Frequently Asked Questions

Editing Pages

While GNNpress attempts to provide a word-processor-like interface  for writing Web pages, maintaining compliance with the HTML has forced us to create an interface which differs from most word processors in several ways. Here are some common questions and answers dealing with page editing:

How can I insert multiple spaces?

HTML treats any amount of white space as a single space. If you want to insert multiple spaces, you can either use a "preformatted paragraph" or you can insert non-breaking space characters. In addition, you can set an option in the General Preferences menu which will cause GNNpress to insert non-breaking spaces automatically when you use multiple spaces.

I just copied a paragraph of formatted text, and when I pasted it, the formatting was gone. What's going on?

In some word processors, if you want to grab paragraph formatting when copying a selection into the clipboard, you must grab the newline at the end of the paragraph. In GNNpress, you must grab the newline at the beginning of the paragraph. (In HTML the preceding newline often specifies displayable information about the next paragraph, and so refers more to the paragraph following it than the one preceding it.)

Why can't I select the bullets or numbers in front of my list items?

These are not characters which may be selected. Think of them as part of the newline which separates paragraphs or list items - the only way you can manipulate them is to manipulate the newline as well. Thus you may not select or delete the bullets without selecting or deleting the newline.

Why does GNNpress rearrange the HTML files I have written by hand?

• GNNpress assumes that formating in your source file is irrelevant: the important part is the formating that shows on the screen, not what you see in the raw HTML source file. (Of course, GNNpress will not save these changes unless you tell it to do so.)
• As a WYSIWYG editor, GNNpress enforces legal HTML. If a page with illegal HTML is loaded, GNNpress will alter it. Here are some common flaws in pages:

  Multiple BODY tags.

  HTML allows only one BODY tag in a page. If GNNpress finds two or more, it will attempt to merge them. GNNpress will do its best to retain attributes attached to the body tags.

  Multiple TITLE tags.

  HTML does not allow for more than one title per page. GNNpress will remove all but the last.

  HEAD tags, such as TITLE, inside the BODY of a page.

  GNNpress will move these up into the HEAD section (where they belong).

  LI tags not in any list.

  GNNpress will turn these into P tags.

  Character formating around paragraphs and headings.

  If GNNpress finds <B><H2>text</H2></B> it will convert it into <B></B><H2>text</H2> because it does not allow the <B> tag to stretch across the <H2>.

General Questions.

What are you doing about security?

We have fully revocable access control based on hierarchical user/group permissions, and will support encryption standards as they arise.

Do you support Netscape extensions?

The server will support anything you care to use -- including Envoy, PDF, EBCDIC, etc. GNNpress does display some Netscape extensions, but will warn the user that they are dealing with non-standard HTML. GNNpress currently authors HTML 2.0, and will author HTML 3.0 when it arrives. In the meantime,  you can use the Element > Special Tag command to insert non-standard HTML tags.

What do I do with legacy content (Quark, Frame, etc.)?

Export from your current package to HTML. Not only is GNNpress perfect for fixing up the "machine generated" look of filtered pages, but with the NaviLinking Tool, it will suggest possible hyperlinks, making it easy to link up flat legacy content.

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