Can you get older versions of Word for free?

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Graham

You set Scrivener aside earlier because it had a lot of stuff that you didn't think you'd need, but this is a good example of some of that stuff. Scrivener will automatically insert em-dashes when you type -- (two normal dashes) and will enter curly quotes and apostrophes correctly. What's more you can press a hotkey to update a document automatically to switch between curly and straight quotes.

You can also set your compile preferences to switch between straight and curly quotes and em- and normal dashes, so that for some purposes you can export with them and for others without.

Graham

Graham, Scrivener sounded good. It just sounded like much more than I needed. But you're convincing me it might be good for me, and I'm going to check it out. Thanks very much.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by crich70

You might also try over at: http://www.giveawayoftheday.com
They change what is offered on a daily basis so there is always a new program being offered. One time they offered Liquid Story Binder for example. They work with the publisher of the software to offer the given program for free for one day.

I went there. Definitely a cool site. Book marked it. Appreciate it.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

There is no need to enter HTML tags directly in Word. I understand that you already work with styles, that is great. If you use my macro to create clean HTML in Word, you can retain those styles (names though, not the stylesheet). Clean HTML is produced and saved as UTF-8. It can be imported directly into Sigil if you want.
I am not quite sure if it works with Word 2003, but it definitely works with Word 2007/2010/2013. The ribbons look strange in the beginning, but they work quite well after some getting used to.

Thanks Toxaris. Your macro sound great and I'm just dying to use it. (I hear nothing but good things about it.) But I do have Word 2003 (I'm feeling like a real dinosaur here). Maybe some day! Thanks for the feedback.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I was actually going to mention the Office "ribbon" as a reason to consider staying with your 2003 version until you really have to switch.

It's hard to say - maybe for people new to Office the ribbons are wonderful. But if you already know exactly where everything you use is on the menu and toolbar, I think you'll go crazy trying to figure out where it was moved to on the screen-space-stealing ribbons.

If I didn't have to use the new Office products at work, I would still be using 2003.

It seems there's just too many complications with hanging on to it. (I used 2010 and wasn't thrilled at all.) Thanks for the input.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by MickiTee

Gregg

Read this discussion with interest.

I have one more option for you if you don't mind spending a little money. There's an product called Jutoh - http://www.jutoh.com which may solve all your problems. The user interface is a word processor similar to Word XP or OO/LO. You just format your text as you would in MS Word including the use of styles. Its great advantage is that you can create output in many formats including one specifically for SmashWords and MOBI which requires an add-on.

There's a free trial so why not give it a go? There's even a free ebook, written by the developer, which guides you through the process of creating ebooks in the various formats.

Micki

Thanks Micki.

I know of a formatter who swears by Jutoh as a word proccesor. But I've also heard it's not so great as a word processor. I really don't know enough (obviously) to comment intelligently about it. I'm going to check it out. Thanks for passing it along (and thanks for the link).

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Jellby

I'm talking about the character map in Windows itself, which you can use for any application (but you probably have to copy-paste)



Sure, that's what I meant. I can do it for linux (I designed the layout I'm using now, including many "weird" symbols like ŋ, ×, ǐ, ⅝, Ŧ, «... which I can type directly with some AltGr combinations). For Windows I guess it can be done, but maybe you need some special software, and it can break at any time with some update.

Another idea: you could use a real text editor (not a word processor), which allows you to define custom keys, macros, etc. Something like vim, emacs, ultraedit or notepad++ (I guess, I only really know one of them).

Thanks. I found the character map. The "help" wouldn't kick in but it looks cool. I've got notepad++. I've never considered composing on it. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for getting back to me.

[Toxaris]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Thanks Toxaris. Your macro sound great and I'm just dying to use it. (I hear nothing but good things about it.) But I do have Word 2003 (I'm feeling like a real dinosaur here). Maybe some day! Thanks for the feedback.

Oh, you got me wrong. It might work, I just didn't test with it. Normally I would say that it should work.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

And shouldn't one of you smart guys just figure out how to make a single em-dash key?

