Puntucation not appearing correctly.

[KD1SH]

   Well, asking this question is a bit embarrassing, since I worked in IT for a bit and even took an HTML course, though it was way back. This issue popped up just a few weeks ago:
   I often use the "em" dash when I write, which is the long dash as opposed to the shorter one, the "en" dash.  A usage example would be something like this: "I prefer to use a vacuum tube?you know, those things that glow?radio when I'm on the air." But lately, my text in the forum comes out with that dash replaced by what appears to be a couple of ascii symbols. My sig-line winds up that way, too.
   I've also noticed other members' posts showing a question mark where it appears that an apostrophe was intended.
   I tried viewing the forum using Microsoft Edge rather than my usual Firefox, but it still shows those symbols in place of my dash. I haven't tried actually posting anything with Edge, though. I'm suspecting that there's some arcane setting somewhere that's causing this, but I haven't figured it out.
   Don't worry, I'm prepared to take my lumps when it turns out that I've overlooked something simple.

Edit: there we go, my dashes were turned into question marks when I posted this. Are they question marks for anyone else, or dashes?

[w8khk]

Bill, I was curious about similar behaviour of punctuation that previously rendered correctly, but now seems to act rather strangely.  As an example, I offer a snippet of a post years ago by W2DU:

Historical Background on the Origin of the World’s First Weather Satellite, TIROS 1

     In 1957, people from the U.S. Army’s Advanced Research Projects Administration (ARPA) at Huntsville, Alabama, that included the eminent rocket scientist, Werner von Braun, approached us at the RCA Laboratories in Princeton, NJ, concerning the possibility of designing and building an orbiting spacecraft

I simply pasted the text from the original thread, and I will copy and highlight a couple examples from above, in case this might prove helpful in identifying the root cause and potential solution:

 World’s First


U.S. Army’s Advanced

This makes me wonder if the problem has more to do with how the original text is rendered now, as opposed to the possible need to enter the text differently in new posts?

Note: I am using the Chrome Browser

[KD1SH]

   Thanks, Rick, sorry to hear that it's afflicting you, too, but glad to hear that it's not only something wrong at my end.

Some sample punctuation:

Apostrophe '
Double quotes "
Colon :
Semicolon ;
Question mark ?
Exclamation !
At symbol @
Hash #
Dollar $
Percent %
em dash ?
en dash -
Underline _
Plus +
Equals =

[KD1SH]

It does seem to have a problem with the em dash, but not the en dash.
It may have something to do with the fact that the em dash can't be created with a single keystroke, but several: num-pad 0 (ins) + 1 + 5 + 0 (ins) while holding alt.
I do it with num-lock off ?
But it also works with num-lock on ?

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Well, I'm not that smart but it could be that because the web site software probably is old, it may not recognize the ASCII key strokes or just misinterprets them.

Personally, I don't see the "em" and "en" value. Heck, it I wanted a longer separation between two words or numerical values, I'd use --- or ---- or -----

[KD1SH]

   No worries there, Pete, you are certainly a smart guy. The question isn't as much "why doesn't it work?" as "why did it work before, but not anymore?"
   Yeah, the em dash, ellipsis, and semicolon are stylistic conventions; the literary equivalent of chrome and hood-ornaments on a car, and they can be dispensed with altogether without compromising clarity and functionality of writing. Personally, I like them; the semicolon provides granularity and finer resolution, being a softer stop than a period but a harder stop than a comma, while the em dash inserts a parenthetical aside more smoothly and less jarringly than the parenthesis. But, I recognize that employing them is like applying chrome and ornamentation to a car or spice to good food; a little bit is tasteful and adds creative flair, but too much is gaudy.
   But, I digress; it looks like I'll be missing my em dash until either the web site software or our browsers shake this burr out of their shorts. Worse things could happen.

Well, I'm not that smart but it could be that because the web site software probably is old, it may not recognize the ASCII key strokes or just misinterprets them.

