WARNING: long posts will time-out and other tips

[Garen]

This is a warning more than a suggestion, and is kind of logical really, but I was just writing up a showcase post (on my sword, Jonathan!) and was doing it directly into the 'post topic' form, but as I followed up some fresh research online I was logged in for quite a while. By the time I came to submit the topic for publication, I'd been logged out (timed out, I guess) and I lost the post! Often I can use my back button and the field still contains the text, but not this time - all gone.

So, my advice (you probably all know this ) is to write long posts in a text editor first, and then copy and paste them in when you're ready to post, then you can add in any BBCode and links you require etc. I quite often do that, actually, but not this time

I haven't got time to re-do it now, but the sword will still be next on my list - promise!

[Jonathan]

Garen,
That is frustrating! I tend to do longer write-ups with MS Word and copy and paste as you suggest. It is also useful for spelling and grammar if your internet browser does not have that feature.

I am looking forward to that write-up!

Jonathan

[Mark]

The forum software does indeed log you out after a period of inactivity. Although you are typing you will not be loading pages so the software assumes you have left it logged in and your session automatically timesout - i.e. to keep your access to the forum secure.

I always write long posts in Microsoft Word first (any wordprocessor or text editor will do) and when I am finished it can be copied and pasted into your post. As already mentioned above you can then make words bold, underline, change text colour and add links etc. This not only gets around the timeout issue but also allows you to take advantage of the spelling and grammar checking facilities - if you have them. I am a postgraduate and I still cannot spell

Mark

[Pgeddes]

We used to have the same problem on the Roman Army Talk forum (where I can often be found under a somewhat different name) and the solution I have always used if I have written a very long post is simply to highlight the text of the message I have written and select 'copy' from the edit menu before posting. This means that if I have timed out and the message is not posted, I simply have to open the post again and paste the text back on again. I think that this is faster than typing on a separate program and pasting it over.

[swordcollector1]

I tend not to do long write-ups and am happy using HTML tags, so I type directly into the New Post window. Members who prefer this approach may be interested in a free plugin for Internet Explorer called ieSpell (available from http://www.iespell.com) - this enables you to spell check any data entered via web browsers in the same way that you can spell check text in Word etc.

John