Drop That Extra Space After a Period, Issue #19
Belinda Sandor
Leading Women to Start, Grow, and Scale Successful Virtual Assistant Businesses | Speaker | Coach | Amazon #1 Best Selling Author
Back in the dark ages, when I first learned to type, I was taught to add two spaces following every period. Today, decades later, it’s a reflex almost like breathing.
In the digital age, the reason for that second space no longer exists. In fact, and because that extra space now “counts” as a character, it can lead to some unwanted spacing issues, one that I see often on websites and in newsletters.
The problem is that sometimes, the extra space “character” occurs at the beginning of a line, making it look like a mistake (think sloppy). Because the screen shrinks and grows depending on the size of the screen of a given device, it’s impossible to predict when and where this will happen.
To correct this?before?hitting the send or publish key, use the search function that’s a part of your browser:
On the PC hit CTRL F; on the Mac, it’s Command F. This will open a window for you to search the text. Sometimes the search box is at the top of the browser, sometimes at the bottom, so you might need to look around to find it.
Then type . (period) 2 spaces in the search box and Highlight All.
You can then move through the document and delete the extra spaces.
And by the way, don’t forget to check for those unnecessary additional spaces after “, ?, and !, too, using the same method!
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Belinda Sandor is the Founder of The VA Connection where she works with new, aspiring, and established Virtual Assistants to help them build thriving businesses through her free online community, courses, and coaching programs. You can learn more here:?https://www.thevaconnection.com/?
HR Content Specialist and Writer
2 年Hi Belinda! On a PC you can also do Ctrl+H for an automatic find and replace--put two spaces in the "find what" field and one space in the "replace with" field. For whatever reason, I find you sometimes need to do this a few times to clear out all the double spaces in a given document.
Virtual Assistant Extraordinaire and CEO at Your PA and More
2 年Another place that 'unwanted' space characters can cause problems is when you have a list of email addresses in a CSV file to upload somewhere. Some applications consider a space at the end of an email address an invalid email and won't import it. If I received a list from a client I always 'find and replace" spaces with deletes in the email column. Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there.
Helping small business owners design and implement effective policies and procedures so they can manage time efficiently and remain focused on the direction of their business.
2 年Absolutely who knew. Thanks Belinda, I’m old school too & I always just thought people were getting sloppy with their punctuation ????. I will now be more diligent. What about the other thing that is annoying me too? The use of a comma (,) after the word and. And was always used (in my education) as the “pause” in the sentence so in my view, we don’t need a (, & an and) ??. Love your feedback on this one. Regards, Colleen
Personal CFO Services for Individuals and Business Owners
2 年Hi Belinda, great information. I have the Grammerly App extension added to every browser and email address I have. I absolutely love this tool and can not imagine life without it. Grammerly is not only a spell checker but an even better writing assistant and will catch all of those auto pilot 2 space errors. I remember the days when it was a deadly sin to not have 2 spaces also. The one constant is change - thank goodness for Technology so we can keep up.
I help businesses have a professional look they can be proud of. Web Design | Logo Design | Book Design
2 年I have a client that likes the look of the extra space! I use discretion in using it though since it can mess things up.