# editor width



## Kajjo

Is there a possibility to set the width of the editor window?

Personally, I do not like the width of the editor being so narrow, it just makes writing more tedious than necessary and the final text is displayed on a much broader canvas anyway. It would be perfect, if the editor window would scale along with the outline of the "Reply to thread" section, depending on the user's browser window size -- like the surrounding section's background actually does.

Kajjo


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## elroy

What would be the benefits of this change?

You can always hit "Preview Post" to see what it will look like after you submit it.


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## lsp

It's crossed my mind to mention this, too. If you have a lengthy reply or include a lengthy quote, you can only see the whole thing by increasing the text field's height, sometimes making the post cross the virtual fold, so you still can't see the whole thing. When translating a long quote, you have to scroll up to read, down to write some more, and repeat as often as necessary.


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## mkellogg

OK, I got bored and wanted to see if this was really possible, and it is. 

1. Use the Firefox browser.
2. Install the ChromEdit Plus extension.
3. Restart Firefox. (Close all windows.)
4. In menu: Tools>"ChromEdit Plus">ChromEdit>userContent.css tab
5. Paste in:





> #vB_Editor_001_iframe {width: 700px ! important;}


6. Save Button, then Restart Button.

The text box should now be 700 pixels wide (default is 540). You can edit the number to whatever you want.

I hope this is helpful for somebody. 

Mike


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## lsp

mkellogg said:


> OK, I got bored and wanted to see if this was really possible, and it is.
> 
> 1. Use the Firefox browser.
> 2. Install the ChromEdit Plus extension.
> 3. Restart Firefox. (Close all windows.)
> 4. In menu: Tools>"ChromEdit Plus">ChromEdit>userContent.css tab
> 5. Paste in:6. Save Button, then Restart Button.
> 
> The text box should now be 700 pixels wide (default is 540). You can edit the number to whatever you want.
> 
> I hope this is helpful for somebody.
> 
> Mike


So Safari users should either switch to Firefox or grin and bear it, right?  All the same, I appreciate that you looked into it!


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## mkellogg

lsp!  You are another one of them Mac users???

Actually, I should have put that the ability to have a "user stylesheet" is standard on many browsers. IE has something if I remember correctly. Safari probably has it, too.  (The C in CSS is for cascading, meaning that there are cascaded levels of priority with the end user getting the highest priority.)


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## Jana337

mkellogg said:


> OK, I got bored and wanted to see if this was really possible, and it is.
> 
> 1. Use the Firefox browser.
> 2. Install the ChromEdit Plus extension.
> 3. Restart Firefox. (Close all windows.)
> 4. In menu: Tools>"ChromEdit Plus">ChromEdit>userContent.css tab
> 5. Paste in:6. Save Button, then Restart Button.
> 
> The text box should now be 700 pixels wide (default is 540). You can edit the number to whatever you want.
> 
> I hope this is helpful for somebody.
> 
> Mike


A recommendation for all fans of the Fixed Width forum style: 635 works the best. 

Thanks, Mike.


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## fsabroso

Hola,

Yo uso Firefox, instale el ChromeEdit Plus y funciona bien, lo dejé en 700. Aunque, para mi,  no le encuentro diferencia, ya que usualmente uso el "quick reply", el cual, no cambia.


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## mkellogg

I've found it for the Quick Reply box:





> #vB_Editor_QR_iframe {width: 700px ! important;}



For IE users, the place to edit something like this is Internet Options>General>Accessibility>User Style Sheet.


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## cuchuflete

Thanks Mike,
I installed it and set it at 1000.  It worked very well, but was a little clunky on the cosmetic side.  I now have it at 800, and it's a great improvement over the vB default.

Thanks for the Quick Reply option.   Since you are being so helpful with this, is there something we can apply to maintain the expanded width when we press the [A/*A*]  button, to enable copy/paste?  That returns the data entry box to the vB default.

By the way, changing the Post Reply width also expands the PM data entry window!


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## lsp

cuchuflete said:


> Thanks Mike,
> I installed it ...


 You installed it on Mac? From that link?


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## cuchuflete

Lsp- yes, quickly and easily.  I use Firefox.  The linked extension download, and the reconfiguration of the data entry window all took less than 1 minute!

Here is the Quick Reply window, resized to 950 pixels:


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## cuchuflete

Here is the Post Reply/Go Advanced window, resized to 845 pixels.  Note that the window is anchored to the right of center, so if you set it at page width, about 1000 pixels, it overflows the screen to the right.


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## Jana337

cuchuflete said:


> Thanks for the Quick Reply option.   Since you are being so helpful with this, is there something we can apply to maintain the expanded width when we press the [A/*A*]  button, to enable copy/paste?  That returns the data entry box to the vB default.


Why would you need to press 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 to enable copy/paste?


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## cuchuflete

Jana337 said:


> Why would you need to press
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Beginning with vB 3.0 or thereabouts, cut, copy, paste are randomly disabled for Firefox unless one
goes into the edit mode that displays vB codes.  At times these functions are available, either through toolbar buttons or the edit menu or keyboard, and at times, without rhyme or reason, they are not.  This has been discussed at length in this forum. Use Search....

