Forum: Author Hangout

Formatting Advice

snekguy 🚫

Hi guys, long time site user here, but this is the first time I'm posting on the forums.

I recently completed a project where I have extensively edited and re-written many of my older stories in order to bring them up to my current standards, but reposting them is proving problematic. I wondered if I could get some advice on the subject?

So, right now, the primary options for uploading stories to the site are either TXT files or HTML.
What I usually do is write a story, then split that story into individual chapters in the form of TXT files ready for uploading to SoL. If I have ten chapters, I upload ten text files in the form.

The issue is that while this is perfectly fine if I'm uploading a single story, I now have seventeen to upload, many of which have more than a dozen chapters. It's becoming clear that this will not really be feasible in a reasonable amount of time.

I also have access to HTML files of the stories in the form of output from Calibre, which is a software that I use for making my Ebooks, but the formatting is not compliant with what SoL uses, so that isn't an option.

Calibre is able to scan a file and generate a table of contents automatically, separating the story by chapter, and then saving those chapters as individual HTML files. Unfortunately, if I try to convert these files into anything else, it understandably strips all of the formatting. I wondered if anyone knew of a similar program that is capable of outputting TXT files instead?

If all else fails, is it acceptable to upload a complete story in the form of a single TXT file, and then rely on the staff to split it into chapters? I don't actually recall why I always split the stories into chapters myself, that just seemed to be more convenient for the staff, but is that a set rule? Is it unreasonable to pass the work off to them?

Replies: REP Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster) Uther_Pendragon

joyR 🚫

If all else fails, is it acceptable to upload a complete story in the form of a single TXT file, and then rely on the staff to split it into chapters?

It won't get split into chapters.

If you post the complete story and it exceeds the site page limit, an algorithm will split it into pages, the page spilt will not often make much sense and cannot be edited, so you have to accept it as is, or post in chapters, or at least in a size less than the allowed maximum.

For complete information, go look here.

Replies: snekguy awnlee jawking

snekguy 🚫

@joyR

Hi joyR, thanks for your reply.

Yeah, I checked out that page, and I found the formatting previewer tool too, but it doesn't really answer my specific questions.

I was under the impression that much of the work that was done after the upload was performed by staff? For example, my stories are quite extensively reformatted when they go live on the website. Is that all automated, and if so, do you have any idea as to what extent the algorithm can handle weirdly formatted text?

If I can upload the solid block of text that's produced by the HTML output of Calibre, and have the algorithm parse it, that would solve my problem. The previewer doesn't seem to reformat the text that I input, however, so I'm not sure how it would come out.

Replies: REP

REP 🚫

@snekguy

Is that all automated, and if so, do you have any idea as to what extent the algorithm can handle weirdly formatted text?

It is automated.

Not sure what you mean by weirdly formatted, the algorithm accepts standard HTML but not proprietary forms of HTML which certain word processors can generate.

Replies: snekguy

snekguy 🚫

@REP

Not sure what you mean by weirdly formatted

Just a standard TXT file, but with all the formatting stripped, so it's just a solid block of text with no breaks or paragraphs. That's what I can output from Calibre right now. I'm wondering if the algorithm can parse that, or if it would just mess up.

I believe the wizard looks for one or more blank line lines followed by a line starting 'Chapter' followed by one or more blank lines and takes that as indicating the start of a new chapter.

That sounds like it would be ideal, but I'm not sure what you mean by wizard? Is that something different from the standard upload form?
If I can upload a single text file and have the wizard automatically split it into chapters, then that will save me a ton of time.

Replies: REP paliden

REP 🚫
Updated:

@snekguy

Is that something different from the standard upload form?

Lazeez's file processing algorithm is referred to as the Wizard. I doubt the wizard will do what you hope it will do.

IIRC, the Wizard treats each file it processes as a chapter, and numbers the chapters (files) sequentially in the TOC that the Wizard creates. If a file contains 3 chapters, I don't know what would happen. I doubt the wizard would break the file into a file for each chapter but I've been wrong before on things like that.

ETA: If what I suspect is true, the chapter numbers you assigned in a file would be out of sync with the chapter numbers generated by the wizard.

paliden 🚫

@snekguy

If I can upload a single text file and have the wizard automatically split it into chapters, then that will save me a ton of time.

Look at the "Story Section" on the webpage that joyR recommended. Quoted below...

Story Sections

This is useful for long multi-chapter stories. It allows you to group your chapters into books or subsections in the story's index page (cover).

To insert a section header in the index page, use the {t} tag.

For example, to insert 'Book' separators:

{t}Book 1

Chapter 1: Chapter 1's title

Text for chapter 1....

Chapter 2: Chapter 2's title

text for chapter 2....

{t}Book 2 (or part 2 or whatever division you want to use)

Chapter 3: Chapter 3's title

text for chapter 3....

etc...

awnlee jawking 🚫

@joyR

It won't get split into chapters.

