I've just spent two hours trying to post a long story with just a modest amount of formatting (Bold, Title & Chapter Head centering, etc.) And all I've ended up with is this error message:
"Terminated request because of suspicious input data."
Grrrr!
There are a batch of problems with the Create Content section here. The first is that when presented with the list of content types, if you choose "Fiction" you get an "access denied" message.
After reading Erin's post on Crystal's CyberBoard, which says this system will accept .rtf and .doc files (BTW, I can find *nothing* on this site that says such postings are possible.), I first tried posting an .rtf file using the Thunderbird 1.0 browser. I was pleased to see the WYSIWYG text editing toolbars at the top of the text entry box. However, pasting an .rtf formatted document into that window resulted in better than 10 minutes of blank "hang time", with no data being sent or received as far as I could tell.
So, I aborted that attempt and tried using Safari. In Safari, the WYSIWYG text editing tool bars are not visible at all. Anyway, I went ahead and pasted in the .rtf formatted story. I quickly discovered that it loses *all* formatting when you do so, so why not just say it will be converted to .txt ? I didn't even want to try using a Word .doc, since the file sizes are so large.
So, I took the whole story and put it through an .rtf to HTML conversion program (I am not crazy enough to try using Microsoft Word's HTML conversion tool, which produces highly bloated code.), and tried entering that using Safari. After hitting "Preview" there was a substantial wait, followed by:
"Terminated request because of suspicious input data."
So, how does one enter a story with a bit of formatting? If you think I'm going to redo everything that's already been done whille online using those WYSIWYG tools, forget it! I see no sense at all in duplicating hours of effort.
A very frustrated Amelia
Formatted input...
First off, the fiction data type is not used after I had some problems with it. I've disabled inputs of FICTION datatype to avoid problems with it. It's still there because there were some stories put in using it, but please use either STORY or BOOK PAGE for most story inputs. Blogs, Polls and Forums are not for stories, really.
I prefer Book Page for serials and series because it allows hierarchies of parts ane makes navigation between parts easy.
Story is best for short stories and stand alone stories.
Pasting RTF into the edit window works for some stories on some computers, not for others. I don't know why, I didn't write that part of the code. Personally, I find it amazing that it works at all considering how bloated RTF code can get.
The best way to post RTF is to convert to HTML, then either turn off the WYSIWYG editor in your personal preferences or use the <> key on the editor tool bar to put it into HTML source mode.
The Safari problem is just that, a Safari problem. Safari is based on the Konqueror kernel rather than the Mozilla kernel, besides which, every version of Safari so far runs with a defective Java engine. The HTML editor only works on about 90% of the Mozilla type browsers, including most versions of IE, NS, Thunderbird, Firefox and Mozilla. It also needs a robust Java engine.
As for the error, the suspicious input rejection, I'd say your HTML probably contains one of the codes the main software, not the editor, won't accept. These include , and . Drupal won't accept those because they can be used to hijack a server. I have disabled the filter on![]()
tags so people can use images.
Send me the file and I'll investigate so we can maybe avoid this problem in the future. :)
- Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Bob's way...
Bob Arnold sent me an email about using the WYSIWYG editor:
"After a LOT of trial and error type work I figured out a reliable way
to get Microsoft WORD documents into Drupal and HTMLAREA without losing the formatting or needing tools users may not have. It's pretty simple really....
"If the file is the .DOC format, use WORD to convert the file into the
RTF format. This should retain most of the formatting.
"DO NOT DO A COPY AND PASTE IN WORD! Instead, open the RTF file in
WORDPAD (in the accessories folder) and THEN copy and paste the text into the form from WORDPAD. Make sure the FULL HTML option on the form is selected and the text should be imported nearly flawlessly into the site.
"I've tried this on files up to 700K or so in size and other than the
web browser taking forever to format the imported text it worked each and every time. "
This sounds good so I've turned on the possibility to use Full HTML for everyone with an Author account. If you don't have an Author account, ask me for one. :)
- Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Doesn't help Mac users at all.
Since we don't have Word Pad, or any of the other Microsoft system software on our computers. Will the same technique work using OSX's TextEdit, which seems to do nothing but .rtf and "Word format"?
This sounds as if Word Pad is acting as a .rtf to HTML translator, so why don't other programs that translate .rtf to HTML work?
The way it is now, it seems Mac users have the choice of posting text only stories, or doing all their formatting online, neither of which is really satisfactory.
Amelia
"Reading rots the mind." - Uncle Analdas
On my Mac
Actually, I use a Mac all the time. But I'm usually wanting to post something and change the format a bit at the same time. Still, there is a way to go from .doc to posting. Save the file in Word as HTML. Open the file in Firefox/Mozilla. Copy and paste into the editor with the Full HTML switch set. The editor cleans out about 33 percent of the crap that MS puts into HTML files.
- Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
It works!
;-)
And I didn't even need to go throough Word to make the HTML translation!
Just opened my earlier HTML file that had looked good in Firefox (but had caused errors when pasted straight into the entry box), copied and pasted it from Firefox, and voilà!
Now that I know how to do this fairly easily, I can add more of Julie's stories here. (And there will be a brand new one soon!)
Thanks, Erin!
Amelia
"Reading rots the mind." - Uncle Analdas
You're welcome
It does work pretty good, doesn't it? :)
- Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.