Advanced Editor - Helpful Tips

1. Each lesson is limited to 12,000 characters. This includes the text you see, plus all the invisible formatting code (HTML) the editor generates automatically. You should be able to make a very full lesson page if you follow these good practices:
   
   
   1. Do not use a word processor such as MS Word to prepare or format your lesson and copy it into the editor. Word processors generate by far the fattest code. Instead, you should prepare your text using a plain text editor like Notepad.
      
      
   2. Do not use consecutive spaces to force text to line up into columns. Instead, you should use the table functions in the editor ( to align plain text into a columns and to modify an existing table.)
      
      
   3. Do not use Google Chrome or Safari to create or edit your lesson. They generate very fat code. Instead, use Mozilla Firefox for everything except the modify table function which only works in MS Internet Explorer.
   
   
2. Your completed lesson may appear slightly different to viewers using different browsers. For example, I have seen a lesson where a center-aligned title is not visible in MS Internet Explorer unless an extra carriage return is added.
   
   To avoid this, you should preview and test your lesson using all the popular browsers. Today, that is Microsoft Internet Explorer (55% of all web users) and Mozilla Firefox (18%) and either Google Chrome or Safari (15% combined). It is not necessary to test both Chrome and Safari, because they both share the same code.
   
   
3. The Align Text into Columns table function works only with plain text. Any formatting or multimedia will be lost. Therefore, you want to convert all your text into columns BEFORE adding any formatting, images or audio links.
   
   
4. Lagre images take a long time to upload and may cause timeouts. Although you can resize the image using our editor when you insert it, it does not always work when the file is very large. You may end up with a lesson that takes a long time to load when it is being viewed by a learner. To ensure this does not happen, you should use a free image resizer such as VSO Image Resizer on your computer before uploading it.
   
   

How to Make a Lesson - Step by Step Guide

1. Plan your lesson using a plain text editor such as Notepad.
   • Prepare all your text content.
   • Make note of the audio and image files you will need.
   • Do basic text formatting such as starting new paragraphs, inserting blank lines, etc.
   • Decide what text you want to appear in column format. For that block of text, prepare it for the editor's Align Text into Columns function by inserting 2 spaces where the text is to appear in a new column.
     
   
   
2. Record your audio files and make/collect your images. Use recommended settings for your audio recording to optimize quality and file size. Reduce the size of images to only the size you need.
   
   
3. Use Mozilla Firefox to copy the plain text into the lesson editor.
   
   
4. Using Mozilla Firefox, perform all text formatting. Remember to convert plain text into columns BEFORE adding any formatting, links, images or audio. The editor's Align Text into Columns function discards anything that is not plain text.
   
   
5. Using Mozilla Firefox, insert other features such as links, images, and audio, etc.
   
   
6. If you need to modify the structure of an existing table, such as adding an extra row, use MS Internet Explorer. Save the lesson in Firefox first, before opening the editor in Internet Explorer. The Modify Table function only works in MS Internet Explorer, but all existing formatting and multimedia are preserved.
   
   
7. Preview and test using popular browsers:
   • MS Internet Explorer
   • Mozilla Firefox
   • Google Chrome or Apple Safari