How can I keep my formatting

[RedHenPress]

I'm trying to format of book of poetry with all the weird spacing/indents and what not but every time I go to a new chapter page Sigil undoes my formatting. Do I have to save after every change I make?

[Toxaris]

You are using a stylesheet I hope? Just be sure you include the stylesheet in the new chapter.

[RedHenPress]

I am using a style sheet, though I'm new at this and it's very possible I'm doing it incorrectly. The font and alignment and all that is good. My problem is that some of the poems call for extra spaces between only two words or something. And when I indent with the TAB key it gets undone when I go to a new chapter page

[theducks]

Originally Posted by RedHenPress

I am using a style sheet, though I'm new at this and it's very possible I'm doing it incorrectly. The font and alignment and all that is good. My problem is that some of the poems call for extra spaces between only two words or something. And when I indent with the TAB key it gets undone when I go to a new chapter page

Tab is not the way to indent visible HTML (tabs in code only work for codeview)
text-indent: 4em; (4M's wide of the current font) in the CSS

Multiple blanks (simple spaces) get rendered as ONE . non-breaking spaces (& nbsp usually survive. code: & #160) <remove the space in codes>

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by RedHenPress

I am using a style sheet, though I'm new at this and it's very possible I'm doing it incorrectly. The font and alignment and all that is good. My problem is that some of the poems call for extra spaces between only two words or something. And when I indent with the TAB key it gets undone when I go to a new chapter page

If you are trying to do what is referred to as "visual poetry," I hate to tell you, without trying to be Debbie Downer, you are likely in for a major disappointment. eBooks don't, generally speaking, have columns or "tabs" that you can use for spacing. If you type space-space-space, only a single space will display. Tabs in HTML don't work (not really). To do visual spacing, in poetry, you're likely going to have to use tables...and that gets into a whole other issue, as tables have their own problems.

Moreover, if you use nbsp's, as mentioned by Ducky, the devices upon which you view them will see the preceding word and the following word, and all those spaces, as a single word...and are highly likely to wrap before the first word.

eBooks don't have the type of precise vertical and horizontal alignment that print layout affords. If the book is your own, you may wish to embrace the idea of laying it out differently; if you're doing layout for a press or client, you may need to have the "come-to-Jesus" talk with them about the realities of poetry in ebooks. If the poetry is very heavily visual, you may be stuck using images of the text, rather than actual text, IF the poet can't be moved off the layout.

Good luck to you.

Hitch