How do you do long threads?

What I mean is, some of these wonderful threads on ATS take members much time to put together. Do people keep an ATS window open, and hope that they do not lose power over the course of days it takes? Or do people make a thread in another program, that can be edited and saved at will, and then transfered over in one giant copy and paste? What is thy method?

a reply to: iTruthSeeker

I just start writing in the text editor on the forum. If you look carefully at the bottom right of the text window on ATS, there is a little triangle. You can click and drag that to expand the text window. Also the reason I do this is because I have easier access to the html code buttons above the text windows. Many times I type out the tags, but for things like links or youtube videos I'll hit the button.

It doesn't take me days to write these threads though. My head works a mile a minute with ideas and thoughts and I type at 80 wpm. I can throw a large thread together in about 15 minutes if I'm motivated with finding sources.

The only time I'll use a text editor to write a thread (usually notepad or word) is if the OP will carry over more than one post. This way it is easier to break up the text into multiple parts and post them in quick succession so that the speed posters who have to comment before all the text is posted can't interrupt the flow of my OP.

originally posted by: iTruthSeeker
What I mean is, some of these wonderful threads on ATS take members much time to put together. Do people keep an ATS window open, and hope that they do not lose power over the course of days it takes? Or do people make a thread in another program, that can be edited and saved at will, and then transfered over in one giant copy and paste? What is thy method?

Type in word making sure to use the correct coding for links and quotes, then copy paste.

a reply to: iTruthSeeker

Notepad on Windows. CTRL + C to Copy from Notepad, CTRL + V to paste onto Forum.

I then use the Firefox spellcheck to correct spelling mistake, I have the BBcode memorized for links etc.

Startmenu and start typing in the word Notepad and hit enter, it will bring it up before you have to spell it completely.

If not on Windows, apologies.

a reply to: iTruthSeeker


I've done my longer ones in Word and added the BBCodes directly into the document. You just need to be mindful of the post length and split them up if it carries over from one page.

a reply to: iTruthSeeker

Do people keep an ATS window open, and hope that they do not lose power over the course of days it takes

If it 'took days' I would create it first, then load it. If anything untoward happened, I'd be able to start again. So far I only have a few threads, didn't have trouble producing them in the ATS text window.

It helps to have your links together in separate tabs first, though.

Thanks for the replies. I get the gist of it now. And what I meant as far as a thread taking days, is really a thread that one does over time, not meaning necessarily that it will take "days" because of it's volume.

a reply to: iTruthSeeker
I use Word.
Incidentally, the maximum post size is 7413 characters (including spaces). I'm not kidding- I hit my head against that limit all the time.

a reply to: iTruthSeeker

Like when a member here is dedicated to Nibiru and has staked his life to taking photos of clouds through the weeks and finding space photos with dots in them and adding the information to the thread over time?

That I could not tell you, I do not have the stamina/passion for that type of stuff or on just one thing.

a reply to: MuonToGluon


I think he meant how do you create a multi-post Original Post as opposed to talking to yourself for years at end.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

In that case - you cannot.

Once the edit time is up, it's up.

a reply to: iTruthSeeker

Another program off-site.. then cut n paste in...

Never lose anything

originally posted by: MuonToGluon
In that case - you cannot.

Once the edit time is up, it's up.

Not that aspect, the ability to make a 2+ page Original Post from the get go.

I think my longest thread was about 10,000 words (not including BBCoding)

For me (after at least a few weeks of research) I open a word document and start writing everything up, then I open a new thread text box on ATS to copy paste into and input all of the code stuff like text boxes, videos, pictures, formatting and so on. Then I copy that into a second word document until the entire thing is done, then I just copy paste the second text document into the new thread.

I think the days of the massive threads though are sadly dying off, I don't really see much point in me spending weeks researching and writing up a huge thread only for it to get 10 flags and a handful of responses because Trump tweeted something stupid thats got everyone all excited.

