My Mate Paul

 

My Mate Paul: a multi-voice poem (where the audience imagine the words not given)

 

Hi. How are you?

……………...

Only had the two

……………

Glad you could make it

……………

Dancing! We’re gonna boogie n’ shake it

You what?

What?

Yeh, the drink’s dear

What? Too loud in here

My mate Paul will be here soon

Then you just watch the “tarts” all swoon

……………………..

No. He’s got a “trouble and strife”,

Couldn’t call her, “a wife”

………………..

No. She’s lucky that Paul decided to stay

She’s a bitch, takes most of his pay

……………………………

She used to be hot, a bit of a looker

Now all she does is stand over her cooker

Whenever they fight, it’s always the same

She’s always the one that’s to blame

Paul can get any woman he chooses

But he looks after a woman that’s all covered in bruises

……………………..

He does! He’s a guy that really cares!

He never went out for a week after she fell down stairs

……………………

He would never hit her. Just the odd slap round the ear

She never complains. Never a tear

……………………………

No flowers. He would never buy her a rose,

Only present he ever gave her was, a bit of a dose.

To his kids, he is great

To his pals, he’s our mate

Here he comes, walking tall,

The man of the moment, my mate Paul!

………………………..

You what? That’ll leave a scar

This time you’ve gone too far.

Make her tell the Police she started a fight

But you sure have put a dampener on the night

Multi-voice poem as Artwork

Language translators.

 Some more information on how to put a language translator onto your website.

I have now, at last, got a language translator that works on my Altervista site. It is: http://free-website-translation.com/

Of course, language translators will not translate poems that are posted as pictures. However, multi-voice poems are usually so intricate and exact that a translation of an html (multi-voice poem) post sends the text all over the place. However, the text will go back to where it should be when the Language Translator is turned off, or when the viewer exits the webpage.

Even if someone looks at a multi-voice poem and they don’t speak the language of the poem, I believe that the poem can still look fascinating. I intend doing a Post soon which will be a multi-voice poem made into an art work. I think multi-voice poems are intrinsically artistic. As I said in a previous Post, a human rights group had wanted to use my multi-voice poems as artworks for a human rights exhibition. Unfortunately, the organiser became ill and it didn’t happen. The intention was for some entire poems to be painted (in various formats) as stand alone pictures. And for phrases from the poems to be pasted around huge stretches of wall. I think it would have worked. I would be glad for someone else to try this. eg. an art gallery or a human rights group.

 

I found a useful post on the web with regard to language translators for WordPress.com: https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/multi-languages-of-the-same-theme?replies=8#post-551125 Posted by timethief who is a member of WordPress.com Forums.

As s/he says, “If you wish to use this code then you will have to replace the URL for my blog i.e. onecoolsitebloggingtips.com with the URL for your blog throughout.”

 

If you go to the site and copy the html for the language translator and then paste it into an editor like Notepad. Then you replace that person’s URL for their website with the URL for your website (Edit; Replace; Replace All.) Check that the change has been done properly-I seemed to have gotten two URL’s for each line when I posted into WordPress.com. So you then go to WordPress.com and paste in the html editor your version of the code from the site with your own URL replacements. Preview it to check it is ok. Then Publish.

So thanks to timethief for this helpful Post and I finally got it working ok. (I am a beginner but I think that this method for WordPress.com works-where many others did not work-is because the html is a set of hyperlinks to a site where the translation is done. So the translation is not done on your actual site-so no potentially risky coding on site.)

Please have a look at each of my multi-voice sites and at the different language translators now on each.

Web addresses are:       

 

https://multivoicepoetry.wordpress.com/

 

And another at:

 

http://multi-voicepoetry.blogspot.co.uk/

 

And also at:

 

http://multi-voicepoetry.yolasite.com/

 

And now also at:

 

http://multivoicepoetry.altervista.org

 

 

 

RECENTLY PUBLISHED MULTI-VOICE POEMS OF MINE:

On 15/4/2015 My Multi-voice poem  Ripples was published in Issue 1 of Rooms.

