posts readable [Re: GarlyDog]
Am_Fear_Liath_Mor Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 08/03/07
Posts: 3078
Quote:
So it was pasted text that caused the thread's format to go screwy?


Yes and No. It was only users of Firefox and some Smartphone browsers that seem to have the problem (compatibility issues?). Not all browsers show the exact same web pages identically. Internet Explorer, Opera, Chrome etc didn't seem to have a problem (the ones I tested).

Quote:
The easy answer is instead of posting super wide snippets of code, the poster should just supply a link to the website where he/she found the code.


Easier said than done, when the code isn't displayed as plain text on a website. Anyway the issue was only how the browser displayed the width of the page which required horizontal scrolling, which was a very minor issue when using buggy browsers.


Edited by Am_Fear_Liath_Mor (08/05/11 08:06 PM)

Top
#229292 - 08/06/11 12:44 AM Re: Help make your posts readable [Re: NightHiker]
Bingley Offline
Veteran

Registered: 02/27/08
Posts: 1576
Originally Posted By: NightHiker
That's when it falls on the reader to be discerning. I wish the world was fully populated with people who could communicate clearly and concisely but that's just not the case. When that is the case is it really a waste of time & energy to try to decypher their post and either ignore it or maybe dig a little and try to figure out what they're getting at?
...
I'm of the opinion that one's writing style (or lack thereof) frequently enhances their message, even when that message is poorly conveyed. If every single post was neat and sterilized then a lot of the personality that is present otherwise is missing.


Indeed, some people aren't effective communicators. I find many excellent artisans/craftsman in that category. They get frustrated, and this shows especially when they assert their professional authority by asking you to take them at their word without an explanation of any sort. In person I can communicate with such people, since there is much more to communication than words in face-to-face encounters. But on the internet where you could be a dog and words are the only thing that counts, you do have to exercise discretion quite often. I usually skip over postings that make my eyes/brain hurt, but since we're talking about the issue of making posts readable, I offer my opinions. Regrettably they have ruffled a few feathers.

As for your second paragraph, good writing doesn't have to be "neat and sterilized." Take a look at masters of the English prose: Mark Twain, Matthew Arnold, Paul Fussell. They differ greatly in style, and none of them could be characterized as "neat and sterilized." You're probably thinking of newspaper writing, and that tends toward a bland uniformity, I agree.

Sure, this is just an internet forum, not Knopf's editorial room, but is it really too much to ask people to make their posts a bit easier on the rest of us? I regard this as basic courtesy, and postings aren't "gift horses." We are here to discuss topics of common concern, so let's respect each other's time.

Argh, now I have to come back to this: journalists, so-called or real, are letting us down. The quality of news reporting and other forms of public writing has really gone down. Now any blogger can spout his opinions online, and if he gets a following, then he is in the right. Might might be right, but might is not quality. Many internet forums are little better than mob rule. Fortunately Equipped.org is a good site. People here are informed, helpful, and courteous. I posted something to that effect a few weeks ago.

I intend to do my part by paying attention to my writing when I post. We can make this virtual world a better place one step at a time, if we all do our part.

Da Bing

Top
#229304 - 08/06/11 03:19 AM Re: Help make your posts readable [Re: NightHiker]
ireckon Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 04/01/10
Posts: 1629
Loc: Northern California
Originally Posted By: NightHiker
It might bear remembering that we're on a global forum. Not every member is a native English speaker. Even within the group of those who are we've got a bunch of variations - Brittish, Scottish, Canadians, Americans, Aussies, New Zealanders and S. Africans. If you want to break it down even further you can start getting into the different dialects...what might constitute poor or careless writing for one person may be the local standard for someone else. I would hope that those for whom English is a second language get an automatic pass but not all of them advertise the fact.


Well, dang, that kind of trumps this whole thread. I agree that you must give a pass to people who speak English as a second language, and even to people who speak multiple languages. If you give a pass to one anonymous group, then you must give a pass to everybody. (It would be different if you knew a person's background.) I would hate for someone who speaks Spanish or Japanese to get mad at me when I butcher their language. I am never going to become smooth in their language.

Having said that, there's no excuse for paragraphs that are 1,000 words long, or sentences that are 200 words long. Drop a period or a new paragraph every now and then. I'm in shock whenever I see a post that's a long wall of text, hardly any punctuation, and people who actually reply. There's is NO WAY the repliers read the whole thing. I don't believe it.
_________________________
If you're reading this, it's too late.

Top
#229306 - 08/06/11 03:47 AM Re: Help make your posts readable [Re: GarlyDog]
CANOEDOGS Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 1853
Loc: MINNESOTA
we could of course go really "off the wall" at this point and try and make a persons ability to read a post all the way thru despite their distaste for the improper paragraphs and such link to their survival success-----if you can't work thru a "wall" how would your react to being down to the last match in a storm??.."this is not the way it should be!!!,i can't take it not being the way i want!!..why won't this fire light!!!"... OK..just kidding......

Top
#229309 - 08/06/11 05:08 AM The problem is this sites css stylesheets [Re: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor]
EMPnotImplyNuclear Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 09/10/08
Posts: 382
The problem is this sites css stylesheet

href="/styles/common.css?v=7.5.6"

Code tags are rendered using inadequate css rules.
Moderating/editing a post is the wrong solution.