I actually kind of miss my days of writing massive threads on 9/11 and Special Forces activities.

oh well....

a reply to: iTruthSeeker

Notepad++ is essential:
www.abovetopsecret.com...
It's the only thing I could find that when you copy from it and paste it into web browser boxes the line spacing doesnt go completely haywire. AND then its so feature rich I was kicking myself for not using it from day one (over a decade ago). You'll see what I mean (the tabs in particular).

Then when you're ready, go to an online "character counter" and paste it in and divide the whole thing into 'blocks' of about 7000 characters each (for each 'response'). Then even my longest piece took only minutes to slap in real quick, not too many mistakes to clean up as test most of it in ATS preview. The character counter page is handy to keep open to slap the whole thing in for spell checker.

There are a number of good ideas above.

I have created a number of long threads and have developed my own methodology over the years.

The Basics

1. It's essential to store your work offline before posting. You don't want to lose it all with a website crash or say your internet goes down. So use a word processor (even notepad will do the job). Personally I use MS Word with some macros I've added. This makes it easy to add all the BB formatting rapidly.

2. Familiarise yourself with BBCode before you even start. This will allow you to add pictures, change the size and colour of the font and generally enhance your posts.

3. Take your time writing something up. Use a spell checker. (Remember that won't always help differentiate between 'we're', 'where', 'were' and 'wear' as well). Use an online dictionary if necessary. Read over what you've written to check if it actually makes sense. I've seen a number of people post stuff that I really struggle to understand. Probably because they just type stuff as it spills out of their brain with little thought for the reader.

4. Use paragraphs. Walls of text look terrible and are difficult to read.

5. If you are using dates use a format that the whole English speaking world understand. America is almost alone in using the mm/dd/yyyy date format. So I'd suggest writing Oct 18th 2017 or similar so it's crystal clear.

6. If you are using acronyms then consider whether people reading will understand them. NASA or FBI probably needs no explanation but others may need explaining.

7. Remember to use as correct punctuation and grammar as you can. Keeping sentences short and to the point helps the flow of your text.

When You Come to Post

1. If the text is going to overflow into more than one text box then you will need to combat the "star whores". Those who know that the 2nd post in a thread can often receive more stars than words they post can be very quick at this. So what should you do to combat it?

One solution is to post rapid replies with a "Holding marker awaiting further information". That way you can then use the edit feature to give you time to format things correctly and repel speed posting.

Another is to open a number of "New Topic" tabs for each part of your post. Post the first part and then do a copy and paste from the other open tabs as replies.

2. Read over your whole post. Correct any spellings or formatting errors. You only have 2 hours to do so.

If you want to see how the BBcode looks then feel free to go to any of my posts. You may not be interested in the subject matter but if you hit the 'quote' link then that will show you how it looks in the text window.

That all said. No matter how professional looking, well written and researched your post is; be prepared for disappointment. You may get little response to your work in this day and age. ATS seems to be swamped with brief posts that are simply news regurgitation and politics. So it's hard to get noticed.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: iTruthSeeker


I've done my longer ones in Word and added the BBCodes directly into the document. You just need to be mindful of the post length and split them up if it carries over from one page.

Like the one where you and DB offed Gunther. Back on topic I have been wondering this myself. Thanks for the advice people.

I use Word and add the BBcodes directly.

Then judging by how long the document is (say a page per post) I try and guess how many total posts I will need. 4 pages = 4 posts. I will mark them "under construction" while I copy-n-pasta in more content. I always mark the bottom "Continued..." from one post with "... continued" on the next. And if it is needed, an "- end - " to give a visual que the OP is over.

I have several that are just sitting in a folder, lurking. Not sure if anybody really wants to read a math treatise or my always under construction nuclear fusion reactor (it is at 7 pages!) or a technical document on how DNS was killed on the Eastern Seaboard (most info was already posted by time I got around to it).

Another neat tip, by having Word up, you can also copy URL to articles/stories you may want to revisit when you have more time. Maybe not ATS thread worthy but still interesting reading!

Great question! Seems the approach is the same but tool use varies by taste (or availability).

originally posted by: Tarzan the apeman.
Like the one where you and DB offed Gunther.

Exactly. Over the character limit so I did it in Word.

But Gunther kind of deserved it.