Mike reported this bug to vBulletin, and they replied something along the lines of, "tough break, we cannot do everything for every browser."


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## Paulfromitaly

This trick also works for SeaMonkey.


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## Flaminius

Hoping that this is still a pertinent question, I am wondering if there is a way to customise the height of the edit box.


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## Jana337

Sure, 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




and 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




(next to 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




) do the trick.


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## Flaminius

True.  But I wanted to know if there was any customisation to have the height defaulted to that after several 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 clicks.


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## Jana337

Flaminius said:


> True.  But I wanted to know if there was any customisation to have the height defaulted to that after several
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I should have known better.


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## Whodunit

Flaminius said:


> True. But I wanted to know if there was any customisation to have the height defaulted to that after several
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It works for me that if you click, let's say twice, on the 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




button, the window maintains in that height, as long as I stay logged in on WR. Maybe that's better than having it too high every time you log in, since you may feel different on the other day: on one day you seem to be quite "writative," whereas on the other you respond in only three lines to eeach request where it would bother you to always scroll down so far to submit the message. 

I consider the current height perfect, as I don't like to write so much always. And if I really need to write a lot, it doesn't hurt to click on the small arrows to enlarge the window.


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## jann

Update:

The link Mike provided to this useful extension in post #4 above now takes you to a Mozilla page that requires a login to access what they now call their "sandbox."

However, you can still download the ChromEdit Plus add-in directly from this site.  I assume that you are downloading directly from the developer(s).


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## Whodunit

mkellogg said:


> For IE users, the place to edit something like this is Internet Options>General>Accessibility>User Style Sheet.


 
Hi Mike,

I don't think the style sheet works for the Internet Explorer. When I enter _#vB_Editor_001_iframe {width: 700px ! important;}_ in the box and hit OK, an eror messages pops up with the text "The entered style sheet was not found."

I suppose the ... how do you call it? ... text (#vB_Editor_001_iframe {width: 700px ! important;}) only works for Firefox.


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## mkellogg

You caught me at a good moment when I'm bored. 

Here it is for IE:
 - Open notepad.
 - Paste either 1 or both of these:


> #vB_Editor_001_iframe {width: 700px ! important;}
> #vB_Editor_QR_iframe {width: 700px ! important;}


 - Save the file as vBeditor.css wherever you want it. (Make sure the extension is .css, not .css.txt!)
 - IN IE: Menu>Tools>Internet Options>General Tab>Accessibility
 - Clilck "Format documents using my style sheet."
 - Browse to find your style sheet.
 - Click OK & OK to save and get out.
 - Close all windows of IE.
When you restart IE, you should have 700px-wide editor windows. 

Here are some directions to do the same for Firefox and Opera.


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## TimLA

Bravo Mike! This is written in a new 700 pix window------------------------------------------


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## panjandrum

Whoopee!
I just did it - and it was *so *easy.
It's great to be able to spread my elbows again.


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## mickaël

Hi everybody,

Can we also edit the length?
I tried to replace "width" with "lenght", but it seems it doesn't work.
Thanks in advance.

Edit: Ok, I got it. I tried with "height".


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## Jana337

mickaël said:


> Hi everybody,
> 
> Can we also edit the length?
> I tried to replace "width" with "lenght", but it seems it doesn't work.
> Thanks in advance.


As explained in posts 17ff. It should remain active for the whole session. After logging in and out, you may need to adjust it again, which is very easy.

Personally, I like the flexibility of height. I wouldn't want to be stuck with any particular number. But everyone's different, so: If there's a way to edit the length, I have no idea how to do it.


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## mickaël

Jana337 said:


> Personally, I like the flexibility of height. I wouldn't want to be stuck with any particular number. But everyone's different, so: If there's a way to edit the length, I have no idea how to do it.


I just didn't use the good word. I tried with "height" in the same way that for the width, and it's work.


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## Jana337

mickaël said:


> I just didn't use the good word. I tried with "height" in the same way that for the width, and it's work.


 Before I do it as well, can you confirm that the 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




button can override the default?


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## mickaël

Hum... I realise I didn't take the time to read correctly this thread. My apologies. 


Jana337 said:


> Before I do it as well, can you confirm that the
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No, it can't and it's a bit a shame.
Thank you Jana.


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## Whodunit

Brave Mike! 

It really works very well for me.

As for your concerns, Jana: No, you can't override the reply box by pressing the
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




button. It's cancelled and doesn't work anymore. I played around a bit and entering this in the notepad should be fine:



> #vB_Editor_001_iframe {width: 635px ! important;}
> #vB_Editor_001_iframe {height: 430px ! important;}


 
I like the size quite well, but it's always up to you.


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## DearPrudence

I don't understand. Didn't "they" say it was better to use the narrow width? 


mkellogg said:


> You might learn to like the narrow width, too. They say it is easier on the eyes than scanning back and forth. That's why newspapers have such narrow columns...


 [here & the advantage of fixed width ]


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