The cheapest right solution is to add one of the following to common.css , should work on all modern browsers

Code:
.ubbcode-block {
	max-width: 400px;
}

Code:
.ubbcode-pre pre , .ubbcode-pre {
	font-family: monospace;
	white-space: pre-wrap;
}

Code:
.ubbcode-pre {
	font-family: monospace;
}
pre {
	margin: 0px;
	white-space: pre-wrap;
}


For which browsers support pre-wrap see
http://www.quirksmode.org/css/whitespace.html

Top
#229312 - 08/06/11 05:33 AM Re: Help make your posts readable [Re: ireckon]
Bingley Offline
Veteran

Registered: 02/27/08
Posts: 1576
Originally Posted By: ireckon
[quote=NightHiker]I agree that you must give a pass to people who speak English as a second language, and even to people who speak multiple languages. If you give a pass to one anonymous group, then you must give a pass to everybody. (It would be different if you knew a person's background.) I would hate for someone who speaks Spanish or Japanese to get mad at me when I butcher their language. I am never going to become smooth in their language.


Friend of a friend teaches at a small college. She says that the best writer among the students at her school tend to be people from other countries who have undergone rigorous language training. Yep, they write better than many native English speakers, who often take writing for granted.

Now, that might be a special situation, but I have noticed that the really, really bad verbal diarrhea tends to come from (you guessed it, kids) native speakers. Foreigners are often more cautious writing in English. (Imagine that your Japanese is good enough to participate on internet fora, but you don't feel very confident about it. Naturally you'll dot your i's and cross your t's, or whatever it is you're supposed to do in Japanese.) Indeed, I daresay that the sort of stuff that prompted this thread probably comes mostly from native speakers of English. Only we would be so bold as to disregard the rules of writing.

Da Bing

Top
#229313 - 08/06/11 05:54 AM Re: Help make your posts readable [Re: Bingley]
ireckon Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 04/01/10
Posts: 1629
Loc: Northern California
Originally Posted By: Bingley
Friend of a friend teaches at a small college. She says that the best writer among the students at her school tend to be people from other countries who have undergone rigorous language training. Yep, they write better than many native English speakers, who often take writing for granted.

Now, that might be a special situation, but I have noticed that the really, really bad verbal diarrhea tends to come from (you guessed it, kids) native speakers. Foreigners are often more cautious writing in English. (Imagine that your Japanese is good enough to participate on internet fora, but you don't feel very confident about it. Naturally you'll dot your i's and cross your t's, or whatever it is you're supposed to do in Japanese.) Indeed, I daresay that the sort of stuff that prompted this thread probably comes mostly from native speakers of English. Only we would be so bold as to disregard the rules of writing.


Well, then your experience is much different than mine. In my experience traveling the world, the best English writers I know are native speakers of English. While you may be able to find a few non-native speakers who write English quite well, those exceptions don't nullify the rule.

It's highly likely for a non-native speaker of English to butcher the English language. In fact, it's expected. Likewise, I'm fully capable of butchering other languages, and I do so quite often. smile
_________________________
If you're reading this, it's too late.

Top
#229326 - 08/06/11 01:40 PM Re: Help make your posts readable [Re: ireckon]
Russ Offline
Geezer

Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
That is an apples and oranges comparison. While you speak of "the best English writers I know are native speakers of English", the post you compared to was "the best writer among the students at her school tend to be people from other countries who have undergone rigorous language training". (emphasis added)

While you speak of Hemingway and Steinbeck, the college instructor talks about students, one of whom has been extensively schooled in proper English and probably took the instruction seriously. This says nothing about the education of her other students and it doesn't hit on accents and understanding how they speak, it's about writing.

How many of us end our sentences with a preposition? That's a rhetorical question.

opinion, $.02
_________________________
Better is the Enemy of Good Enough.
Okay, what’s your point??

Top
#229328 - 08/06/11 02:54 PM Re: Help make your posts readable [Re: GarlyDog]
MoBOB Offline
Veteran

Registered: 09/17/07
Posts: 1219
Loc: here
It is your choice to discriminate (filter) based on style and presentation. Read it or don't read it accordingly. I think the whole thing boils down to this: we all use the language differently. Finally, in the spirit of The Forum, we welcome and relish all comers regardless of language skill or use.

My $.02


Edited by MoBOB (08/06/11 03:02 PM)
_________________________
"Its not a matter of being ready as it is being prepared" -- B. E. J. Taylor

Top
Page 7 of 8 < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >



Moderator:  Alan_Romania, Blast, chaosmagnet, cliff 
March
Su M Tu W Th F Sa
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
Who's Online
0 registered (), 474 Guests and 15 Spiders online.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newest Members
GallenR, Jeebo, NicholasMarshall, Yadav, BenFoakes
5367 Registered Users
Newest Posts
Zippo Butane Inserts
by NAro
Today at 11:57 AM
What did you do today to prepare?
by dougwalkabout
03/27/24 11:21 PM
Question about a "Backyard Mutitool"
by Ren
03/17/24 01:00 AM
Problem in my WhatsApp configuration
by Chisel
03/09/24 01:55 PM
New Madrid Seismic Zone
by Jeanette_Isabelle
03/04/24 02:44 PM
EDC Reduction
by EchoingLaugh
03/02/24 04:12 PM
Newest Images
Tiny knife / wrench
Handmade knives
2"x2" Glass Signal Mirror, Retroreflective Mesh
Trade School Tool Kit
My Pocket Kit
Glossary
Test

WARNING & DISCLAIMER: SELECT AND USE OUTDOORS AND SURVIVAL EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES AND TECHNIQUES AT YOUR OWN RISK. Information posted on this forum is not reviewed for accuracy and may not be reliable, use at your own risk. Please review the full WARNING & DISCLAIMER about information on this site.