Sunday, March 06, 2011

Debugging font issue - Experiment #19

Okay, I think after 18 experiments I am finally ready to declare Mission Accomplished.
One last block quote.
That's all for now.
 

Debugging font issue - Experiment #18

Experiment #17 seems successful, so two separate delete operations it is.
 
Try another list:
  1. Bold
  2. Italics
  3. Bold italics
  4. No formatting
After the list.
 
Hmmm... Even with no newline after my signature line, it looks like lots of extra whitespace in the blog posts.
 

Debugging font issue - Experiment #17

Okay, experiment #16 failed, back to tiny text, suggesting that deleting both the WLM "original message" header and the original message text in one operation causes tint text.
 
In this experiment I deleted the same text, but in two separate delete operations.
 
I started with the sent message for experiment #15.
 

Debugging font issue - Experiment #16

Experiment #15 looked fine.
 
For this experiment I deleted all but the signature line in one operation.
This is supposed to be a block quote.
Try some italics and bold formatting.
 

Debugging font issue - Experiment #15

Experiment #14 was fine.
 
For this experiment I started by forwarding my previous sent message. First deleted only the WLM "original message" header, then I deleted the original message text itself, then added this new text.
 
Add a short list for good measure.
  1. X
  2. Y
  3. Z
After the list. Note: I did not format the list as a numbered list until I had first typed the text of the first line after the list to assure that this line would have normal paragraph formatting.
 
The end. I hope.
 
One final experiment: I deleted the newline at the end of my signature line since it looks like some extra white space was showing up in the blog post.
 

Debugging font issue - Experiment #14

Experiment #13 was fine other than that I forgot to add back my email link.
 
Deleted some text from a forward of my original sent message for experiment # 13. When I forward just a sent message, I first delete the "orginal message" header that WLM places before the original message text. I wonder if that messes up formatting for the first paragraph.
 
Now I add the un-numbered list:
  1. A
  2. B
  3. C – add some bold and italics formatting.
Line after the list.
 
 
 

Debugging font issue - Experiment #13

Oops, experiment #11 was not completely successful – the first paragraph had tiny text for some unknown reason. And experiment #12 was a disaster because I deleted all text but the signature line and started over, but forgot to round-trip between Plain Text and Rich Text first.
 
So, for this experiment I deleted all text but the signature line, went to plain text and then back to rich text, and then added this text.
 
Now I add the un-numbered list:
  1. A
  2. B
  3. C – add some bold and italics formatting.
Line after the list.
 
-- Jack Krupansky
 
 

Debugging font issue - Experiment #12

Experiment #11 was completely successful. I think the issue with numbered lists is that if you start a list and enter as a list and then tell WLM to un-number the blank entry after the last item, that messes up the font.
 
So, in this test I will create a list without numbers and explicitly tell WLM to number the selected items. Hopefully that will leave the formatting for text after the list intact.
 
Three-item list:
  1. A
  2. B – and try some bold and italics formatting as well.
  3. C
After the list. Is font size okay?
 
I sure hope this works.
 
 
 

Debugging font issue - Experiment #11

Experiment #10 worked quite well and all looks fine.
 
For this experiment, I cut out the numbered list, created a new list of items (unnumbered), then selected them and told WLM to number them.
 
Now, here is a revised numbered list, numbered in WLM:
  1. This is the new first item.
  2. This is the new second item.
  3. This is the new third item.
  4. This the the new fourth and last item.
After the item list. Note: There were no extra blank lines before or after the list in WLM.
 
Just trying a centered paragraph here.
 
Back to normal here.
This sentence is a separate paragraph, but without an extra blank line before it.
 
 
 

Debugging font issue - Experiment #10

Oops, in experiment #9 I mangled the list with an incorrect selection.
 
For this experiment, I round-tripped between "Plain text" and "Rich text" to clear up all formatting issues and then selected the list items to turn them back into a list. Generally, I wouldn't want to do that because it also clears italics and bolding.
 
Now, here is a numbered list, numbered in WLM:
  1. Item 1.
  2. Item 2.
  3. Item 3.
  4. Item 4.
After the item list. Note: There were no extra blank lines before or after the list in WLM.
 
Just trying a centered paragraph here.
 
Back to normal here.
This sentence is a separate paragraph, but without an extra blank line before it.
 
 
 

Debugging font issue - Experiment #9

Experiment #8 was mostly okay, except that it showed a problem I have seen before: after a numbered list, the font reverts to the tiny size problem.
 
