Nicely done paul, and really appreciate the work you put into
putting the words and chords up... How does he do that???
Yeah I think that lots of people when they try to marry
chords and words have a terrible time with formating things
so everything lines up properly, but obviously you have the SKILLZ
What is your secret?
Thanks, Rob, for your kind words once again. There's two things you need to do to get your words and chords lined up properly in a UU Forum post.
First, you need to put any formatted text in your posts inside the code - [C*de][/C*de] - tags: click on the '#' in the 'Go Advanced' menu to bring these tags up automatically if you don't want to type them in (C*de = Code, of course, but if I'd typed an 'o' instead of an '*', the tags would have vanished from sight!).
Second, you need to appreciate that any text inside the [C*de][/C*de] tags is displayed in a
monospaced font - that's what permits you to line up chords above lyrics. Most digital fonts these days (including, crucially, Verdana, the default font used by the vBB software that powers the UU forums) are
TrueType, meaning the spacing between words and letters (the kerning) varies automatically, adjusting the spacing between letters and words to make it all look aesthetically pleasing.
A monospaced font, such as Andale Mono, Consolas, Courier, Courier New or Monaco, however reproduces the effect of an old-school typewriter, and that's what you need here; because you want each space clicked on the spacebar always to occupy the same length - and to occupy the same space as any letter typed on the line below; so if you want your Em chord to line up above the 6th character (letter/space) of the lyric in the line below, you just have to press your spacebar 5 times, then type 'Em'. If you want your B7 chord to line up above the 19th character, simply press your spacebar another 11 times then type 'B7'.
Because your text is monospaced, it will continue to line up correctly, no matter what font size you, or the vBB bulletin board software, choose to display it in.
Code:
12345 12345678901
Em B7
They never have a shilling oh
123456789012345678901234567890
Don't try typing directly in between the [C*de][/C*de] tags though, it'll mess with your head. vBB uses Verdana all the while it's in 'Reply' mode, so you'll only get to see what your [C*de][/C*de] formatted text will look like once you've hit 'Post' or 'Preview'. If you do try typing directly, you'll quickly get into an awful pickle going back and forth between the 'Preview' and 'Edit' modes trying to get the formatting right: just look at how the formatted text above appears in vBB 'Edit Post' mode when I don't close the [C*de][/C*de] tags:
[Code
12345 12345678901
Em B7
They never have a shilling oh
123456789012345678901234567890
/Code]
Instead, use Word, Notepad, or any other simple text editor to write out & format your lyrics and chords in a monospaced font; and when you're happy with what you've got, just copy and paste them in between the [C*de][/C*de] tags in your post (for ease, always have the [C*de][/C*de] tags all ready to receive text). You may have to make the odd minor adjustments here and there (use the 'Preview Post' function to check), but it should be pretty well bang on first time round.
So to review: compose your songsheet in a monospaced font using a text editor; copy and paste the formatted, monospaced(!), text between the [C*de][/C*de] tags in your post (click on '#' in the 'Go Advanced' menu to bring the tags up automatically), and you'll be good to go. HTH & good luck!
Now you are just being naughty. You get one boy in the classroom singing Big Bamboo
and the next thing you know the whole classroom are singing it. Go over and stand
in the corner young man with Mark C. and don't come out again until you have
learnt a skiffle song.
Yerss, I should have been paying more attention instead of staring out the window. Sorry sir!