Often on this site I come across an intriguing topic and click on it. I see a solid wall of text that fills the entire screen. I start to read it and often stop part way through because of the dense, almost unreadable text.

This is a shame because the person may have something very interesting to say.

May I respectfully ask that posters of long comments, break what they write into shorter paragraphs with a blank line between paragraphs.

I believe (my testimony) that if you want people to read what you wrote, you will have more takers if you write in a way that makes what you wrote easier to read.

I do realize that many people, when they write long postings, are feeling very emotional and so are focusing on content not style. But please hit that return key a little more often and make it a little easier for those of us who would like to hear what you have to say.

"May I respectfully ask that posters of long comments, break what they write into shorter paragraphs with a blank line between paragraphs."

You can ask, but some people really need to get some stuff off of their chests, and when "blurting" it out on this forum...people have no time, need, or want at the time, to make it neat...just for people like yourself..

My comment stands. It is not about neatness; it is about making the posting more readable.

I assume people write on this site rather than say in a personal journal because they want to share their thoughts with others.

I think one will get more readers if the posting is more readable.

I don't think hitting the return key is all that difficult to do.

If someone disagrees, then they are perfectly free to write however they like.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/2014 07:47AM by annieg.

It is about getting people to conform to your wishes.

You can make it readable by the simple trick I listed below. They simply adapt rather than expect the world to revolve around them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2014 11:03AM by MJ.

No argument from me but for some who have to get sh1t off of their chest, the last thing they are thinking about is formatting. using mobile devices/phones may also come into play.

For me I try to organize my posts into easy to read paragrahs

nonmo_1, Like people who have vision problems and can't cope with screed after screed of run on text that are not put in paragraphs?

THOSE kind of people?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2014 10:59AM by matt.

I know people with vision problems. They are the ones that clued me into holding a sheet of paper to the screen just under the line they are reading.

These people do not expect the world to revolve around them, they simply deal with it and move on.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2014 11:12AM by MJ.

nonmo_1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
... but some people really need to get
> some stuff off of their chests, and when
> "blurting" it out on this forum...people have no
> time, need, or want at the time, to make it
> neat...just for people like yourself..

On occasion, I indulge in "blurting out" a long stream of consciousness. But I resist posting it right away. First, those are the occasions when review, editing, and re-write are especially important. For example,I find myself correcting something that would be offensive or insulting to other posters. There's a good chance there's something that can be said better, or better yet, not at all.

Secondly, I want my points to be understood, especially if others are likely to disagree with me. I'm fine with people who argue against me, but I want them to address my opinions, not my confused statements.

Thirdly, hit "Preview!" See what it looks like.

I'm on board with Anieg. Every post should be checked over, and while you're at it, put in paragraphs.

I had a detective friend who would write reports as long as FOUR pages, single-spaced, without a single paragraph! Lawyers would bring them to court, doctored with variously colored highlighters to make sense of it all. We could never get him to organize his reports. "All the facts are in there, every one!" he boasted. Sheeeesh!

Very good advice.

I seem to always find something amiss right after posting, but I use the EDIT button under the post and just go back to fix it.

I only create a new post to note a correction if someone has already replied to the original.

I second this request.

FWIW, people have been known to copy an entire post by someone else and repost it with paragraphs inserter.

Not everyone has the time and/or patience to do this.

Not just about time and patience...

I read on my iPhone and it's nigh unto impossible to decipher text when it's a dense, continuous wall of characters.

I try to zoom in and scroll back and forth, but my eyes bug out after a long block of text.

I really appreciate the white space when on my phone.

it was impossible to read solid walls of print. It's thoughtful of those with eye problems to break the print with white space. Now that I'm seeing well, I still appreciate it.

As long as we've got you here, Cheryl, just how are you doing now with your eye thing? And stuff in general?

Eyes are close to 20/20 with corrective lenses. My body is no longer trying to reject the donated corneas. Cancer is gone and the Lupus scare is abated. Many thanks. Hope you're also doing well in every way!

I'm glad to hear of that, Cheryl. You've been down a bumpy road. I's good to hear that you are getting some relief at last.

Very happy to hear it. It's nice to get good stories of recovery.

Now that IS good news, Cheryl!

Cheryl, you had posted quite awhile back, asking for shorter paragraphs and space between.

Every time I post, I think about that. It's no different than the time my sister requested that I email her in large and bold print, as she had gone legally blind.

Be well.

Other Susan

The other half are a form of Diane. Lovely names for nice friends.

So kind of you to take a little time to help visually impaired posters.

And thank you to Summer for the good thoughts.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/2014 10:30AM by Cheryl.

Also, please don't make the subject line a looooong sentence.

It takes up a LOT of space on the front page!

I agree. A lot of board members simply can't or won't tackle a big wall of text. It's just too hard on the eyes.

No one cares if a member puts up a long post. Just break it up into paragraphs, please.

Each post here is so enjoyable to read. Lots of white space.

I have on occasion copied and pasted a large post into a text file so that I can make paragraphs and read it.

I don't do that so much anymore. If I can't read it easily, I just don't bother.