Personally, I don't see the "em" and "en" value. Heck, it I wanted a longer separation between two words or numerical values, I'd use --- or ---- or -----

[KD1SH]

   Pete's right, it is something with the website's software. The same problem with the rendering of some punctuation occurs when viewing the forum on my tablet and my laptop. It's just weird that it was working before, but not now. Sometimes computers are just... weird.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Besides typical computer software, hosting software (the place where the actual web site resides) can be upgraded in a way that conflicts with the web site's software.

I'm going through a similar problem with my own web site which was written with software from a number of years ago. Hosting people upgraded their software with new security measures and other stuff, which broke a number of things on my web site. We're slowly getting each other working compatible, but its time, effort, and a pain in the ass.

Sometimes a crude temporary work around can be found for certain breakage, but in many cases, it's never pretty.

[W3SLK]

Ever since I got the Firefox update from Feb. the whole board has seemed to shrunk (again) and lacks the icons people use for their posts. This would happen from time-to-time in the past but ultimately in a day or so it would resolve, (not from me!). I'm curious if somebody else is suffering the same fate.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

It's wise to mention also what version of Windows you're using. If you're using Win 8 or earlier, Firefox just updates to an "esr" suffix version which is not a super version update.

Also, if you press CTRL key and +(on the numerical key pad area), you can increase screen size.
Likewise, pressing CTRL key and -(on the numerical key pad area), you can reduce screen size.

[W3SLK]

WA2CWA said:

It's wise to mention also what version of Windows you're using. If you're using Win 8 or earlier, Firefox just updates to an "esr" suffix version which is not a super version update.

Also, if you press CTRL key and +(on the numerical key pad area), you can increase screen size.
Likewise, pressing CTRL key and -(on the numerical key pad area), you can reduce screen size.

I'm using Windoze 10(soon to sunset!). But the size of the board hasn't changed. I now noticed the avatars are the same size, the side bars are all the same and BB overall is the same. It seems the font size is the only thing that is different. Also the font size in the responding box it larger and the tool bar is missing the 'characters':

[Pete, WA2CWA]

WA2CWA said:

It's wise to mention also what version of Windows you're using. If you're using Win 8 or earlier, Firefox just updates to an "esr" suffix version which is not a super version update.

Also, if you press CTRL key and +(on the numerical key pad area), you can increase screen size.
Likewise, pressing CTRL key and -(on the numerical key pad area), you can reduce screen size.

I'm using Windoze 10(soon to sunset!). But the size of the board hasn't changed. I now noticed the avatars are the same size, the side bars are all the same and BB overall is the same. It seems the font size is the only thing that is different. Also the font size in the responding box it larger and the tool bar is missing the 'characters':

I seem to remember that screen font sizes are controlled by either windows and your browser or both.

You said: "the tool bar is missing the 'characters'"
Don't know what this means; "what characters?"
Are you referring to the windows "tool bar" or some other tool bar?

[KD1SH]

   Try this: at the far left side of the address bar, click on the little padlock symbol and set the "automatically upgrade this site to a secure connection" option to off. After doing that, the padlock symbol will have a red slash through it. Then, if your browser is behaving like mine, you should have the individual avatar icons back and the page should appear as it did before. I find that it also helps sometimes to clear all cookies and site data.

Ever since I got the Firefox update from Feb. the whole board has seemed to shrunk (again) and lacks the icons people use for their posts. This would happen from time-to-time in the past but ultimately in a day or so it would resolve, (not from me!). I'm curious if somebody else is suffering the same fate.

[W3SLK]

I saw that in the other thread and that was the issue. Everything is back to normal. I don't have to squint to read the board anymore. What's strange it was only the board that was problematic. The sidebars remained the same. Go figure.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

And yet, I can call up this site in http or https in Firefox, Edge, or I.E., and don't see anything different in each overall screen. I can use a 32 inch monitor and compare two browsers at one time looking at the same site.
No strange characters, no missing characters, overall size, feature, and function seems identical.

Must be Jersey Magic!