There are a few reasons why you use an web editor to write material for your website and don't rely on using an ordinary text package like Microsoft Word. As one example, a package like Word will place its own formatting onto your writing which can mess up things when you go to insert it into your website. If you have to use Word then Save As "Rich Text" (which will get rid of some of the formatting you don't want) before you Paste it into your site. Some people paste their Word writings into a Web Editor and then paste that into their website. I am writing as a beginner in html and I feel that is still a useful viewpoint to write from e.g. I genuinely know the difficulties that other beginners suffer in getting their writings published onto their website. As regards multi-voice poetry, there seems to be two ways of adding your writings to your website. One is to use pre tags and monospace fonts. The other is to use html and possibly CSS and make up from two to six columns of text (using Div tags). You can cut and paste the html structure from one of my previous articles in WordPress. If you are good at html and CSS then you can probably make up the html structure yourself. The html would be written in an html editor. As would the pre tags variant. HTML does not recognise more than one white space at a time. It does not recognise more than one line break at a time. And it doesn't recognise tabs. Using preformatted Text: When you use the <pre> tag before a piece of writing and a </pre> after the end, then you will have a piece of writing where all the white spaces and line breaks are kept. You need to use a mono spaced Font because ordinary Fonts have different widths for different letters and for different punctuation. If you use a monospaced Font every space, letter, and punctuation mark will be the same width. This is what you need. Courier is not an attractive font and I use Lucida Console (which I am using just now). But there are many monospaced fonts to choose from (Including a Courier New, and Andalel Mono). So you would have-

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<head>

<title>usingpretags</title>

</head>

<body>

<pre>

your text here

</pre>

</body>

</html>

Another difficulty -for me- with using code is that I am doing two things with my multi-voice websites. The first is to show my multi-voice poems to you. The second is to teach you how to place your own multi-voice poems onto your own website. Here I show you the code that I use to prepare my poems for my site. However, putting code onto a site means the site tries to turn the code into a poem. To stop this and let you see the code behind the poem-the code has to be "wrapped" in a particular type of protective code that will stop it being changed from html (or CSS). When downloading a web editor make sure you do so from a trusted site. I have used the first Notepad (version 1) but found it not at all user friendly. I usually use Microsoft Expression Web 4. This is user friendly and gives you an Edit html mode and a Design mode (which shows you what it thinks a Browser will display). There is also a Preview Browser mode which allows you to take the code into a browser to check it more accurately than in Design mode. I believe that this package is now free for Download. Dreamweaver is the best known web editor package. It is similar in aims to Microsoft Expression Web 4. I have not tried it and cannot comment on it. It is not free. To try out other packages (to know which to recommend), I Googled "freeware web editor" and "free html editor". I got about thirty names. Most were not free and were only on limited trial offer. Some of those that remained are partial versions of full price packages (which obviously the makers want you to buy). I never downloaded any that were for expert web Developers. I tried out these eleven that were free and that I could easily download (I had trouble downloading some others but that may have simply been my lack of expertise): NoteTab Light, Website X5 Free, PageBreeze 5, Lauyan TOWeb V6, TextMorph28, WDL Website Builder 4, Notepad2, Alleycode HTML Editor, Blue Griffon, Coffee Cup Free HTML Editor, and EditPad Lite 7 (I wrote the main part of the artcile using EditPad Lite 7,than patsed this into CoffeeCup Free html editor to re-do in html). It is worth at least trying out a Free Text Editor instead of using Microsoft Word. Here is a beginner’s guide to five free Text Editors designed for writing for the Web (I could not say that any were, excellent): Edit Pad lite 7: Very basic. Has a preview in browser mode (but no html mode). You write text that goes straight into your website. There is no spell check though. Text Morph: Very basic. Can also show HTML in html VIEW mode. But you cannot edit the html. Text goes straight into your website. Not user friendly. Note Tab light: Very basic. Not user friendly. Lauyan TOWEB: Is a text editor but is mainly for making complete websites. Worth trying if you are hosting your site as well as writing for it. Not for me. Incomedia Website X5 Free: A text editor as part of a build an entire website package. Extremely basic. Not for me. Here are six html editors. I recommend that you if at all possible try to learn how to use an html editor! A few seem excellent but need to be tried out by you: Notpad 2: Not user friendly. Not for me. I think this is aimed at experts. Pagebreeze 5: Looks good. Has a visual WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) view and html editor. Also has a preview browser view. Blue Griffon: Looks good. Has a WYSIWYG view mode and an html editor Coffee Cup Free HTML Editor: Looks good. Has a split preview mode (to see html code and WYSIWYG). Can preview in browser. WDL Website builder 4: Looks good. Has an html code view and a WYSIWYG view. Has a preview in browser view. Alleycode HTML Editor: Looks ok. A bit basic. Has a split preview mode (to see html code and WYSIWYG). Also has a preview browser view. When I first started to try putting multi-voice poetry into my WordPress site I tried the Visual Editor and used Microsoft Word as a text editor. This took a great deal of time and was never completely accurate. Eventually my WordPress site could take up to four columns using html coding given in a previous article on my WordPress site. But WordPress could not cope with five or six columns where the text was very small. My Blogger website has never failed to correctly take the html I have entered into that site. I recommend that you pick one of the four best HTML free editors mentioned above. Get to know how to use it. You might even enjoy using it. I use WordPress and Blogger for my multi-voice writings. WordPress does not seem to suit all types of multi-voice. Also, I have read (on a poetry blog) that Blogger may be on the way out. I hope this is not so! But it means that I have had to look for another free website host. Blogger has no ads. So far I have had few ads on WordPress. I couldn't find a new website without the possibility of ads being there at some point. Again, a couple of times I had thought I had found a free website host only for my account to change from Free to Premium (paid) meaning I had to cancel that site. The most suitable free site looks good though. I have started a multi-voice site on, Yola. It is Free and you have a Free mark on your site which is good. I will keep you updated.




