Forgive me if this has been answered 100 times before and just point me there.

I try to compose messages in Word in order to use spell check.

When I paste the message, I get lots of extra spaces and it looks bad. I end up editing to remove most of the spaces.

What do people use for a message editor?

Is there a spell check feature that I just haven't found?

Some of us think we are so cool:cool: we can get by with hard-typing our answers directly without a text editor. For me,this results in frequent editing when I notice typos later - worse, when someone else notices typos later.

If you feel the need to compose and edit in a text editor or word processing program (Word, WordPerfect, or any other) to help catch spelling errors and some grammar errors, you can eliminate the subsequent mismatch of spacing by adding an intermediate step of converting to plain text or ASCII BEFORE cutting and pasting into the reply box. Once the text is in the reply box, you can add formatting of text style, size, color, etc. by using the Cove tools. If you are in a Windows environment, you could also use Notepad as the intermediary program before cutting and pasting into the Cove.

Although Spell Check has practically been demanded by vBulleting customers (including me) for several years, they have never put one in and even today they say there is nothing they can put in which will spell check in advanced WYSIWYG mode because of the hidden codes, etc.

One 'key' to editing and spell checking in Word or other text editor is making sure you have 'Turn Invisibles On' in whatever you use so you can see tab, space and carrage returns 'icons'.

Actually, although I used to, I never use a text editor any more because the forum software has been very stable. For spelling, I use the Firefox 'extension'.

I have looked at a spell checker as a forum software 'hack' but none I have seen so far will work with the 'advanced' WYSIWYG editor because of all the bbcodes which you can't see if you're using the 'advanced' WYSIWYG editor.

I don't use the 'advanced' WYSIWYG editor, personally.

Now and again I make one or more typos. I usually fix them when I see them but I'm not loosing sleep over a typo now and again.

Actually, although I used to, I never use a text editor any more because the forum software has been very stable. For spelling, I use the Firefox 'extension'.Which extension? I looked on the website, but didn't see one for spelling or grammar.

See post 47 in this thread: Browsers: Anyone using Firefox? (http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=9694)

I was looking as well - It's at: SpellBound - Firefox and Mozilla Suite Spell Checker (http://spellbound.sourceforge.net/)

See post 47 in this thread: Browsers: Anyone using Firefox? (http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=9694)

I was looking as well - It's at: SpellBound - Firefox and Mozilla Suite Spell Checker (http://spellbound.sourceforge.net/)Thanks Marc, I got it.

It is great but I need to remeber(sic) to use it.
After the discussions here I moved to Fire fox and am very happy
:agree1: http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/_950/ole.gif
(This is the smiley extension)

Just remember when you use the 'smiley extension' it embeds a call to an outside server for the image, so if that server goes down or otherwise doesn't load quickly it can hold up display of the page.

This was onlya demonstration, do you prefer not to use it?

Well, I'm sorta ambivalent, I guess. My 'fear' is that a year or two from now I'll be going back through messages to find those links to delete them because the server they're on 'goes away' or something. But - That's the case with a lot of links folks put in so I guess it's not a big deal. The only difference is that when someone puts a 'standard' link in, when a page loads it doesn't actually make a call to the server linked to. In the case of 'external smilies' it actually has to call another server, get the image and load it.

Personally I don't see the externally called smilies because my browser is set to only accept/load images from the originating server because the external calls can slow down page loading dramatically.

The Google ads are a good example of external calls slowing down page loading. Normally Google's servers are pretty fast and don't significantly slow down pages loading, but I somewhat frequently notice that the Google server causes a delay in a page loading because the Google server is 'thinking' or whatever.

So - I won't say don't use external smilies, but I'm not a fan.

Forgive me if this has been answered 100 times before and just point me there.

I try to compose messages in Word in order to use spell check.

When I paste the message, I get lots of extra spaces and it looks bad. I end up editing to remove most of the spaces.

What do people use for a message editor?

Is there a spell check feature that I just haven't found?

Caster,

I use word for spell checking and it works fine if you type your message in the forum ';Reply to thread' and then copy and paste it to WORD. It then retains the same spacing etc that you had but checks your spelling. It is then a simple matter of copy and pasting the checked material back to the Cove. It sounds more difficult than it is. When I open the cove I open a blank word document so it always ready. Hope it helps. (PS: I did not spell check this so I hope it is OK)

See post 47 in this thread: Browsers: Anyone using Firefox? (http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=9694)

I was looking as well - It's at: SpellBound - Firefox and Mozilla Suite Spell Checker (http://spellbound.sourceforge.net/)

Works great...Thanks for the information! :thanx: I have installed the Mozilla Firefox Browser on home pc, but not at work. (IT Department says... :mad: :argue: :whip: :nopity: )

Tell the IT department to get with it. :agree1: Our IT is recommending Firefox. I use it home and at work and haven't had a problem.

Dave

Tell the IT department to get with it. :agree1: Our IT is recommending Firefox. I use it home and at work and haven't had a problem.

Dave

It's much easier for IT departments to stick with IE, despite the attractive features of Firefox. One basic reason is Firefox's inability to deal with ActiveX controls, which is a security feature, but will still confound some users. IT types have enough problems in general without fixing something that, in their eyes, ain't broken.

Our IT people also use and recommend using Firefox, so I do (especially after having some rather nasty spyware get through using IE).

Our IT people also use and recommend using Firefox, so I do (especially after having some rather nasty spyware get through using IE).

Firefox won't protect you from spy- or adware. In most instances, spyware tags along with some other program that you've downloaded and installed voluntarily, and its presence is usually disclosed in those "terms of use" agreements that we hardly ever read. The vast majority of spyware is installed with the user's (unwitting) permission. The #1 reason that Firefox is safer than IE is that there are far fewer people using it, which means that the more popular it gets, the more its likely to become a target. But I like it too.

Works great...Thanks for the information! :thanx: I have installed the Mozilla Firefox Browser on home pc, but not at work. (IT Department says... :mad: :argue: :whip: :nopity: )
If you can't beat them join them.

Try ispell (http://www.iespell.com) for an integrated spell checker for IE.

Jaime

Also see: Spelling Checker for Posts in the Elsmar Cove Discussion Forums (http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=13250).