Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Inserting Characters

When the folks at Google reconfigured Blogger some time ago, they omitted the ability to insert html codes. Or at least I thought they had.

It's not that I had ever used many codes, but there a few — very few — that I find handy from time to time — such as the em dash that I just used three times.

Being slow of wit, it took me these many months to figure out that I could still insert them by temporarily reverting to the html mode.

It is rather helpful to be able to use a long dash (em dash) for those somewhat parenthetical comments when parentheses don't seem to be quite right. I had resorted to double dashes (--) but never really fancied them. Now, I have finally figured out that I can temporarily go to the html tab to get this by typing — (with the semi colon).

Similarly, I can insert a down arrow by typing ↓ or, similarly, an up arrow ↑ ↑. I find this handy at times when I want to direct people to look up at a photo or down .

One other symbol that I like to be able to insert is the degree sign by typing ° and getting ° as in 10°C/50°F. It certainly isn't necessary, but it pleases me to be able to do it if I want to.

To do this, I go to the top left of the Blogger editing screen to access the html panel.


But the good folk at Google make it hard because the html panel is one big unseparated wall of text in which it is very difficult to find the point where I want to make the insertion. There used to be spaces and line breaks, but no more; it is one formidable-looking block of letters. 

What I have learned to do is copy the surrounding text, CTRL-V, in the compose mode where I want to make the insertion. I then switch to the html panel and then hit CTRL-F (F is for Find) so that I can easily find the exact spot again. This automatically highlights the words that I copied back in compose mode, and I type-in  my little code. Then, I go back to the compose window to continue normal typing. 

For sure, it is a very cumbersome workaround for something that used to be so simple, but at least I now know how to do it if I really really wanna..

↓ ↑ — ° = ↓ ↑ — °

14 comments:

Patio Postcards said...

Good tips, thanks for sharing. I just wish Blogger would leave things as they are (or were). For those wanting more, they should have "advanced Blogger" & leave the basics for the likes of me, amateur user.

Jenn Jilks said...

I wished you'd asked!
On my Mac I just use Option Dash!
When I want to insert videos, I type in XXX, to find the spot, and then revert to HTML view and pop it in. It really is cumbersome.

Marcia said...

Don't think I can manage to do all that. I do use the degree symbol but hold ALT and 0 to get it. ยบ

Ed said...

I used to use the HTML edit mode all the time to straighten up formatting on posts until this last go around when it changed to the undecipherable wall of text. Now if the formatting gets messed up, usually when I'm changing the order of photos in a post, I generally have to just start over and post the photos one at a time.

Thanks for the tip about finding things in that wall of text. I didn't know one could do that. I don't know if it will help me to figure out picture justification formatting but it might come in handy some day.

Anvilcloud said...

Ed. I have been known to count the number of photos and then search for the righe code. The fact that it is red does help. I wonder if they are making it difficult deliberately to keep us out of the tab.

Margaret said...

That seems like a LOT of work! I know that typepad has an HTML option but I've never clicked on it out of terror that I'll mess something up. (which has happened in the past)

PipeTobacco said...

Thank you! I have missed several of those items myself. Now I probably need to print your post and keep it at my computer.

PipeTobacco

Christina said...

I'forgotten about html on blogger. Just tried it out, thanks for the reminder. I still use html on my virtual learning environment, sometimes formatting is quicker that way.

Mage said...

Well, that was lots of fun here. LOL Eventually I figured out how to turn it off.

MARY G said...

Super. Thanks. &deg:
That is the only one I use regularly.

MARY G said...

Works beautifully. Thanks again.

William Kendall said...

Blogger shouldn't have done the switch.

Kay said...

You are amazing! I have looked at that html view and couldn't make heads or tails of it. I would love to be able to put in a degree or cents sign. Ah well...

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

This was helpful info for many, and if you want to insert symbols and such in a document (not a b log post) there are ways to do that using keyboard shortcuts. years ago, I even had a list of these, and info can be found online by tying "how to insert symbols using keystrokes" into a search line. Also, Mac users can insert symbols and other Emojis and symbols if the character keyboard is included on the desktop. That includes symbols such as —, ↑, ™️, ®️and lots more.