That's not my understanding.

The wizard allows you to specify a range of chapters as coming from a single input file.

I believe the wizard looks for one or more blank line lines followed by a line starting 'Chapter' followed by one or more blank lines and takes that as indicating the start of a new chapter.

The link you referenced shows how to give meaningful names to chapters.

It's probably a good idea to use the 'note to moderator' facility to indicate what you're expecting to happen.

AJ

REP 🚫

@snekguy

Is it unreasonable to pass the work off to them?

Yes it is. Deciding where to divide the text into chapters is the author's job.

The administrators do not divide stories into Chapters; that is the author's job. If a story or chapter is too long the SOL processing algorithm will divide the submission into pages, but the author has no control over where the file is divided - no big deal although a few authors would disagree. I have seen pages divided in the middle of a word. Lazeez updated the algorithm to stop that from happening. I have seen pages split in the middle of a word since Lazeez's update, but I didn't note if the story was posted before or after the update.

A file too large for submission must be divided into 2 or more files. Chapters are usually used as logical breakpoints between 2 or more related scenes. Short chapters often help the reader to relocate where they stopped reading. Once a story or chapter is broken into pages by the algorithm, the pages serve the same purpose, but pages are long segments of text and relocating where you stopped reading can be difficult.

Keep in mind that plain text files have no formatting. If you want a chapter to start on a new page or the chapter heading in large font, you need to submit the file in HTML format. That is also true if you want to see certain words emphasized by using character formatting.

Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

@snekguy

If all else fails, is it acceptable to upload a complete story in the form of a single TXT file, and then rely on the staff to split it into chapters?

Yes, but you have to give us hint where you would like it split. You should use the word 'Chapter' followed by the chapter's number on a line of its own and the system will split it for you.

https://storiesonline.net/h/42/how-to-structure-submissions-text-for-best-result

Actually, submitting many separate files creates more work for us. When you sent your reposts today, to process them, the first step for me was to concatenate the files into a single file before processing.

If separate files don't have 'Chapter' at the start we add it, but if you submit a single monolithic file with no keywords (chapter xx) between chapter we process it as a single file and no splitting happens.

You can do this with plain text files and html files. As long as the word 'Chapter' or 'Part' is on a line of its own followed by a number, we'll split the file into multiple chapters on the site.

Replies: snekguy Darian Wolfe

snekguy 🚫

@Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

Hello Lazeez, thank you for your reply.

So, if I understand correctly, a story with the following formatting would be acceptable to upload as a single file?

There were likely two hive ships worth of Betelgeusian soldiers crawling around on the surface, digging tunnels into the planet's crust and making themselves as difficult to root out as possible. The orbital battle had been the easiest part, the real war for Jarilo was yet to come.

CHAPTER 2: PLANETFALL

Walker made his way towards the dropship, Kaz following behind him. The hangar bay of the Thermopylae was bustling with activity as the ground invasion force loaded up.

If so, then there's no problem, I can upload the intact files rather than having to split them into chapters.

Replies: Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

@snekguy

Yes, that's perfectly fine.

Replies: snekguy

snekguy 🚫

@Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

Awesome, thanks so much for the help, everyone.

Replies: awnlee jawking

awnlee jawking 🚫

@snekguy

Please let me know how you get on. It's a facility I may need to avail myself of in the future.

AJ

Darian Wolfe 🚫

@Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

I want to apologize to you sir. I did not realize I was creating work by submitting individual chapters. As all of my works are finished before posting. I will not do that again.

Replies: Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

@Darian Wolfe

I want to apologize to you sir.

No need for apologies. We do our work to support all authors. If it was too much work then we'd tell you.

Submitting multiple files only adds a single step which takes few seconds per submission.

Replies: REP

REP 🚫
Updated:

@Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

If multiple chapters are submitted as a single file, can the chapters be separated into individual files and have the files posted at future dates at say 1 week intervals on a specific day.

If so, which is the least work for you - a single or multiple files?

Replies: Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

@REP

f multiple chapters are submitted as a single file, can the chapters be separated into individual files and have the files posted at future dates at say 1 week intervals on a specific day.

No. The timer works on the whole submission. One submission, one date of availability for all that's submitted in that one submission. Want separate availability for separate chapters, then you need separate submission for each chapter.

Replies: REP

REP 🚫

@Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

Thanks.

Uther_Pendragon 🚫

@snekguy

The short answer, as others have told you, is "NO."

Even if staff did the work which is mostly automated, they would probably not appreciate having an author say: "This is too much work for me to do on my sory, so you do it."

Since you are rewriting stories, why don't you upload one revised story a day, doing one chapter by upload. If you use attached files and the same sort of connection that I have, you tell the software that you are going to attach N files. Then you punch a few buttons to attach each. I don't see where that is a difficult task. (All the chapters do end up coming on the same day, but you want that for a rewrite.)

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Formatting Advice

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