# Toonces asks you to please: UPLOAD IN .TXT; THANKS



## Toonces (Apr 18, 2010)

First of all, sticky this thread.

Secondly, upload your literary works in .txt please.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You've always uploaded in .doc. Or maybe .rtf. Or, why not, .pdf. That way the proper words get italicized. You can make a header, or something. I don't know. I always uploaded in .txt personally, so I'm not too familiar. But here's the deal with uploading in .txt:

No one's going to read your story unless it displays in-browser.

Only stories uploaded in .txt display in-browser.

Please, upload your stories in .txt.

[size=+2]Admin Section, For Admins Interested in Helping Others Upload in .txt[/size]

Admins, until other formats are configured to display in browser, please perform the simple action of including on the file upload page this simple message:



> Please upload your work in .txt format for it to display in-browser.
> 
> To convert your document to .txt, please see this website, which will enable you to convert most common document file types to .txt.
> 
> We hope to have other file types display in browser in the future, but in the meantime, please upload in .txt to ensure that your work display in-browser.



This is a very simple request. It really is.

[size=+2]Admin Section Complete, Thank You, Proceed[/size]

Writers, why should you post in .txt?


 Your story will display in-browser, thus eliminating one of the steps between your work and your audience.
 You can manipulate the text using standard [noparse][/noparse] code.
 More people will read stories, because they will display in-browser.
 As opposed to displaying out-of-browser, your work will be displayed in-browser
 By displaying your story in-browser, more people will read it.
 In-browser display.
 People will read it, if it's uploaded in .txt.

As you can see the benefits to posting in .txt format are numerous, such as the fact that your work will be displayed in-browser, allowing more people to see it. More people will see it, and read it, because it will be in the browser. Otherwise, it would be out of their browser, and that would be bad.

*Please post in .txt format. I'm serious. Thank you.

Please sticky. I'm serious. Thanks.​*


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## Toonces (Apr 18, 2010)

Please, please, please sticky this thread, so that people know to upload in .txt.


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## panzergulo (Apr 18, 2010)

Ha. Very amusing.

Some people upload in .rtf, .doc or whatever, but copy-paste one version of the text into the comment section of the submission page. Works pretty fine, if they are just aware how their text is going to change when displayed in plain text (with BBCode formatting, if they want to).


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## Bobskunk (Apr 18, 2010)

The text area needs to be more legible.

Write a style for the box there to avoid the mediocre contrast/blue color/small font/single spacing that's ok for comments and descriptions but doesn't lend well to reading long spans of text.

If stories/poems get white boxes, black text, a bigger font, and perhaps a few block/formatting tweaks, it won't be so painful to read in the browser.  For me, this is tied for annoyance with having to read a given story submission in yet another window/application.


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## AshleyAshes (Apr 18, 2010)

I upload in RTF and it's the way it's staying.  Almost any text editor will open it and the reader can print it, save it as another format for their e-reader or otherwise do with it as they please.

I havn't had any issue getting readers so I don't see an issue.


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## Toonces (Apr 18, 2010)

If you uploaded in .txt, you would have more readers. Readers that wanted to save your work to an e-reader, which is likely a very small portion of your readers, could easily convert the .txt file to a .rtf. Either way, if you uploaded the story as a .txt, you would get more readers.


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## AshleyAshes (Apr 18, 2010)

TooncesFA said:


> If you uploaded in .txt, you would have more readers. Readers that wanted to save your work to an e-reader, which is likely a very small portion of your readers, could easily convert the .txt file to a .rtf. Either way, if you uploaded the story as a .txt, you would get more readers.


 
Considdering the genre I write and the level of how 'popufur' I am within the fandom, I can safely say I probably get more readers than others would so I see no concern there.


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## Toonces (Apr 18, 2010)

It's not a matter of popularity or genre. Allowing your text to display in-browser makes it accessible to the largest number of potential readers.