You can insert an em-dash in Word 2003 by pressing Alt and Ctrl together at the same time as the - on the number keypad.

http://www.uwec.edu/help/Word03/symbol.htm

If you want to create an even shorter shortcut, see the following document which explains how to assign a new shortcut to an existing symbol.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2262414_shor...mbol-word.html

Graham

[meme]

You can also define Clips for your special characters and show the Clip toolbar so that you can just click a button with ⅝ on it to insert it, or use the Clip shortcuts. Lots of ways already available for you to make it easier

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

And yeah, you're right the mdashes shouldn't be too much of a problem. Straight quotes and straight apostrophes will be more difficult. Any ideas on how to handle those?

I personally just keep a few tabs open in Firefox/whatever browser, and then copy/paste into Sigil.

I use this site to look up unicode symbols when needed:

http://www.fileformat.info/info/unic...preview=entity

Or you could always look it up on Wikipedia (and also copy/paste). For example, here is the Greek Alphabet:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_alphabet

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

And I couldn't find how to do saved searches. Can you clue me in where I might find that?

In Sigil, click on Tools - Saved Searches. It is about 5/6 of the way down the Tools Menu.

As a side note, did you know that you could do multiple quotes in one post? It would help make this thread much cleaner instead of single posts for a reply to every person.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

Oh, you got me wrong. It might work, I just didn't test with it. Normally I would say that it should work.

Cool Toxaris. Ahhhh. Thanks.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Graham

You can insert an em-dash in Word 2003 by pressing Alt and Ctrl together at the same time as the - on the number keypad.

http://www.uwec.edu/help/Word03/symbol.htm

If you want to create an even shorter shortcut, see the following document which explains how to assign a new shortcut to an existing symbol.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2262414_shor...mbol-word.html

Graham

I did the latter one. Really cool. Thanks a lot!

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by meme

You can also define Clips for your special characters and show the Clip toolbar so that you can just click a button with ⅝ on it to insert it, or use the Clip shortcuts. Lots of ways already available for you to make it easier

Yeah, I've got to take some time to learn how to take advantage of those clips. I've heard they're a HUGE timesaver.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Tex2002ans

I personally just keep a few tabs open in Firefox/whatever browser, and then copy/paste into Sigil.

I use this site to look up unicode symbols when needed:

http://www.fileformat.info/info/unic...preview=entity

Or you could always look it up on Wikipedia (and also copy/paste). For example, here is the Greek Alphabet:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_alphabet


In Sigil, click on Tools - Saved Searches. It is about 5/6 of the way down the Tools Menu.

As a side note, did you know that you could do multiple quotes in one post? It would help make this thread much cleaner instead of single posts for a reply to every person.

Tex,

I went to that first link (the unicode character search). It was cool. I entered ellipsis and em dash in the query box and it gave me all these U+2012 or whatever. What are all those U numbers for?

And thanks for the Greek alphabet.

And thanks for the saved searches info. Boy, is that impressive-looking. I am going to be doing some serious experimentation with that.

Lastly. How do I do the multiple quote thing (in a way that keeps things straight)? And are people going to know I wrote them if I do three or four quotes in one post? (I'm all for keeping the thread cleaner--and I get tired of seeing my picture so much!)

Thanks man.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Yeah, I've got to take some time to learn how to take advantage of those clips. I've heard they're a HUGE timesaver.

Do take the time.
There are 2 basic types I commonly use:

1) The basic Paste it in.
I created Groups; (for those not on the 'Clips bar', which nee to be un-grouped and first on the list)

2) Wrap the selected text. (useful in CV for predefined styling classes)

Look at (and use/edit) the samples.

I have a few of my common CSS entries in my CSS Group

I attached MY current CLIPS version as a sample
Remove the TXT from the end (MR does not allow ini files ),
Run Sigil
Edit: Preferences: (use the button to open the location). Quit Sigil
Rename (or save somplace) the original clips.ini file, then paste my version. Have fun. if you don't like mine (my feelings won't be hurt), Bin it and restore the original