Tips for posting messages

via the WWWeb

via email

To protect against this, try typing the message in some other program first (e.g. Notepad, or MS Word), and then copy and paste it into the message window. (The best solution, particularly for longer messages, is to compose it in MS Word, where you can also check spelling and grammar). That way if something goes wrong, you don’t lose what you’ve written. However, there are some pitfalls:

There may be weird codes hidden in the message that will only appear when you post it. If you tick the box for "Use Plain Text editor” or "Use HTML to create your page" you will see how much superfluous HTML code Word generates. Most of the formatting tags are unnecessary, but will do no harm. Unfortunately, some tags will appear when you post the message (e.g. <o:p>). You can delete these tags in the Plain Text view, but it's a fiddly process.

Sometimes it is more convenient to use a Notepad window as an intermediary between Word and the MSN window. Paste the text into Notepad, then select it and copy it again. When you paste it into the MSN message window, no unwanted codes will be attached - but formatting options like bold and italics will need to be reapplied. Use Enter to start a new paragraph or Shift-Enter start a new line.

Remember: compose in Word - copy - paste into Notepad - copy - paste into MSN message window.

It doesn't take that much longer and could save you a lot of work and frustration. Does anybody have any other tips?

This can happen if you work with other web browser windows in the background while you type your message. Closing or modifying the parent window will orphan your message window and it will post into thin air.

Remember to copy your message to the clipboard (Ctrl-C) before posting so you can recreate it easily should something go wrong.

Do not include the previous message in the body of your reply.

Do not send HTML formatted text (as it interferes with the display on the web interface).