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## jinxtigr (Apr 18, 2010)

I've never tried to tell anybody to do this, but I'm with Toonces. I'm very unlikely to read your story unless it's in .txt and showing on FA directly. Though it is not hard labor to save a file and open it in TextEdit, I'm still not going to do it unless perhaps you've copied out a really striking bit into the blurb.

FA makes you jump through hoops a bit to read furry writers. If you're in txt, the only hoop is how awful it looks on the page


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## Mulefa Zalif (Apr 18, 2010)

what about uploading stories in HTML


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## TakeWalker (Apr 18, 2010)

1) No. You're not my dad.

2) People do actually read non-text stories, contrary to popular belief. Or have I been reading a lie this whole time?

3) Get people who aren't writers to read stories on FA. If no one's reading, it doesn't matter what format you use.

4) You're taking this way, WAY too seriously.


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## Poetigress (Apr 18, 2010)

Toonces, I agree with you that people who want the widest possible audience should upload in text. Having to download a file (or even click an external link) is a big hurdle for a lot of readers or would-be readers on FA, and I do think it's something for writers to be aware of when they choose how to upload their work.

That said, I also agree with TakeWalker's #4 above. While it would be nice for admin to add a notice that only text will show up in-browser (because the "cannot open this filetype" or whatever the message is, does confuse newbies), I don't think they really need to be in the business of making text mandatory -- especially when so many writers have recently underscored the desire for something like an .rtf parser anyway.

Also, I would prefer this not be a sticky, personally, but that's just because I remember the days when we had so many stickies nobody bothered to read any of them. (This might be a good addition to panzergulo's resources sticky that's already there, though.)


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## NaotaM (Apr 18, 2010)

Other than Panzer and Bob's useful suggestions, the response in this thread really helps me empathise with Toonces' disdain for writing forums. -_-;

Case in point, I honestly don't see any real readon behind the various contention to this very simple suggestion other than "No. I don't feel like it." Whhhy sooooo pithyyyy? Seriously, if you really just don't want to transfer your word files or whathaveyou into txt format then fine, whatever, but why _not _just make it readable right on the page? Would it _really _be that much trouble to take an extra minute or two before posting to switch formats and remove a (depending on connection and what format the reader uses) potentially lengthy and lethal first obstacle to getting started; ie. the most important part. I can speak from experience that having to wait sometimes upward of a minute just to open a story file, often near-blind as to the content, can kill the reading urge, and come on. Poetigress does it, MLR does it, Panzer does it. What could it possibly hurt?

It's bad enough FA's bloated with so much sub-par porn and fanfic that many are averse to even look for reading material, is it really in our best interest to give them one more reason to pass us over? The writer-reader relationship is a two-way street, a completely co-dependent symbiosis, and we have to remember that we write as much for them as for ourselves. It couldn't possibly be that removing this possible detterent to allow readers to easily scope out what they see, fave or save it later to enjoy at their own pace(one of writing's many inherent perks) and be encouraged to read more is the entire point. Just spitballin'.


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## M. LeRenard (Apr 18, 2010)

We've actually had this discussion many, many times on this forum already (before you started becoming active, Toonces), and yes, it is widely agreed that .txt is the best format to go with for this site in most cases.  I'm not going to sticky this thread, but if panzer wants to add it to his resource thread, he can most certainly do that.  But I'll leave it up to him whether it's worth it or not, since, like I said, we've been over this ground before.


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## sunandshadow (Apr 18, 2010)

Bobskunk said:


> The text area needs to be more legible.
> 
> Write a style for the box there to avoid the mediocre contrast/blue color/small font/single spacing that's ok for comments and descriptions but doesn't lend well to reading long spans of text.
> 
> If stories/poems get white boxes, black text, a bigger font, and perhaps a few block/formatting tweaks, it won't be so painful to read in the browser.  For me, this is tied for annoyance with having to read a given story submission in yet another window/application.


