Text Box Formatting question (PUB 2007)

[Annie]

I am creating various text boxes for my webpage with borders on some of them.
Regardless if I center the text within the box or not, there is a large gap
of white space at the bottom. What can I do to fix this?

 

[DavidF]

Another poster was/is having the same issue. However I can't reproduce it.
My best guess is that it is either a formatting issue, or you have another
design element or perhaps code fragment box nearby that is impacting the
text box. What happens if you create just a plain text box with no special
formatting? Does it still do it? Are you using a table or bulleted list?
What if you open a Publisher template, and add a border to one of the text
boxes...do you still get the same effect? What happens if you move all the
nearby design elements off into the scratch area...does it still do it? You
can try this and use the undo command to move things back, or simply close
the file without saving the changes.

DavidF

 

[Justin]

I'm having the same problem, but WORSE, with Publisher 2003. I have designed
and done the layouts for everything in Publisher, but when I preview the web
page, it all moves around..

The text and the other objects (colour boxes, pictures, etc) lines up
vertically, completely different to how it is in my working files (in
publisher)..

It seems as though the text is the culprit that is changing itself and this,
then, in turn, causes everything else to go out of sync.. I have tried
changing to a different font, changing the line spacings, etc, but nothing
seems to work..

Help, please.. I'm pulling my hair out here..

 

[Mike Koewler]

Justin,

What browser are you using and what is its dpi setting? I've seen this
happen when people use 120 dpi instead of 96.

Mike

 

[Justin]

Hi Mike

I am using IE7 and I have checked that my display setting is on 96 dpi..
It seems as though my text formatting is going completely off when I convert
to web page view.. If I fill a text box (with a border) with text from the
top to the bottom, when I create a web page view, the box becoms half empty
with the text now only using the top half of the text box..

I'm also having problem with my navigation buttons where I have a text box
on top of a colour box.. The colous box remains where it is supposed to be
but the text moves up and is then no longer in the middle of the colour box..

?

 

[DavidF]

So, did you try the various suggestions in my post? Try each and answer as
to your results, and we will pursue this further. And if you can, post a
link to the problem page. It is a lot easier to help when we can see the
page, or when you answer the questions.

DavidF

 

[Justin]

Hi David..

Firstly, a question.. (Perhaps I am expecting too much of publisher) :
Should I be able to design the layout of my web site in publisher (as a web
publication) anf then convert it to a web site and expect it all to look
exactly the same (WYSIWYG) ?

You wrote : "What happens if you create just a plain text box with no
special formatting? Does it still do it?",and
"What if you open a Publisher template, and add a border to one of the text
boxes...do you still get the same effect?"

In reply : "I opened a new web page (not using a template) and created a
text box with a border and no formatting changes. Inserted text to fill the
text box. Converted to web page and the border (showing the actual text box
boundaries) is now only half full with loads of empty space below the lines
of text"

You wrote : "Are you using a table or bulleted list?

In reply : "no tables, but in other parts of the publication I am using a
bulleted list, but the problems I am having are irrespective of the bullets"

You wrote : "What happens if you move all the nearby design elements off
into the scratch area...does it still do it? "

In reply : "Yes, even if I move EVERYTHING off the page"


Thanks
Justin

 

[DavidF]

Justin,

Thanks for giving me more to work with...

In regards to WYSIWYG...yes, no, sometimes. How's that for a waffling
answer? Publisher is a DTP. As a DTP you have a lot of design and formatting
options, that do not translate to html. The Publisher html coding engine
does a pretty job of this in general, but it does choke on some print
formatting and design, and that is usually when you don't get WYSIWYG. But
this is not always just a limitation in Publisher, but is a limitation of
html, regardless of the tool used to create the html. Web media is different
than print media.