Thankfully it doesn't happen very often here, but ALL CAPS drive me nuts too. I even hate it when some consistently do this MORmON $hit. It gets old fast.

If I click in and the post is either no paragraphs or all caps, I don't read it at all.

I don't have the time to try to dissect it.

One thing you might try, since you aren't going to have old messages re-submitted, is to enlarge the view.

If you are using Internet Explorer, (IE), up in the menu bar select "VIEW", then select "ZOOM", then select 200%, or any other level that is pleasing to you.

Or you can also hold the CTRL key down and press "+" to zoom up or "-" to zoom down.

To return to the normal zoom, hold CTRL and press "0" (zero).

This will spread message over many more screens but hopefully will make reading more enjoyable.

If you put a space between paragraphs and use good punctuation, you are doing a service to both the reader and your material.

We want to read what you have written, so please don't make it hard on our eyes. You'll get more feedback and learn more.

IF I see a wall of text I want to pull out my bow and shoot at the author on top of that wall

Maybe Susan I/S could write a synopsis of this thread and sticky it.

I often wade through the long paragraphs and sentences. If someone took the trouble to write it, it must be important to them. Poorly written stuff often has a lot of emotion behind it.

It is not unlike BoM-style writing. Reuben, Samuel the Lamanite had a lot to say, much like Korihor. It almost missed being included in the book.

Composing in word processor is an excellent workaround for those who want it readable and have little experience with writing.

My posts are usually short, so I don't worry.

Yes. Some posts are worth reading despite the lack of white space.

Copy it all. Paste it into a word doc. Change fonts/size or add paragraphs as desired.

I simply hold a sheet of paper to the screen and move it down line by line as I read. Simple solution that does not require everyone to conform.

But I like it when people conform to good manners.

And to whine about other people who whine? That made me smile.

matt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> But I like it when people conform to good
> manners.
>

Yeah, just like TSCC wants people to conform to what they consider good manners, and many Muslims and fundamentalist Christians as well . But hey, I understand how controlling people want the world to revolve around them and their version of manners, so just who's manors to you propose imposing on everyone?

You do realize that good manors depend on the culture and can be vastly different from culture to culture, right? Hell, manners are different from the USA and England.

I provided a simple solution that an individual can do without expecting the whole world to revolve around them.

Wow, you are whining about people that are whining about people that are whining. See, that sort of childish response can go ON and on. Proud of yourself?



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2014 12:03PM by MJ.

According to mormons, in Heaven many of us will be relegated to being servants tending their estates, so I guess we better learn to mind our "manors" ;-)

Sorry couldn't resist. I'm not a spelling Nazi, I promise.

I seem to have unleashed an unintended firestorm of controversy with my initial posting.

I find when I read, I just skip long and unbroken walls of text and I feel a little badly that someone may write a long, heartfelt passage and then is disappointed that few people reply.

Nobody, and certainly not I, am trying to tell anyone how to write their posting. Write it any way you like and the rest of us will read it or not read it as we like.

Surely we are arguing over nothing when there are much bigger issues to discuss.

My last words on the topic.

...Without asking everyone to adapt to you. Yes, you specifically asked everyone posting here to adapt to what you want. I gave a valid, easy suggestion, if that is controversial to you, that is your problem.

I am sorry that I did not jump on your "I'm the center of the universe" band wagon and that I suggested something that YOU, rather than the world, could do about it.

I am fairly certain you to continue to expect the world to adapt to you. Good luck with that.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2014 12:57PM by MJ.

don't be such a debbie downer! a negative nancy!

You have been the one that has made negative statements about me without contributing to the thread.

What's the matter? Can't actually address the message so you attack the messenger?

It's a solution or not depending on the size of your monitor, the distance of the monitor from the reader, the strength or condition of arms/shoulders required to hold the sheet of paper over the monitor and move it down (ask someone who has had shoulder problems about this, for instance), the availability of paper in the moment, etc.

Sheesh.

If the monitor is too far away to be readable, that is not the poster's fault. I will bet that my solution would work for 95% of the egotists whining here.

I use the trick on my android and it works great.

Bottom line, this has been discussed before, the world did not change for people like you then and it will not change now. Short of technical changes on this board, will will always get bulk dense text, regardless of all the whining.

Deal with it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2014 01:34PM by MJ.

Agreed, please use paragraphs -- we're not in elemenrary school anymore. : )

That's great news, Cheryl.

I've often thought about making a post about this too in the past, but chickened out. When faced with a long wall of continuous text, I will often back out and read something else.

It's sad, because I imagine that some of them are really great posts. But it's frustrating trying to keep my place as I'm reading, so I'll just give up before I get too far into the post.

MJ, with all due respect, your insistence on nonconformity as the only and best attitude, along with your intimations that a sheet of paper is the only acceptable and nonconforming solution to the problem of too much text and your suggestions that anyone who isn't willing to go along with your single page solution is self centered, is getting old.

You are sounding like you want all others to conform to YOUR idea, which comes across to me as being self centered.

Many would benefit from the courtesy of using the space bar, including the writer of a post, if we assume s/he is writing because s/he wants to be read and desires some sort of response from others.

When I come across a large block of print, I simply don't read it. I have neither the time, patience, nor eyesight to do so.

