Uploading Stories

[Scratch]

I'm having a lot of difficulty posting written documents here.

Text: .txt files upload and have a text preview, but in the frame everything is centered (which to me is completely unreadable) and it prevents me from using any formatting.

rtf: .rtf file won't load, gives me "Fatal Error: Call to a member function toStyle() on null in /home/aryion/public_html/g4/lib/thirdparty/vendor/henck/rtf-to-html/src/Html/State.php:89" along with a "stack" of addresses. I'd really prefer to post rtf here like I used to, not sure if it's a site issue or something specific to my rtfs (I make them using Textedit on a Mac).

pdf: .pdf uploads but creates a blank preview thumbnail. I don't mind posting pdfs but some of my readers do, and I'm not crazy about how it looks.

Anyone know why rtfs don't upload anymore? Am I doing something wrong?

[Eka]

Rtf is getting rather picky about the format. I would try docx first before anything else.

[SeductiveCyndaquil67]

I've had the same fatal error in the past, but there is a solution. RTF works, just in a roundabout way. Instead of uploading the RTF you originally wrote in textedit, you have to paste it into a google doc and download the document as an RTF. That's how I'm able to upload my RTFs, at least.

[ItsSongxing]

I use .doc format. Not .docx, but regular .doc, saved via Microsoft Word or OpenOffice. Works fine with embedded images, preserves paragraph formatting and spacing, and it also works just fine on mobile (at least Android).

[MasterMage13]

I use Word 2010. .doc's

It seems like it works... mostly fine.

[lutro]

I long-since gave up and went with PDF. Every device under the sun has PDF support. Worst case is user has to download it. You can circumvent "but no preview" by putting some preview in the description.

PDF just gives me full control of formatting and I don't have to play tiddlywinks with every single gallery site handling stories/written documents differently/requiring different formats. And I applaud this site, out of all of them, for just letting you upload PDF with embedded support.

[IvesBentonEaton]

Microsoft Word or OpenOffice or any word processor that saves in .doc (not the later .docx format) is optimal for viewing with the G^4 gallery software used on this site. RTF can be made to work but is not as capable nor does it support many formats or features that .doc (Microsoft Word 97/200/XP) format does. PDF is contraindicated because it can't reflow text; readers using mobile devices will find it a more frustrating experience. This only makes sense; PDF was designed with printing as the main output, not screen display, and especially not small smartphone displays.

Off the top of my head, G^4 will support the .doc format as far as proper paragraph spacing, the usual character effects (boldfacing, italicization, underlining, strikethrough), color text (but keep that to headings and titles for best legibility), bulleted lists (if the bullets used are part of the Unicode character set and not graphics), and, to a limited degree, inserted images. It will also support paragraph borders, although it can be quirky about this.

[Scratch]

I've had the same fatal error in the past, but there is a solution. RTF works, just in a roundabout way. Instead of uploading the RTF you originally wrote in textedit, you have to paste it into a google doc and download the document as an RTF. That's how I'm able to upload my RTFs, at least.

It worked! Thank you!

Thanks everyone for the info/advice too.

[lutro]

PDF is contraindicated because it can't reflow text; readers using mobile devices will find it a more frustrating experience.

I do agree having to go the extra step to download the PDF is inconvenient, but I wouldn't call them frustrating to the point of being unable to read it. And to me, keeping all the formatting I write into the document, without having to custom-tailor it for every gallery site to make it work, far outweighs "some users may skip it because they only read stuff on phones."

Just my two cents though, of course.

[ItsSongxing]

I do agree having to go the extra step to download the PDF is inconvenient, but I wouldn't call them frustrating to the point of being unable to read it. And to me, keeping all the formatting I write into the document, without having to custom-tailor it for every gallery site to make it work, far outweighs "some users may skip it because they only read stuff on phones."

Just my two cents though, of course.

It's not just "some people". Something like 60% of all people online are doing so on their phones. That's probably lower in most of the English-speaking world, but it's not a negligible portion of people. Plus, from the three galleries you have, you already have to make changes to formatting to tailor to the galleries. PDF here on Eka's, .txt on FurAffinity, and .rtf on InkBunny. I haven't used InkBunny on mobile, but I know FA requires any document not in .txt format to be downloaded before reading, and you have to use BBCode formatting to get things like bold text, italics, etc. in the document. I don't know your process, but I don't think it would be that much more work to figure out .doc.

Also, Ives wasn't just talking about having to download the story first. .PDF files are meant for printing first, and on-screen readability second, so the text can be really small on the phone screen. What Ives mentioned was text reflow, essentially changing formatting, font point size, and so on based on detected screen size and aspect ratio. PDF may keep the specific formatting that you designed for your usage and your screen, but it doesn't adapt to anyone else's.

[lutro]

It's not just "some people". Something like 60% of all people online are doing so on their phones.

Correct. But PDFs aren't unreadable on phones. The embed just doesn't work. It's "inconvenient" in the sense that they have to open an app, I'm okay with phone users having to make an extra click/tap so that authors don't have to waste time publishing in a bunch of different formats to preserve their original intent.

Plus, from the three galleries you have, you already have to make changes to formatting to tailor to the galleries.

Which is exactly why I wish all galleries would just let us embed PDF, as I described above. That way I wouldn't have to play File Tiddlywinks to give readers a better experience. Just because I do it, doesn't mean I like it, or that there isn't a better way. (As for my process, I found it so tedious I wrote a program to take my open-office formatted file and output all the formats I want. But I would love to be able to delete it forever so I can just share a universal format-keeping document format everywhere.)

.PDF files are meant for printing first, and on-screen readability second,

Well this just isn't true. "The goal was to enable anyone to capture documents from any application, send electronic versions of these documents anywhere, and view and print them on any machine" (quoted straight from the horse's mouth (i.e. Adobe)). It wasn't a "print-first" document type. It was made specifically to be a universally-shareable format, so that anyone on any device can "read or print", solving this exact problem us writers presently face. And phones do have the capability to adapt to these downloaded documents and read them. Experiences vary of course.