In your case, given that you have the problem even with a single text box
with border on a blank web page, I would guess that you are not using a web
font, and or you are using formatted text that won't convert exactly
WYSIWYG. In Pub 2003, click on your text box. What font are you using? Go to
Format > Font and in the font dialog make sure that the box under the font
name that says "show only web fonts" is checked. If the font you are using
is not one of these web fonts, select all the text in the text box and
change it to a web font. Resize your text box to fit the text, and do a web
page preview.

If that didn't fix the problem, how did you fill that text box with text?
Did you copy and paste from a Word doc, or perhaps a web page? If so, when
you are ready to paste, Edit > Paste Special and choose unformatted text,
and reformat as necessary in Publisher. Importing or pasting text formatted
in Word gives unpredictable results. The same is true if the text is html.

When you select a text box, this activates the Styles and Formatting toolbar
with Style, font and font size. Try making the Style "Normal". You can clear
the formatting if it is not "normal". Confirm that you are using a web font.
Try using an even number font size.

If you are tying to use word wrap around an image in your main publication,
don't. That hasn't been supported in a Pub web since Pub 2000.

If you now get close to WYSIWYG, you can fine tune the fit a bit by
selecting the text box, Format > Text box tab. Make sure that you have "Do
Not Autofit" checked. You can change the Text Box Margins to get closer to,
or further away from the sides of your text boxes...or the border if you are
using one.

One other tip on bulleted lists. I find that Pub messes these up in a web
publication. I have found that sometimes I can get better, more predictable
spacing if I use Shift + Enter instead of just Enter for a new line. Go to
View > Special Characters to see the difference...no new paragraph and the
web page preview will look different.

Try these things, and hopefully you will find the reason for your text not
WYSIWYG...

DavidF

 

[Justin]

Hi David..

Thanks so much for your time in trying to assist me..

I am using only 'web fonts' and have used only Comic Sans MS, but have used
different sizes.. I am not text wrapping around pictures and am using only
the 'normal' format style and even numbers for text size..

If I open a new web page and make a new text box with text written into this
box (I don't have the option of Paste Special), I have funny results when I
play around only with different fonts and different sizes..

If I do this with Comic size 12 (predominantly what I have used in my web
site), I get a perfectly filled text box, but as I change font types and
sizes within each type, I get some that work and some that don't. However, If
I relate this to my web site and select Comic 12 (which worked fine in the
test), it still goes all wonky in my web site.

I HAVE HOWEVER just found the problem (although, not consistent !!). I have
been using a line spacing of 1.25 in the text boxes and it appears as though
the html does not support this ?? If I re-set the line spacing to 1, then the
text boxes and pictures convert to WYSIWYG. Is there any other way to get the
text slightly more spaced out on the screen ?

The other thing that I have done is changed the page size to 1025 wide by
1500 high. Could this be affecting matters ?

Again, thanks for your help..
Justin

 

[DavidF]

Justin,

Line spacing...what you see is what you get, to my knowledge....depending on
which font you use. Sounds like this was your biggest issue.

Different fonts take different space when converted to html. Even the space
between the lines of text will appear different. Mixing your fonts in the
same text boxes will/can result in a different appearance in html view. You
just got to play with it.

Reference the formatting tips in this article: Tips and troubleshooting for
sending a publication page as an e-mail message:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/publisher/HP010390591033.aspx?pid=CH062524821033
This is in reference to email which is even more restrictive than a web
page, but it might give you an idea of what else to tweak or change to get
your text boxes to look better. There are things you can do in a web page
that you can't do in an email, so don't assume that the list of formatting
issues in this article applies to your web page. However, they could give
you an idea of what else you might change.

Your page size probably doesn't affect the text. I don't think there is any
need to make the page shorter than the default as Publisher will
automatically truncate the page after the last design element on a page when
you convert it to html, which gives you custom length pages. As per the
width...that is excessive in my opinion, and will result in some people
having to scroll horizontally, which should be avoided. But the width of a
page is a debatable subject, and has nothing to do with spacing issues you
have.

Don't use a master page in a web publication, by the way...

I had forgot about the line spacing issue. If you find anything else, please
post back for the benefit of others. Thanks.

DavidF