26 November 2016, 4:03

We have been using Mahara 1.7 for the past 4 years. In the summer we got a new Mahara installation which is currently on version 16.04. The old site will still be available for a period of time as an Archive. 

Some of our lecturers create templates by copying and pasting content from Word documents. These often include tables. Learners also often copy and paste content from Word or other applications. We advise them to always have a backup when working with text boxes so they often use Word as a backup.

Since we moved onto Mahara 16.04 we noticed that some of the content does not remain in the text boxes. Tables or text is copied and pasted, but once you click save and navigate away from the page (sometimes you don't even have to navigate away), the content disappears. The title changes to the default 'text' and content completely disappears. If there was content in text box previously and additional content is added, everything can be wiped.

However, this is not a consistent error. I am currently working with a lecturer who has a 27 page portfolio template. Different pages of the portfolio, different sections and different learners can be affected therefore we think the problem occurs when staff or students copy and paste. Once we managed to identify some UniCode characters, another time collapsible menu copied and pasted from Word caused the problem.

Has anyone come across anything similar or know the solution for this problem? Do we need to make certain changes to our text editor? Any help or advice would be much appreciated. 

26 November 2016, 11:31

Hi Bernadett, 

Yes, I have seen this before. It's due to the fact that users are copying text from a word document . Word inserts html formatting tags that may be interpreted as something else in your theme.

Do you see the text when you open the text box in edit mode when you view the raw html? I. e. From the advanced text box menu, click on the '<>' icon.

If you see the original text there, then it's to do with the class formatting. You can manually edit the formatting to remove the offending class. 

In general, I wouldn't recommend copying from Word due to this issue. If you must, paste the text into a no frills editor (notepad or something similar that has no formatting ) then copy that text into Mahara . That will ensure all formatting is removed. You can then apply formatting using the Mahara text menu.

Please let me know if this helps . 

Cheers , 

Ghada 

28 November 2016, 23:14

Hi Ghada, 

Thank you for your reply. No, I don't see the text in edit mode either. Once I save the text box, it displays on the page, but the minute you click on 'Display page' or navigate to a different page, the content disappears. Only the header saying 'Text' remains.  I also used Notepad to strip the formatting but the problem still exists. We have tried it with different types of content. 

Kind regards, 

Bernadett

28 November 2016, 9:17

Hello Bernadett,

You can also try pasting the Word text as "Text". There is a button in the editor when you expand it to see the whole button kitchen sink. It's in the third row to the right. That would strip out HTML formatting. Then you can do all the formatting in Mahara.

Cheers

Kristina

28 November 2016, 23:26

Hi Kristina, 

Thank you. I tried using the 'Paste as text' and 'Clear formatting' options too but they don't seem to solve the problem either. Are there any changes we can make to the text editor without impacting on the security settings? 

Kind regards, 

Bernadett

29 November 2016, 7:35

Hello Bernadett,

Can you please paste your text into a text box on http://demo.mahara.org and see if it also disappears? You can also send me the file that you are trying to paste so we can try to replicate the issue here.

As Ghada mentioned, it could be that your Word text contains some tags that interfere with the HTML on the site. That can be fixed.

Cheers

Kristina

30 November 2016, 1:04

Hi Kristina, 

Thank you. I copied and pasted the text into a text box on the Mahara demo site and it worked fine. All content, a larger paragraph as well as the line which contains the UniCode character remained on the page. I will email you the text file with the problematic part. This is just one example but would be great to identify the issue.

Thank you. 

Bernadett

30 November 2016, 8:33

Hi Bernadett , 

Can you check the collation on your database and tables in particular the artefact table . 

It should be UTF8. 

Thanks , 

Ghada 

01 December 2016, 0:38

Hi Ghada, 

I don't have access to the database but I forwarded your email to our Senior System's Developer who is back on Monday. 

He will be able to have a look and may be back with more questions. 

Kind regards, 

Bernadett