How to do this with Textpad

[mjames]

I have read that it improves readability if you limit the width of your newsletter text in plain-text mailings. How would one go about going this in either Textpad 4.5 or Homesite 4.5? I have both and can't seem to figure out where you do this. I am aiming for 65 characters in width. Thanks!

[Caterwomtious]

It's not quite the clever solution you're looking for, but one way to acheive this would be to email it to yourself first using a mail client such as Outlook Express which wraps the messages for you.

[mjames]

Thanks for your reply. To be more specific, I'm referring to this article.

Specifically:

1.) Line Breaks

Grab yourself a copy of TextPad and use it to format your newsletter. Set it to Break at Column Position 65 and to save with hard breaks. You'll find these settings under Configure > Preferences > Document. This ensures that your newsletter can be read by people with narrow column width settings, and it also prevents edge-to-edge text, which is very difficult to read.

It tells you how to do it, but I have the latest version of Texpad (4.5) and I presume that the path has changed since this was written. I've looked all through the preferences and can't seem to find what I'm looking for. Appreciate any assistance.

[Hierophant]

In Textpad 4.5 do this...

Go to Configure -> Preferences.

In the preferences dialog box expand "Document Classes" and highlight "Text". In the right hand side you will see a series of options. You want to check the following options:

Word wrap long lines
Save with Hard Breaks

Outside the scrolling box check "Word Break at Column Number" and put 65 in the box.

If you want you can assign a new extension to your newsletter files (I use nltr personally) and create a new document class. You can only create a new class when no documents are open. When no documents are open, an option appears on the Configure menu to create a new class.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

ps: I personally think Textpad is the all time greatest utility that I have ever spent money on.

[hillsy]

Amen to that. TextPad rocks - no other Windows text editor comes close

Jext is pretty neat. But TextPad is just so fast and efficient.

<sets himself up for a big fall>

[Arkham]

Originally posted by hillsy
Amen to that. TextPad rocks - no other Windows text editor comes close

Jext is pretty neat. But TextPad is just so fast and efficient.

<sets himself up for a big fall>

I think you're safe, as most people seem to recognize TextPad as one of the top editors available. Coming from the Amiga platform, which had *the* best editor at the time, CygnusEd, I was grateful for TextPad.

I can't believe people still bother with Notepad. Designers, even! Almost as bad as a co-worker who refuses to use any editor, and just manually edits HTML in an Admin site text box no wider than this msg editor.

[mjames]

I'm more of a regular HomeSite user, but Textpad is very nice. Wayne, thanks a BUNCH for the explanation. It did exactly what I wanted and now I'm sure my subscribers will appreciate the added readability, as well.