This.  Files uploaded in txt are freaking ugly, on top of having my formatting stripped out.


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## AshleyAshes (Apr 18, 2010)

NaotaM said:


> It's bad enough *FA's bloated with so much sub-par porn and fanfic that many are averse to even look for reading material*, is it really in our best interest to give them one more reason to pass us over?


 
This I believe is the real issue.  Most readers on FA want crappy porn and a lot of those who want more are jaded on the topic. Even I won't look at the vast majority of writing on FA because I expect it to be crap and the formats are irrelevant to that view.

Know what gets me to read stuff on FA?  A good recomendation or something pointed out by good advertising.  Something that actually makes me go 'Ooo, that sounds interesting'.  Heck most people don't even include a real synopsis on the description of their writing submissions.  (Actually I need to do better synopsis as well)


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## CatalinaTamiko (Apr 18, 2010)

TooncesFA said:


> If you uploaded in .txt, you would have more readers. Readers that wanted to save your work to an e-reader, which is likely a very small portion of your readers, could easily convert the .txt file to a .rtf. Either way, if you uploaded the story as a .txt, you would get more readers.



Wrong. I know a few whom upload in .txt and they could get a reader to give them the time of day until they started using .rtf .txt is about as useful as an empty toilet paper roll. 



AshleyAshes said:


> This I believe is the real issue.  Most readers on FA want crappy porn and a lot of those who want more are jaded on the topic. Even I won't look at the vast majority of writing on FA because I expect it to be crap and the formats are irrelevant to that view.
> 
> Know what gets me to read stuff on FA?  A good recomendation or something pointed out by good advertising.  Something that actually makes me go 'Ooo, that sounds interesting'.  Heck most people don't even include a real synopsis on the description of their writing submissions.  (Actually I need to do better synopsis as well)



this is exactly what needs be done! and yea i know what you mean on the synopsis. I need to redo them myself. >.<


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## jinxtigr (Apr 18, 2010)

CatalinaTamiko said:


> Wrong. I know a few whom upload in .txt and they could get a reader to give them the time of day until they started using .rtf .txt is about as useful as an empty toilet paper roll.



Granted, I have no problem with FA developing an RTF parser or putting up formatted text. That said- wut?

Are you seriously saying that what remains when you reduce writing to .txt file is the NOT important part?

Maybe you're saying that for most people, FA's display of txt is so bad nobody wants to look at it, ever? Lord knows on my website I don't make it look like FA has it...


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## panzergulo (Apr 18, 2010)

CatalinaTamiko said:


> TooncesFA said:
> 
> 
> > If you uploaded in .txt, you would have more readers. Readers that wanted to save your work to an e-reader, which is likely a very small portion of your readers, could easily convert the .txt file to a .rtf. Either way, if you uploaded the story as a .txt, you would get more readers.
> ...



A good storyteller knows how to use indent, emphasis, and paragraphing to create enjoyable, nuance-rich and formatting-wise aesthetic stories. A great storyteller doesn't need anything but plain text and newline to tell the same story. I am myself more of a minimalist when it comes to formatting. So, I don't have problems with plain text, and no, I don't have problems with how FA presents plain text. Paragraphing with newlines creates readable text; Anything above that is just unnecessary gimmicks. No, italics or centering doesn't make your poem look more "poetic". No, excessive use of bolds and italics doesn't make it easier to figure how your characters stress their words. I've read numerous novels where the author or the editor didn't use any kind of emphasis; And both what was said and how it was said was perfectly clear.

Also, I've met more people who have honestly said they won't download .rtf or .doc if they can't be sure it's worth it than people who're ready to read anything. But, I guess if you know your audience, you can use whatever file format and whatever style of formatting and your readers will come to you (that is, you're a fetish smut writer). Or, maybe you're read only by your friends, who are kind enough to see the trouble to download your stories. Or, maybe you aren't interested about how many readers you will attract.