I am rejecting to the demand that everyone conform to the ONE TRUE CHURCH, excuse me, to conform to the one true way to post.

and why all the hostility for suggesting a way a person can politely read the posts rather than expecting the world to conform to one view, which isn't going to happen anyway?

If you want conformity, go back to TSCC.

BTW, you do know the difference between rejecting a single specific call to conformity and preaching a philosophy of non-conformity, right?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2014 01:44PM by MJ.

And the innuendo that is nothing more than ad hominems aimed at me are hilarious.

What is even funnier is the implied expectation that people will stop posting in dense text.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2014 02:09PM by MJ.

You say 'ad hominem' like its a bad thing...

It certainly is popular with posters on this board that can't actually address a point, that is for sure.

Nobody can force all others to conform to their paragraph preferences.

But a post like this might generate some awareness. If somebody isn't aware that their posts without paragraph breaks are difficult to read, they might just think nobody cared enough to respond. It's doing a favor to tell them.

And posting a tip to help with the bulk dense posts that will continue to be posted here is not a bad thing either.

Bottom line, we have had this discussion before and bulk dense posts have continued. Knowing this REALITY, the reality that the world does not behave the way we think it should, I have posted a suggestions that people can use to deal with reality.

So sue me.

I acknowledge and point out that bulk dense text is not going to stop, whining or not (you know, reality), and I suggest a way that the reader can take a simple step overcome the issue, and for that some are making me the bad guy. BS to that.

BTW, talking about whining is talking about behavior which is not the same as the ad hominem attacks being made against me for trying to offer a simple positive suggestion.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2014 02:11PM by MJ.

Of course there is not one way to post here, and you don't see a STICKY ***WRITE IN PARAGRAPHS ONLY*** do you?

However this topic reminds me of all the missionary emails we get in our family. More than a few of the missionaries that send us emails were never taught how to write in paragraph form. Imagine 100 sentences strung together encompassing a dozen different thoughts and events.

The result? I open the email, take in the massive paragraph, then hit delete.

I know this board helps people get things of their chests, but most people write to create dialogue to get things off our collective chests. There's no dialogue if other forum members are not reading what you are writing.

I compare it to Steve Benson's really LONG posts. Nothing wrong with that, but sometimes they are a little longer than I have time to read and formulate a response. Some people don't read them at all and respond simply from the post title or one very small section of Steve's information.

The logic that this is a board and that people are writing as fast as they can, so they can disregard good writing practices is not consistent with the practices of the first responder to the OP since they used capital letters and punctuation.

I vote for strict paragraph adherence! We're not texting here people!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2014 02:14PM by Doubting Thomas.

Mmmm-kay.

I think I got it.

Snarky comments directed at a group, with the implication that the remark is directed at 'not naming names, but, you know who you are' is okay.

An observation that applies to the image an individual portrays on a thread is 'ad hominem'.


I may figure out the web etiquette yet...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2014 02:16PM by csuprovograd.

Was that supposed to make sense?

I will make it simple:

Being critical of BEHAVIOR like whining (i.e. whining about it will not change anything) is not being critical of a person or a group, it is discussing a behavior. If you see yourself as engaging in that behavior, then the statement would apply to your BEHAVIOR.

Calling someone a whiner, something I did not do is an ad hominem and is a personal attack.

Yeah, I know, the LDS taught you different.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2014 02:21PM by MJ.

I have MS and several of my most common difficulties are with eyesight, weakness and fatigue. I won't be using the 'hold a piece of paper up to the screen' suggestion the same way I won't strap an extension pole on my folk to reach my dinner plate if it's too far away. Instead, I'll move my dinner plate closer (or ask someone to move it closer if I need help) so that I don't need the extension pole contraption in the first place.

Asking for an occasional use of the 'Return' key is far from an unreasonable request, nor is it anything close to selfishly expecting the world to revolve around oneself.

An equally valid perspective is that it's asking the writer to stop expecting the world to revolve around their bad writing habits -- because that's all it is. A bad habit, not the meaning of life and the wellspring of a person's integrity and worth.

I have long since resigned myself that I will regularly encounter grammar, spelling and all manner of other mistakes or awkward writing styles on the 'net that make reading comprehension difficult. I've come to terms with that. However, if the first thing I see is a Giant Wall of Text the likelihood of my moving on is high.

If that makes me selfish and expecting the world to revolve around me to some people, that's okay. If it means I miss out on some valuable content that's a shame but also ok. My time and energy are limited, and reading walls of text takes more time and energy than those with paragraph breaks.

Why not ask someone to move the dinner plate closer for you?

You can make the request for an occasional return, but don't hold your breath for it to resolve the issue. People are still going to post in bulk dense text. Sorry, but that is simple reality.

Sorry I made a suggestion that would likely work for most of the people whining about this issue. I regret it did not work for everyone.

BTW, the OP talked about losing interest, not difficulty because of a medical condition. I was addressing the idea of simply losing interest and a solution for that.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2014 02:38PM by MJ.

We are certainly not going to REQUIRE it. And there will be no paragraph police just like we will have no spelling/grammar police.