On 24/6/2015 I learned that my Multi-Voice poem Many Different Animals would be used by Dupe web magazine in the Wild Issue:  http://wearedupe.tumblr.com/About

 

And also on the web: 1/9/2015: http://issuu.com/severinelit/docs/freedom1

A little matter of Economics multi-voice poem.

 

Using a language translator for your website

LANGUAGE TRANSLATORS.                                                    

I have always been interested in the many different ways there are (or are not) to translate languages on your website (or blog). What I say goes for Blogs as well as websites. Some WordPress themes are said to be “translation ready”-making it easier to translate. But they don’t actually translate. I have spent ages trying to work out how to get free translation on WordPress.com and failed. WordPress.org websites costs money to use but you can get actual translators that are designed for them. There are free ones but the best translators cost money (or so the experts say).

Google Translator translates and is free. I don’t think it worked for me on WordPress.com because it uses Javascript which WordPress does not like.

My Yola website already has a Google language translator there. You just have to get it ready to go.

I could not get any type of translator to work on my WordPress.com website. I tried Google translator which didn’t work on Blogger either (strangely enough as they are both the same company I thought). But I added a Bing Translator to Blogger and it worked. Google Translator works on the self hosted WordPress but not on WordPress.com (the free site)

I could not get any translator to work on my Altervista website. I have just started using Altervista and it does not Blog at all with the beginner’s theme website I have. Also it is not user friendly (well, not Ashby friendly).

 

Here are some translators which are free and you just have to put in the URL of your site (into their little code manufacturer) to get some code which you add to your post or page. Even I can do this. How good the translators are-as regards accuracy-I don’t know.

This is one web address http://www.microsoft.com/Web/solutions/mstranslator.aspx

Also there is

http://www.theedublogger.com/2014/06/23/how-to-add-a-google-translate-widget-to-your-blog/

And of course: https://www.bing.com/widget/translator

 

Addendum.

I have not tried the ones below.

http://imtranslator.net/translation/#

http://ackuna.com/pages/translate_this

http://www.freetranslation.com/

http://itranslate4.eu/en/

http://www.systranet.com/web

http://www.conveythis.com/

https://www.babelfish.com/

This is a site that lists lots of translators:

http://www.lexicool.com/translate-web-page.asp

An excellent article: http://lifehacker.com/five-best-language-translation-tools-1634228212

And this too: http://listoffreeware.com/list-of-best-free-translation-software/

A beginner’s guide to putting pictures onto your website via an html post.

 

Subtitled: Saving a multi-voice poem using “Print Screen” command: Part 3.

This has been a long and difficult road but hopefully it will be easier for you. I encountered “a few” difficulties doing what I thought would be easy.

The most helpful web editors doing this were Microsoft Expression Web 4 (which is available on free download and has no time limit on usage –so the experts say-no matter what is says when downloaded). I also used a different web editor for the first time. Alley Code is a new web editor I had never tried before. It was available on free download.  It worked well. Both web editors correctly showed the two page poem Roadblock on Design mode and on Preview mode.

I spent a lot of time trying to get the html for two Print Screen Command pictures to work properly in the html editors of Blogger and WordPress.

WORDPRESS.COM

Firstly –as a beginner in html- I was not sure what happened when you went to Insert on your web editor to insert your two pictures. I had thought that the code was a representation of the picture. Then I thought perhaps the code linked to the picture which had been somehow saved in the Web editor and would Post to my website along with the html. Neither was right. When you go to Insert and find the picture file you are looking for, in our case a picture file but it could be any image file, you insert an identifying code into the html - from the picture. And this can be used to trace it later.

Please put a space between your two pictures in the html-to stop them appearing side by side rather than one above the other (use paragraph tabs for instance). The two files should be in the Body part of your html one above the other.