Me, I'm more of a plain text man. Content is more important than aesthetics. I truly hope nobody here is using colored text or some crazy fonts. Nothing can really turn me off more than "funny" fonts and colors. If any of you want to see how professional plain text looks like, check any submission from Poetigress. Her plain text submission just scream at your face: "I was written by a pro. There's no funny business here." I use on most parts the same style of formatting: No indent and two newlines as a "paragraph break" between paragraphs, but I use four newlines as a "long break" instead of three asterisks (*   *   *) and I use italics to differentiate words that are not English.

Like, if I wrote _perkele_ in the middle of everything, it would be in italics, because it's not English. In my comments and in the forums I use emphasis more freely, but in my stories, italics is the only emphasis I use and it's used to denote non-English, _ettÃ¤s sen tiedÃ¤tte_.



M. Le Renard said:


> We've actually had this discussion many, many times on this forum already (before you started becoming active, Toonces), and yes, it is widely agreed that .txt is the best format to go with for this site in most cases.  I'm not going to sticky this thread, but if panzer wants to add it to his resource thread, he can most certainly do that.  But I'll leave it up to him whether it's worth it or not, since, like I said, we've been over this ground before.



I have pretty much said the same thing in 'Computer tips for the writers and readers of FA', but what the heck, a little repetition isn't bad. At least the straight-to-the-point title will make the subject clear.

EDIT: And, it has been added.


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## Toonces (Apr 18, 2010)

Personally, I'd rather people uploaded their stories in .txt, as so that they would appear in-browser.

Personally, I'd rather this thread be stickied.


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## TakeWalker (Apr 18, 2010)

NaotaM said:


> Case in point, I honestly don't see any real readon behind the various contention to this very simple suggestion other than "No. I don't feel like it." Whhhy sooooo pithyyyy? Seriously, if you really just don't want to transfer your word files or whathaveyou into txt format then fine, whatever, but why _not _just make it readable right on the page? Would it _really _be that much trouble to take an extra minute or two before posting to switch formats and remove a (depending on connection and what format the reader uses) potentially lengthy and lethal first obstacle to getting started; ie. the most important part.



I'm not quite certain why one author thinks it's so vastly important that everyone upload in text that he comes in and _demands_ that we do so. What difference does it make to anyone but the author what format they upload in? If they believe that .txt would get them more views, they would upload in .txt. Not everyone has the same viewpoints on this issue, and it's frankly ludicrous to make it into an issue in the first place!



TooncesFA said:


> Personally, I'd rather people uploaded their stories in .txt, as so that they would appear in-browser.
> 
> Personally, I'd rather this thread be stickied.



Personally, I'd rather you stopped waving your watcher count around here and acting like you're our glorious leader. I, for one, do not appreciate being represented by you, regardless of the motive behind your actions.

This post will probably be deleted. I do hope that you can see it before that happens.


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## Lobar (Apr 18, 2010)

Reagan would want you to use .docx files.


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## GraemeLion (Apr 18, 2010)

I'm with Take on this one.

I've been on here for awhile, and on FA as a reader\writer for awhile. (Got nothing active currently as I'm making some rounds in the markets and had to clear my FA while that's going on)   

I don't know who you are or where you came from, Toonces, but none of the things you've said are startling or new.. and you're not really speaking for me.  Sorry.

I'd rather this not be stickied either.


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## Tyvara_Panther (Apr 18, 2010)

I've had no problems posting .rtf and posting a double within the comment section. Personally I don't like .txt, so I post a nicer version with an easier to read font and size. For convenience sake I make sure there's a version within the comments.
I have no problems clicking a little download button, but I also don't mind being accommodating either. *shrugs* I'm not really sure what the big hubbub is all about.


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## M. LeRenard (Apr 18, 2010)

The point has been made.  To keep this from becoming another drama-fest (seriously, everyone; settle down), I'm locking it.
Toonces: panzer put the link to it in his resources thread.  That's as good as you're gonna' get.


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