When writing a trip report, complaint, suggestions, whatever .. please break your post into paragraphs. I just gave up reading a post on the Europe board about a B&B in Ireland because it just ran on and on with no breaks. It happens frequently here as well.

I know this subject has been covered before, but for new posters maybe it is worth mentioning again.

Thanks!!

There's a new 12 step program for those compulsive types who can't stop writing or talking.


It's OnandOnandOnandOn

ALSO, PLEASE DON'T TYPE IN ALL CAPS!!

and please at least use caps where appropriate. there's nothing worse than reading about places like key west, etc and never seeing one capital letter in the whole post.

Thanks for letting me rant!

May I add one? When posting a looooong URL to something, it throws the screen window off (adds as one line regardless of whether it has 300 characters) and readers have to scroll sideways. Long ones can be condensed into tiny ones easily by going to
www.tinyURL.com

Just thought I'd mention that.

B/

Regarding the "ALL CAPS" thing...

Some people I know use *all caps* because they have low vision. I get emails from these people all the time - at first I thought I was being shouted at, until I asked. I not only felt embarrased, but I also felt about 2 inches tall.

I think with the ALL CAPS, it might be appropriate to cut people a little slack, just my 2cents.

what is it WITH ALL u grammer police?

And please do YOURSELF a favor: include the destination in your topic. We don't have time to opean and read posts "Help", "Travel question" and "Vacation".

maxbythesea, would you mind explaining WHY you prefer people to post ineffectively instead of being given kind suggestions as to how to more effectively use this website? I don't understand why anyone would be so opposed to self-improvement.
Are you the type who would slug a cub scout for trying to help an old lady across the street?

Yeah! And don't forget to keep it travel related!

-Bill

And if you can't find your post, don't re-post 3 more times. Just click on your screen name.

...and go to Kaua`i in December and January. It's the best time to go.
-Bill

When there's a trip report with no paragraphs that interests me, I copy and paste it into a new Notepad or Word document, add some paragraphs myself then read it.

True, it's an extra step but sometimes it's worthwhile. And then I can save the info on my computer if I want.

Just my 2 cents.

It took me a long time to figure out that the posts won't break into paragraphs unless you put two spaces between the end of one and the beginning of the next. I would paragraph my posts the way I do with e-mails and they would end up reading as one long run-on paragraph. I did catch on eventually, but maybe it's worth pointing out.

TTT

It usually helps to see how the post looks by clicking on the 'PREVIEW MY REPLY' button. If you have a hard time reading it, so do others.

I am not against anyone pointing out helpful things, but sometimes I get sooo tired of the "police" around here.

Somtimes it's done in a condescending manner, and sometimes it's just overkill.

I guess what gets tiresome to me is the constant pointing out that thread titles should have more detail. Do I think they should? Yes, of course. But maybe, if it bothers you (and I am using the collective "you" here, and not pointing anyone out) so much, DON'T open a thread that doesn't have enough info in its title. That'll teach them, no?

I often feel that the people who SHOULD read these type of "police" posts do not, it's just all the rest of us who know this stuff already!

I seem to be in the minority with this opinion, but it's just my two cents.

seetheworld no need to be embarrassed finding out someone has low vision.

Use it as an opportunity to show them how to increase the font size on their computer to help them since most of the internet content is not all caps.

For Windows Explorer alone go to the drop down and select "view," then text size. A larger or smaller text can be selected.

To adjust the size for everything in Windows use the "start" button, select "control panel" then "accessibility options." Under the "display" tab is the "high contrast" option. Here people can pick from many text enlargement and/or color contrast schemes to help them.

Indytravel, thanks for giving the instructions to increase font size.

I recently completed a technology course for individuals with disabilities and as a result, have become so much more aware of the difficulties people experience when trying to communicate.

I fall in the same camp as Karens. I think it is okay to point out helpful things - but sometimes things go too far.

Regarding spelling....in this country, we have an enormous population of adults who are undiagnosed dyslexics. Word processors and spell checkers are, in many cases, worthless tools - the brain and central nervous system does not interpret print information properly.

I guess all I'm trying to say is, that we really don't know what people struggle with on a day-to-day basis. Sure, it can be just pure haste or laziness when posting, but sometimes, it may not.

Okay, I'll step down off my soapbox now

Just thought I'd mention that all caps is in fact very difficult to read, regardless of eyesight level. The human eye is trained to recognize shapes -- all caps make for identical height so the eye (and brain) have to work much harder. Go for type face size increase instead. On Mozilla, it's very easy: just hold your control key and press plus sign at the same time.

B/

I once got yelled at on this board for breaking my posts up into too many paragraphs.

Oy vey. (this is behind the schlepping post)