 

Ashby McGowan

Animal rights and human rights multi-voice poet

SUICIDE

(I use Buddhist meditation to help me survive. I also recommend reading diligently, “Overcoming anxiety without fighting”, by Dr Tim Cantopher)

 

Life is not fair.

Honestly,

The hardest thing,

Or things, is

Forgiving myself for making mistakes

And moving on

Not feeling hurt

Living life is so hard

So I work at it

Learning how to move on

And try to just live life

I have my good points

In…

View On WordPress

Posted 234 weeks ago

FIVE BUDDHIST POEMS

FIVE SHORT POEMS

 

A FEAR OF FLOWERS

Beneath another bright blue sky

So high

Hedges and hills, I turned away from

For all my life, I had feared wild flowers

Plastic is so safe

Yet one day I could not escape

A nearby cherry tree exploded

The speeding petal did not pierce my skin

It was soft

 

OPEN

Close your eyes

Open your eyes

Open…

 

IMAGINING

When I was a swift, I made love in the…

View On WordPress

Posted 236 weeks ago

THE LIBRARIAN

THE LIBRARIAN

If you asked me if I enjoyed being a Librarian… Well, it’s not a question I could answer. I have always been one: “Born a Librarian and die a Librarian”. As the old saying goes.
The law states that each adult must come to me on or about their eighteenth birthday and I will give them a book to read. One that is appropriate for them. I listen to all their dreams and fantasies. To all…

View On WordPress

Posted 285 weeks ago

AND OHH, WHAT IS THAT PECULIAR TASTE?

AND OHH, WHAT IS THAT PECULIAR TASTE?

AND OHH, WHAT IS THAT PECULIAR TASTE?

 

Your eyes can almost see past the white wine on your table

Almost see the fish gasping for life in the huge net

But not quite

Your nose can almost detect that very particular smell of sheep, as they travel up the slaughter line

The shit and the piss. The pain and the fear.

But your senses re-direct

Perhaps your mind has once see a cow feeding in a…

View On WordPress

Posted 293 weeks ago

SPYCOP

I have two loves and each of them is true

Each creature I care for,

And I care for you too

Your smile sets me free,

And that special way you look at me, only me.

You love me true,

All that I know, about you

True was your love and sharp was your mind

I never dreamed you would leave me behind

My taxes paid for you to search my brain

How can I ever love again?