You need to have your two picture files already in the Media gallery of your website. It is easy to add picture files to most website picture galleries. Although I had both pictures there, when I Posted the html into the html editor on my site it did not work. I don’t think the html “found” the pictures properly (on the WordPress Post it showed an icon and the alternative text where the picture should have been). So, on WordPress.com, I went to the Picture gallery (I selected insert media and it took me to the Gallery). I clicked on each of the files one by one. For each file I selected it and made sure I had the image set to the right size. For the first file I clicked it (it shows a tick when it is selected) and went to Inspect Element. I then copied the identification part of the image (the src bit). It is in a box labeled URL. I put this in instead of the identifier script I had already in my web editor (the identifying bit between the quote marks). Make sure you replace one bit with exactly the same bit  of code (the identifying bit).  I then did the same for the second bit of src image code. I then Published this and it worked. So, you should be able to see a Roadblock poem added to my site via a Microsoft Expression Web 4 editor (that is how I have titled it). It looks clear and is the right size. Again, I tried books, and help sites and Googling for help but I had to stumble my way through it.

You can also see the URL and set sizes of pictures on WordPress.com by going to Media and then to Media Library and double clicking a file.

 

BLOGGER

Also on Blogger-when trying to Post the html code I had made up- the pictures did not show. Only an icon and the alternative text. So I went to insert Media and then, From this blog. I then clicked to select the picture. A tick mark appears when selected. When you have selected a picture, you must pick Extra Large picture from the options of size that you are given. Right click and from the options choose: Inspect Element. (I could not see a URL option). You will see a lot of text highlighted that describes picture size and details. Choose to Copy this code. This is the entire code necessary for your picture to be identified and published at the correct size. Delete all the image code for each picture (in your web editor) and replace it with the appropriate code you have gained from each of the pictures on Blogger picture Gallery. You can insert this code either directly into the html on your Post where that picture should be. Or copy it and paste into your web editor (which is preferable if you want to add text and make changes). The code for the Blogger picture seems to be a hyperlink rather than just a link (but it does work). I now have the Roadblock two page poem on my Blogger website. It is slightly too small to see clearly.

 

To summarise: How to place your images into a Post for Blogger and WordPress.com You have your images already in your Media Gallery. Make sure they are the right size (by selecting and changing if required). Copy the URL or identifying code for the pictures you want to use. This can be placed directly into the website’s html editor at the right point in your code. Or can be placed at the right point in your code in your web editor.

 

Of the two methods of placing your print screen pictures onto your site as a Post, you may think that the method where you simply post it in from your Media Gallery is the simplest. I didn’t always get that working though-sometimes the Post placed the pictures side by side rather than one on top of the other. However, if you can Post your print screen pictures as part of an html Post then you have learnt a lot about html. Also, you can add bits of text and other links as well. If you can do it, please try the web editor method (both methods were compared in my last Post).

Glossary:

Within the angle brackets your image will have the identifier: img src=“yourpicturefilenamehere.png” If you are using a format other than PNG then it will be a different format at the end.

You will also have to (in your web editor) give a short alternate description of the image. And also a long more detailed one in case it does not show. Your web editor will ask you for it when you Insert your picture file.

src means source.

img means: image.

html means: hyper text markup language

Links allow users to e.g. click their way from page to page within a website.

A hyperlink is a text or an image you can click on, and jump to another document.

 

Always be tidy and use a separate folder in My Documents for when you are using the screen shot command. It keeps everything together. But all web files that you have prepared in your web editor and are ready to be opened by your browser (e.g. Google Chrome) should be saved in your My Websites Folder (I read this in a help forum but I am able to open web files from other folders). It saves automatically to there when I click on Save Web Files. Make sure you always Save with the correct format in Save As Type (e.g. Save As Type in Microsoft Expression Web 4 automatically saves as Web Pages for me). Do not save a web page as text.

