By default, Microsoft Word automatically changes straight quotation marks ( ' or " ) to curly (smart or typographer's) quotes as you type. This is fine if you are only authoring your works for applications not relating to article marketing. When smart quotes are converted to HTML, the quotes are converted to non-standard characters which end up littering your document with question mark symbols and/or other garbage code.
When in doubt, don't allow your Ezine Articles to contain smart quotes:
Most articles that are put into article marketing distribution eventually end up being sent to an email newsletter audience. Email newsletter servers have near zero-tolerance for MS Word smart quotes; they will not recognize them as valid ASCII characters (because they are not valid). They are a figment of the Microsoft ASCII imagination. In most cases they will show up as garbage code; thus making you, and your article, look like a real novice lacking proper formatting skills.
At risk are: quotes, apostrophes, double dashes, and 3 periods in a row.
This is what smart quotes looks like when properly displayed:
"smart quotes" aren't very smart?
This is what STANDARD quotes looks like when properly displayed:
"smart quotes" aren't very smart...
This is what smart quotes looks like when NOT properly displayed:
???smart quotes??? aren???t very smart???
Do you see the downside potential of leaving smart quotes in your articles that you put into distribution? Standard quotes use the lowest common denominator in the ASCII character standards world and this ensures that your articles will look great in any HTML or TEXT format.
How To Disable Microsoft Word's Smart Quotes:
1. On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect Options, then click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
2. Under Replace as you type, select or clear the "Straight quotes" with "smart quotes" check box.
Alternatively, you can copy your entire MS Word document over to a non Microsoft text editor (EditPlus, UltraEdit, TextPad, etc) and do a simple search and replace. Search and replace the smart quotes into standard quotes, apostrophe's, dashes and dots if applicable.
Caution For Authors Who Do HTML Code For Their Articles in MS Word:
Unless you have smart quotes disabled, it should be noted that smart quotes are not valid HTML code. Therefore, don't even consider using MS Word to do HTML code unless you have the smart quotes feature disabled.
Article Marketing Smart Quotes Conclusion
Smart quotes are best left for e-books, physical books in print, PDF documents and any non-HTML related document. If you want to increase the portability of your ezine articles, do the smart thing and turn off Microsoft Word's smart quotes or do a search/replace before you upload your next article to the web.
About The Author:
Christopher M. Knight invites you to submit your best articles for massive exposure to the high-traffic ezinearticles.com directory. When you submit your articles to EzineArticles.com, your articles will be picked up by ezine publishers who will reprint your articles with your content and links in tact giving you traffic surges to help you increase your sales. To submit your article, setup a membership account today: ezinearticles.com
Willow Springs bmw rental chicago .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareEvery webmaster knows that to gain ranking positions in search... Read More
The more you write, the larger your impact. If that's... Read More
One of the best things you can do for your... Read More
Whether you own your own affiliate website, or subscription website,... Read More
If you are an article writer, you may have been... Read More
1. Choose A Topic.You need to choose either a hot... Read More
In order to sell your article must do three things:1.... Read More
Well maybe it's not that "little known" but some people... Read More
People who have an idea for a website sometimes require... Read More
Increase your ezine subscribers by submitting articles once or twice... Read More
We all know that article writing is a great way... Read More
Do you wonder what easy, cheap, and fast way you... Read More
Article marketing has become very popular of late, especially with... Read More
Overture reports over 1 million queries for article keyword related... Read More
Inspirational articles were once limited to self-help and religious publications,... Read More
It is amazing to see how much we all still... Read More
Writing and leveraging articles is my most successful strategy for... Read More
In order to answer the question I've just asked in... Read More
The Most Economical Way to Advertise online is to Submit... Read More
You pick a pen, grab a piece of paper and... Read More
It is not my intention to give you a 5... Read More
The first step to getting published is to find your... Read More
Proven and Exceptional Click-Through ResultsTesting has proven again and again... Read More
This is a perennial question among writers and wannabe's. Many... Read More
Lately, there seems to be some confusion between Article Marketing... Read More
Oak Lawn car service to O'Hare ..Marketing on the internet can be a costly procedure, especially... Read More
Heard about article marketing but not sure why you'd need... Read More
I am often approached and asked, how do I write... Read More
Rule number one - You must write ezine articles and... Read More
One of the most tried and true methods of self-promotion... Read More
Back when I was in college, I belonged to one... Read More
Is Putting your Articles in the Public Domain really a... Read More
Every day thousands of people join affiliate programs and yet... Read More
Article authors who use SEO (Search Engine Optimization) keywords to... Read More
It's all the rage. It's what everyone is talking about.... Read More
Want your articles to get picked up and reprinted by... Read More
If you've spent any time online trying to promote your... Read More
In this article I will show you how to use... Read More
Writing quality articles is time consuming for the very best... Read More
Article writing can be such an intimate act as you're... Read More
How does a writing agency market itself effectively in a... Read More
Online readers love information, but be sure your information is... Read More
A "Thought Leader" is someone recognized as an authority in... Read More
Writing articles is possibly the best way to generated free... Read More
One of the best ways to promote your website is... Read More
Content is an important component of your web site. Learning... Read More
The five essential questions to be answered in your article... Read More
Knowing exactly what an editor wants.Unfortunately, many new writers struggle... Read More
If your business has a website, you're probably searching for... Read More
Writing and submitting articles to article banks is a well-known... Read More
Article Writing |