Re: [epub] Formating so lines break evenly.

["Dr.MANI Sivasubramanian, M.D." <sivaraj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

From: "Dr.MANI Sivasubramanian, M.D." <sivaraj@giasmd01.vsnl.net.in>

Hi Penny

You wrote:
> I format my newsletter in ezine assistant and 
> when I send it looks like
> nothing the way I formatted it. 
> I usually format at 55 chars and the above is the way it comes out.
> what is wrong?
> Penny

Here's an excerpt from my newly published e-book, E-ZINE
LAUNCH, that might help answer your question of why messages
look badly formatted despite using 55 character line lengths -
see Publisher Gaffes.

= = = = = = = = BEGIN EXCERPT = = = = = = = = = = 

6.1 	Line Length

If you type out an e-mail in a text editor like 
Notepad in one long line, and then cut-and-paste
this message into an e-mail and send it to your 
friends, each will see a different layout depending 
on their e-mail program.  

This is because each program is designed to 'break 
lines' (decide to stop and move the text to the next
line) at a specified length.  

Most programs break a line after 70 characters, 
including blank spaces.  What this means to you, 
the publisher, is that all the text after the 70th 
character will automatically be pushed to the next 
line. 

This may cause your e-zine to look awkward.  For 
example, here's how a paragraph may look on your 
reader's screen:

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = 

Hi.  Thank you for reading 
this e-zine, I hope you enjoy 
its automatic
ally being 
distributed to you, and find it 
helpful in your business or 
leisure ac
tivities.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = 

And that isn't all.  Some e-mail programs break 
lines after just 65 characters !  I've even heard 
of a few that break every 60 characters, but this 
is very uncommon.

To get around this constraint, you need to adopt a 
simple rule.  Limit the length of each line of your 
e-zine to 65 characters - maximum.

This does not mean writing in very short sentences.  
Instead, once you reach 65 characters, you insert a 
'hard return' or 'line break'.  This is done simply 
by pressing the ENTER key on your keyboard.

Now when your e-zine is displayed on the reader's 
screen, each line breaks exactly where you want it 
to - after 65 characters - instead of where the 
program's design tells it to.  You have now secured 
better control over the appearance of your e-zine 
across various e-mail programs.

A few more tips to avoid formatting glitches:

1. Try and avoid using word processing programs for 
creating e-zine content.  The lowly and humble NOTEPAD 
that is bundled with all Windows software is an ideal 
program to compose e-zines.

2. Always e-mail a copy of the completed e-zine to 
yourself first.  This helps in two ways:

* you can see how your e-zine will appear on an 
e-mail client like yours (if possible, view it in 
many different client programs)

* you can check for special formatting tags.  
To do this, use the SHOW HEADER option of your e-mail 
program to view the entire message header.   Look for 
a line that says:

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1       
OR
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit                   		 
OR
X-MIME-Autoconverted: from Quoted-printable to 8bit by
[sender-domain.com]

All of these are danger signals - it means your text 
contained some special tags or characters which your 
e-mail client has converted to standard text.

Instead, you should be happy if you see

charset="us-ascii"    
       
AND

Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit 
(or not see this line at all)

6.7	Publisher Gaffes

You have learnt of the vagaries your reader's e-mail 
programs impose on your e-zine.  

But there is an equally important limitation - the 
e-mail program that you use to send out your e-zine !

Here are two steps you can take to avoid formatting 
gaffes on your end.

1.	Send your e-zine out in PLAIN TEXT FORMAT only.  
Other options that your program might offer include 
rich text, HTML or both plain text and HTML.  

2.	Do not send out your e-zine with quoted-printable 
encoding.

3.	Ensure that your e-mail program does not wrap 
lines shorter than 65 characters.  This can happen 
when your own program is set to break lines at less 
than 65 characters.

6.7.1  	But How Do You Check On These Matters?

Many e-mail programs have a set of default settings.  
Some of them might be configured to send rich text or 
other forms of text, or to use encoding, or to wrap 
lines at a specific number of characters.  

To find out what your e-mail's default settings are and 
how to make changes to them, take a look at your user's 
manual. 

= = = = = = = = END EXCERPT = = = = = = = = =

Hope this helps


Dr.MANI Sivasubramanian, MD

E-ZINE LAUNCH ...the e-book to help you create, design and 
market your own profitable e-zine on the Internet
<http://www.drmani.com/business/ezinelaunch.htm>

Subscribe FREE to'The HEART BEAT' Health-E-Zine
http://www.drmani.com/heartbeat/subscribe.htm
mailto:subscribe@drmani.com


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