Author Topic: Max chars limit (5500). My current draft is around 12000... Any pointers please?  (Read 3108 times)

Offline JeremyWilshere

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Hello...

I have been working for days on what I was hoping would be my first post to the WW1 sub-forum. My draft is currently at around 12000 chars. the limit is apparently 5500 chars. Should I break my post into 4- say (I have 4 Header1 type sections in my original GoogleDocs draft...)? Will I be able to post 3 sections as replies to my first post?

Oh, I see an opportunity to practise some Bulletin Board Code syntax  ::). Here's my proposed  structure (assuming that the 5500 upper bound is strictly enforced):
  • s1
  • s2 as reply to s1
  • s3 as reply to s1
  • s4 as reply to s1
As a newbie, I am not able to message WW1 forum mods millymcb + scrimnet to ask them directly...

Or alternatively should I all hope abandon?

Many thanks for any suggestions...
Jeremy


Offline JeremyWilshere

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Re: Max chars limit (5500). My current draft is around 12000... Any pointers please?
« Reply #1 on: Thursday 02 April 15 17:39 BST (UK) »
Duh
should have posted in
"How to Use RootsChat (Please don't post requests here)"
Oh well...

Offline Berlin-Bob

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Re: Max chars limit (5500). My current draft is around 12000... Any pointers please?
« Reply #2 on: Thursday 02 April 15 17:41 BST (UK) »
Hi Jeremy,

Welcome to RootsChat :)

12000 characters sounds like you want to tell a story. Even 5500 characters are more than enough for the usual queries.

It's better to start off with just enough facts to give the background for your query.

regards,
Bob

ps I've moved your post to the "How to use ..." board :)
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Offline km1971

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Make it too big and no one will read it. What we like is a few obvious questions, not the first chapter of your family history - assuming you are asking a question rather than posting something in Resources. Then doing replies to your first post with get all parts in a line.

If you are asking questions, about something you have found on either Ancestry or Findmypast then you should post the link to it. Date and place of birth are always useful. If there is a transcription error on Ancestry or FindMyPast then the error is needed, and the spelling used by the army is needed, not what appears on his birth certificate.

Ken


Offline JeremyWilshere

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Thanks for your pointers both Bob and Ken...

The rub of the matter is certainly a simple question "anybody know the whereabouts of the diary of X, killed one hundred years ago?". The problem is X had massive responsibilities in a situation that was difficult enough already. I have to be maximally sure I cover his back as best I can.

X came from Marlborough, Wilts. That's why I had always had RootsChat in mind as the place to launch. I will not bring anything new to the subject. However researchers in the past have already been on the quest for this diary and there are plenty of allusions in the specialized military literature to X. I just wanted to spell out those facts in a neutral objective way perhaps to discourage people from leaping to conclusions too quickly. At the same time, the descendants of X might be very reluctant to let his name get dragged in the mud. We have no contact. I need to be very tactful. This is why I am still intent on a multi-page account.

Berlin-Bob's reply in particular gave me a wake-up call and made me realise I need to figure out how to create a blog/ web-site specially for this query. My target audience is thus anybody who actively types in "X" into a search engine. I just need to feed those Webbots properly.

Shame really I had half got used to Bulletin Board markup language, much simpler than the whole CSS/ HTML thing against which I am fighting now at Wordpress and Blogger. For the moment I have to switch brains and go technical.

Gallipoli100 is fast approaching. The clock is ticking. Time to study my Emacs editor manual.

Thanks for all your trouble in moderating an excellent web-site,
Jeremy