Hi Barerider. I prefer not to start writing my posts in Word for that very reason....because my posts may end up being posted on several forums when I have something to share. I started using Google Docs as a big clip board years ago, back before MS and Apple began pushing their own cloud based services, because at that time I could access my works-in-progress from anywhere, any device, anytime, which was a rare convenience for me in those days. In any case, I have noticed that Google Docs can swallow most anything that I throw at it regardless of where or how it might have been originally created. It conveniently and nearly transparently strips away all of the proprietary codes and formatting, creating a pretty clean copy that can be posted with little touch up needed, nearly anywhere. I routinely incorporate (with the owner's permission) parts of messages created in other formats (including Word) that people have sent me, into posts that I have made on this and other similar forums very successfully. I first copy and paste the parts that I want into a Google Doc, edit and complete my post, then copy and paste the completed draft of my post into the "reply" or "compose" box of my chosen forum. I have never had a problem with any of the forum platforms taking my text as a straight copy-and-paste transfer from a Google Doc.
I also use the same process to back up longer posts that I find myself initially starting to write on the fly in the post "reply" box as with here on this forum. Year ago, I would occasionally loose a post before or as it was posting due to a glitch in the site or in my internet connection, both here and elsewhere, only to have to start from scratch and recompose it again. Having endured that pain often enough over the years, I now copy and past to Google Docs as a backup when I am composing longer posts on the fly as insurance should something go wrong. For me Google Docs serves as a robust clip board that I can access from nearly anywhere on the planet. Of course Google harvests data from everything that I write. But then again why shouldn't Big Data take notice of my preference to be a free range natural human?
-Dan