PS

In the last post I gave a link to a site which said that Alt and Print Screen allows you to copy and paste the active screen instead of everything on the screen. Please try it, but it didn’t work for me. Here is another site that says it should work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Print_screen

 

I eventually added the two print screen pictures to Publisher. This is a text and picture editor. I saved this as Rich Text and it seems to have worked ok. Memory used up was about 5 mega bytes.

 

And also, in one Post I was worried about print screen pictures added from html Posts maybe using up a lot of memory. Well they don’t.

 

ROADBLOCK, using Microsoft expression web 4

Saving a multi-voice poem using “Print Screen” command: Part 2.

 At the end of the previous Post, I set myself the challenge of finding a way to put more than one page (or one screen shot) into a Post-in order to replicate a two page multi-voice poem. To try and get one page under another for print screen shots I have done the following (plus follow the instructions for the “print screen” command article I recently wrote). Again, it does matter what browser you are using. Google Chrome is a trusted browser.

There are (at least) two different ways to try.

The first is to put your two picture files into the picture folder for your website host Picture Gallery and then insert them from there into your post or page. Make them as big as possible so you can see the text clearly. Have them as near as possible vertically-so there is no space between the two pictures. And have them fitting for size and text alignment. Theoretically this should be easier than working with html and css.

The other is to put both picture files into a photo or web editor and line them up there. I have tried lots of different editors to do this. One that added the pictures nicely for me was Microsoft Word when opened as a Blog post. I didn’t even know it could do that. Oh, and Microsoft Expression Web 4 also worked. Many did not work for me but that may have been my lack of experience in using them. So, I will try and place my two page poem Roadblock onto all my multi-voice sites using whichever method works (if any).

This is the method I used for Microsoft Expression Web 4 (use whatever web editor works for you): I obtained one screen shot of each of the two pages of my multi-voice poem Roadblock. I opened a new Microsoft Word file and pasted in the screen shot. I clicked on the screen shot illustration to pick it then: Save As Picture. Save this as a PNG (portable network graphics) photo file. This is a good quality format. I have then clicked on this file (to pick it) and Opened With [an option given] Serif PhotoPlus X5. I cropped this till only the poem and none of the extraneous bits were showing. I saved this as a PNG file (but there are other options too). I then opened Microsoft Expression Web 4 (you use whatever html editor you use) and changed the title in the html heading to Roadblock. I then went to Insert and then Picture and then File. I found both and entered page 1 then below it page 2 in the body section of the html. When I go to Design view it seems to have placed the two pages as near as they can be. I have just to place the poem into my Websites.

Always be tidy and use a separate folder in My Documents for when you are using the screen shot command. It keeps everything together.

Addendum: I have just seen these instructions which are useful for just capturing the active screen (cutting out any extraneous bits):

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/take-screen-capture-print-screen#take-screen-capture-print-screen=windows-7 [This is very useful and I will be using these bits of advise.]

And this tells you about some limitations: http://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/27946/is-it-possible-to-take-high-quality-screen-captures

And this that I have not tried yet: http://www.7capture.com/ (free print screen capture software that claims to be excellent).

Since I wrote the above I have put two Roadblock picture files in the WordPress Picture Gallery. I tried many times to get the two files to line up correctly-same size and aligned vertically. When I eventually did get it working in Preview, I Published this. Annoyingly the two pictures moved away from each other when Published. I had to Trash the Post. This happens a lot for me. I get things all aligned in WordPress Preview and then they drift apart when Published. So my one picture poem worked ok on WordPress but not my two picture poem. I have also found that when you change Theme that it can change the alignment of complicated text: although some experts told me this would not happen. So I am wary about changing Themes.

I was able to load the two picture files and manoeuvre them properly on Blogger. I have Published this.

I have also tried to use the method where you put the picture files into a picture or web editor and Post them directly to your Website. This never worked for WordPress. I will now try it for Blogger.

One last tip. I like photography and often take pictures of Nature. These are useful for adding to Websites. Pictures you take can also be altered in a Paint package or used directly as background.