I was just a SPYCOP infiltration

No…

View On WordPress

Posted 299 weeks ago

THE BIG SIGN

THE BIG SIGN

Many great thinkers believe that we have only a 50/50 chance of surviving the next 50 years. I think we need to make provision for the strong possibility that none of us will be here in 50 years’ time. This is called, Forward Planning. I do not think many forward thinkers doubt this 50/50 figure. If we accept it then we need to do the next logical thing.

I am being totally genuine…

View On WordPress

Posted 322 weeks ago

Saying “Hello” to a sheep

 

(My first time at a Save Movement event)

http://thesavemovement.org/

 

Your fate is not described in films and books

No tale of, The knife. No painting of, The hooks

You and your friends that you hold so dear

Jump over each other in total fear

So what do I say to you, stranger,

When I know that you are in danger?

Your eyes stare in terror at me

And I know you just want to be free

View On WordPress

Posted 328 weeks ago

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry (Part 6)

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry (Part 6)

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry (Part 6)

Chapter 12.

NORMAL POEMS. I do write “normal” poems. Often these are poems influenced by Haiku and by Buddhism. My favourite poet for meaning, is K. Issa. And for listening to the sounds created, is Dylan Thomas (although Richard Burton read Dylan Thomas much better than Dylan Thomas read Dylan Thomas).

The United Nations has sent one…

View On WordPress

Posted 333 weeks ago

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry (part 5)

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry (part 5)

Chapter 11.

MULTI-VOICE POETRY

I am a School Technician who, twenty years ago, started to write short stories and Scottish History articles that I had researched myself. Over the years, I managed to make a couple of important discoveries relating to Sir William Wallace (detailed in, The Double Tressure, 1999, No. 22).

At the school that I used to work in, I organised an Amnesty UK Human…

View On WordPress

Posted 333 weeks ago

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry (Part 4)

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry (Part 4)

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry (Part 4)

 

Chapter 8.

METRE

I am no expert in rhythms that are set out for the poet to work within-like Iambic Pentameter. Indeed I think it must be very hard to try to write a good poem and keep to the restrictions of the form at the same time. I know that great poets in the past have used this kind of set structure but to me it is very limiting.…

View On WordPress

Posted 333 weeks ago

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry (part 3)

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry (part 3)

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry (part 3)

Chapter 6.

Performance Poetry

A lot of people write poetry about important events in their life. Often this may be useful to them as it allows them to deal with e.g. bad memories. But often this type of poem is not , for others, especially interesting to listen to. Unless it has a new twist to it.

Take your time when you perform. You must…

View On WordPress

Posted 333 weeks ago

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry

Chapter 3 Haiku.

I work in a Secondary School (although I am a Science Technician, I have helped out with poetry events) and know how much pupils in English Classes enjoy writing Haiku. I think they prefer the haiku to every other type of poem. Perhaps, this is partly because it is such a short type of poem. Pupils spend ten minutes writing one.…

View On WordPress

Posted 334 weeks ago

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry

Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry

(This was part of a book I was writing and I enclose the few chapters I have finished. I will post part of it every few days

No publisher took it on. Though a few were interested. So, I will share my knowledge.)

Chapter 1 Important words

Chapter 2 Don’t feel guilty (that you write poems)

Chapter 3 Haiku

Chapter 4 Telling a story from different…

View On WordPress

Posted 334 weeks ago

Two haiku style poems

Two haiku style poems

View On WordPress

Posted 339 weeks ago

REWILDING

Sheep on the hill, silent, as the
Day, dark falling
Filling the pools is the swift rain – cruel and nourishing – high hill
Saturating
Into the night

With the morn,
Hordes of clegs and midges gorge themselves on the sheep
And the humans, they too shall bleed them

No sheep on the hill. No sharp hooves to break up the soil,
Make to flood. Turn to mud.
No hungry teeth eating fresh saplings. So Ash and…

View On WordPress

Posted 345 weeks ago

An interactive nature poem

An interactive nature poem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx_bPFGeY68

View On WordPress

Posted 349 weeks ago


Translate This Page