ORIGINAL: Lokasenna
Care to post a how-to, witpqs (edit: on "templating" the colors/formatting, I mean)? Or do you just have a blank skeleton post sitting around? I'd forgotten about Notepad++, as I haven't done any coding for a couple of years.
I use Firefox. It's never lost a post here. I actually hate it when sites go nuclear with security and forms because it prevents the browser from retaining the information after I push 'submit', and if the connection hangs (seemingly common on such sites) I have to do it all over again.
Sure - no coding required. In fact it saves me time on editing my AAR posts because it always has the same colors and sections I use at the top. The rest of my AAR is just free form (I do use the forum markup for things like quoting combat reports, I think it makes it easier to read the AAR).
Start writing a post (using the forums reply, I mean). Write it the way you want it - colors, making dates bold, or whatever you want it to look like. Once you have it the way you want it, just select everything (control-A will do that), and copy it (control-C). Now open up a new text file on your PC. Paste everything inside it (control-V). Save the file (control-S usually). Now you can delete the part that is meant only for a specific post, leaving only the stuff that you need for the next post (tomorrow's post!).
Skip back up in this thread and look at the pic I posted. That is the skeleton ready to go for my next AAR post. What I do is this:
1) open (using Notepad++, which is pictured) the template for that day;
2) write in the entry as I process the turn, saving periodically;
3) when done, spell check and save;
4) copy everything (control-A then control-C);
5) go to the forum and 'reply' to my AAR thread, paste in everything (control-V), upload the pic to embed (I include a pic with each turn's AAR post) and submit the post;
6) go back to Notepad++ and do a 'save as' (I use the menu) to save as the next turn's date;
7) change the date to reflect the next turn;
8) delete whatever was for the turn just finished, leaving only the skeleton for the next turn;
9) save the file (control-S), and exit.
Obviously I could show this in fewer steps, I just want to be clear. It's very easy, and overall it takes less typing and time than entering all the formatting into the forum post each time.
BTW, I only save the posts temporarily on my hard drive to guard against another forum data loss. I keep a few days back, once in a while deleting any older than that.
Edit to add: You don't need Notepad++, any text editor will do. The default Windows Notepad works just fine. I've simply found Notepad++ to be a better editor. For example, I open up the combat, operations, and events reports in separate tabs. That makes it really easy to cut and paste combats and whatnot into the AAR post.
