User:SOTO/Forum Archive/The Panopticon/@comment-26975268-20130201045831/@comment-188432-20130203025929

Well I don't recommend it because it goes against the whole idea of wiki editing. The notion is that we should all be working collaboratively. By going to an offline editor what you're effectively doing is bypassing any intermediate edits between the time you dump to your word processor and then return your changes to the page.

I strongly advise against it, but there are still people who do it.

If you must do it, thoguh, please make sure that your word processor is set to plain text. Don't just import to .doc (Word) format and then export from there again.

.doc and other rich text formats tend to introduce strange characters that we later have to clean up.

Also, if you're going to edit an article offline, I strongly advise you to put up the tag so that you discourage intermediate edits. If that fails to discourage people, though, please make sure you check what intermediate edits have happened since you started working offline, and incorporate them into your offline version as much as possible.

If you're going to work offline, you must also be mindful of any preloaded formats associated with the pages you're creating. You must use the latest preloadable format available. That's why I think it's best simply to start your articles online, using the preloadable formats from the pulldown list to start the first one of a series. Then, if you make more of a similar type, use the custom page input box to type in the name of the page whose format you're duplicating.

So let's say you're adding a bunch of days of the week (just to bring this discussion back on topic). Create 1 January (real world)] using the pulldown for the default timeline page. Then, start [[2 January (real world) by putting into the custom preload box.  Then, let's say you get to 25 February you take a break for a few days.  When you return, start 26 February by using the pulldown to make sure that the format for timeline pages hasn't changed.  Start 27 February based on 26 February and continue on until you need another break.  Rinse and repeat.