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Help, Please


bumblingbs

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I'm having trouble submitting a cache, and I am extremely computer skill challenged.

The cache is a puzzle cache, and the puzzle involves letters, with spaces between them. The letters are important, and the spaces are important.

xx x x x xx along those lines.

When I submitted the cache, the letters all smushed together and looked like this:

xxxxxx

I spoke with my local approver, and she said that she has had the same problem with spacing, and that I would need to create a jpg file, which would copy the puzzle in the way that I wanted to present it.

Of course I did not know what a jpg file is, and have had a tough time slogging through it, but finally, success! The image is uploaded to the cache page.

Now, there are two problems.

The first is that what I have now is a link near the bottom of the page, and I have no idea how to insert this into the body of the text of the cache description.

The other problem is this~There are two computers in my household--an old one and a really old one. I did all the work with this file and upload on the old one, and when I use that computer to look at the link on that computer, the letters look a little smeary. They did not in the original file, just on the geocaching.com link.

Oddly, on the really old computer they look fine.

I would sure appreciate some help, and remember to use really easy words, because I am in fact a Bumbling B.

Edited by bumblingbs
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you need a normal space between the img and src= parts.

It should look like <img src=

 

When you put lettering in a JPG picture, it ends up being compressed and therefore looks a little blurry.

 

Try this. If you want xx and then two spaces and then x and then three spaces and then xxx, type:

 

xx  x   xxx

 

Also, some people will use an underscore (_) instead of a space.

Edited by DustyJacket
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Well, the   sure did the trick. I'll go back and try inserting the image again, but I'll probably go with the re-type, because the puzzle is hard enough to look at without it being blurry. And I did try doing it first with .'s to hold the empty spaces, then with _'s but I thought they also made it too confusing to look at. Mercy, it is going to take forever to type this one out-little did I know when I started, that this was going to be my life's work. Hope somebody enjoys the puzzle.....Thanks to all of you for your help!!!!

Edited by bumblingbs
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Uh-oh, I have new problems!

The   actually didn't work out. The letters need to line up in columns as well as rows, so I'm guessing that the font used does not hold the same size space for the letter c as it does for a hard space.

So, I decided to give up, and insert the fuzzy image.

But when I did THAT, all I got was a white box with an X in it.

What's wrong, and how do I solve it?

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For the font thing you are stuck using a non proportional font like Courier. Each 'character' uses the same amount of space and so you can line up letters.

 

X_I_O

_X_X_

 

That was a test to see if the forum version of Courier was non-proportional. There are versions of courier that are proportional in addition the the legacy font that isn't which is the one you need. Check out a system font. Most computers have it because it's a legacy need that exists for reasons like yours.

 

Edit, added comment on font.

Edited by Renegade Knight
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Yes, when I created the text file I used Lucida console font; but I don't see how to change fonts on the cache submission page. I don't even have fonts on my toolbar unless I'm using something like Word or my e-mail program. The default font on the cache submission page doesn't work. Or actually, it does work on the page I get to preview, but when it's submitted and posted as others would view it, it's changed.

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Start your puzzle part with:

 

<font face="courier" size="3">

 

and after your puzzle:

 

</font>

 

You can substitute 1 through 7 for the size, and also change the font face to something more generic.

 

I recommend going to www.e-pixs.com or some other place to learn HTML and that has a practice board for you to play with.

Edited by DustyJacket
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I have some free time this evening. If you want to e-mail me the details of the puzzle I'm willing to create the graphic that it sounds like you need. It's no real work for me (since I have the tools, the background, and the free time) and it may work out better for you.

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Another approach, also using HTML, is to use the <pre> tag (stands for pre-formatted). Then anything you type will appear exactly as you type it, in a monospaced font (courier). So you type:

 

<pre>

X X X X

XX XX

</pre>

 

And it comes out

 

X X X X

XX XX

 

...no need to specify line breaks or anything. What you type is what you get.

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With so many suggestions bouncing around, I'm curious which one you used that worked for you? ;)

 

IMO the <pre> tag suggestion is the easiest and best solution. One thing you'll find, though, is the text will be rather small. That can be fixed like this:

 

<pre><font size="2">

pre-formatted text here

</font></pre>

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Hemlock,

Yes, in the end it was the <pre> I used, although I learned a lot from the other answers as well. And yes, the text was too small, but I was willing to live with that. I've fixed it now, with <font size="2">.

This cache isn't going to be active until next week, when it is unleashed on Port Townsend as one of 16 in the Sweet 16 series, but I'll be listing names with a credit and thank you for technical support!

Karen

Bumbling B's

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