Next, I'll send the same list, but use the "Clear Formatting" feature in WLM to remove formatting for the paragraphs after the list. Unlikely to help, but who knows. Actually, it changed more than just those selected paragraphs – it also changed the numbered list to a bullet list, so I changed it back to a numbered list. Now, lets see what happens.
 
Now, here is a numbered list, numbered in WLM:
  1. Item 1.
  • Item 2.
  • Item 3.
  • Item 4.
      After the item list. Note: There were no extra blank lines before or after the list in WLM.
      Just trying a centered paragraph here.
      Back to normal here.
      This sentence is a separate paragraph, but without an extra blank line before it.
       
    1. Debugging font issue - Experiment #8

      Experiment #7, block quote, seemed fine.
       
      Now, here is a numbered list, numbered in WLM:
      1. Item 1.
      2. Item 2.
      3. Item 3.
      4. Item 4.
      After the item list. Note: There were no extra blank lines before or after the list in WLM.
       
      Just trying a centered paragraph here.
       
      Back to normal here.
      This sentence is a separate paragraph, but without an extra blank line before it.
       

      Debugging font issue - Experiment #7

      Experiment #6 seemed fine, but when I went into HTML edit mode in the Blogger composition editor I saw TWELVE nested <div> levels! Very weird.
       
      Now, back working with the experiment #3.
       
      Just trying a block quote here, which is simply an indented paragraph in WLM:
      This is a block quote?
       
      Second line.
       
      Last line of block quote.
       
      After the block quote.
       

      Debugging font issue - Experiment #6

      Experiment #5 was a mistake – I hit "Send Later" which apparently sent my message immediately.
       
      Next experiment: Copy and Paste two paragraphs directly from my blog post to see how formatting is handled:
       
      But, when I go into the Blogger composition editor I see that it has a "Ltr" div and uses the Calibri font.
       
      This experiment is simply to see if I can reproduce decent results twice in a row.
       

      Debugging font issue - Experiment #5

      Experiment #4 gave predictable decent results. Now, I am looking around to see if I can go into HTML edit mode in Windows Live Mail. I could in OE, which is how I fixed the line spacing for OE posts, but I haven't been able to find an HTML edit mode in WLM, so far.
       

      Debugging font issue - Experiment #4

      Actually, experiment #3 gave reasonably decent results. The font and font size looked okay (or at least close enough) and the paragraph spacing seemed fine.
       
      But, when I go into the Blogger composition editor I see that it has a "Ltr" div and uses the Calibri font.
       
      This experiment is simply to see if I can reproduce decent results twice in a row.
       

      Debugging font issue - Experiment #3

      Second test gave poor results. Font was okay, but line breaks and some of the blank lines were messed up.
       
      For this experiment I took the same message and switched it to "Rich Text". I didn't change the font. I have extra blank lines to make it look right in the composition editor. And I added back the link for my name/email.
       

      Debugging font issue - Experiment #2

      Okay, that first test failed, but in a predictable manner that illustrates
      the font problem.

      In this second test I switched to "plain text". Just to see what happens.
      Unfortunately, it loses all formatting, including hyperlinks.

      I am curious to see what happens with the extra blank lines I added to make
      the paragraph spacing look right in the composition editor.

      -- Jack Krupansky

      Debugging font issue

      This is just a test post...

      I am trying to debug a font problem with my blogs. I post to all of my blogs by sending email from my PC. I had figured out how to set the font so that it would take on the default font for the blog back when I was sending from Microsoft Outlook Express on Windows XP, but since I upgraded to Windows Live Mail (successor to OE) on Windows 7, the font gets messed up. The worst part of it is that the font size becomes very tiny, almost unreadable, even though it looks fine in the email composition editor. Sure, I can manually correct the font in the Blogger composition editor, but that's extra work. So, now I am about to try some experiments to see if I can figure out some Windows Live Mail "magic" to fix these font problems. I will leave each of these posts unchanged for future reference about what does or doesn't work.

      So, let the tests begin...

      This initial post is a forward of a post that worked back in April 2010 on my old machine. In other words, this is what used to work before I upgraded in late May 2010.

      Is this too tiny to read?

      BTW, in WLM the mail composition editor says that this is 12-point Calibri. Actually, in OE is said that it was Times New Roman, the default, which worked with OE, probably because it did not set the font in the message since it was the default.

      Also, I have a "div" for each paragraph, set in OE, which has the effect of making each paragraph a "web-style" paragraph with a blank line after it, because that is the style used in the blogs.

      -- Jack Krupansky