Solved for Now: Unwanted tags in Word imports

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Curlyshell
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Posts: 65
Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2019 9:14 am

Solved for Now: Unwanted tags in Word imports

Post by Curlyshell »

This post started with unwanted <p> tags in lists, but there's more.

I'm using Flare 2021 r3 and attempting a Word import. In past versions, we could modify the import file using a text editor and map styles to our hearts' content. Now that ability is gone, gone, gone. Why? How do we get around it?

FIRST, Why must my imported bullets contain <p> tags?

I have carefully prepared my document so everything is in styles, not inline formatting. Bullets are in "List Bullet" style.

When I attempt an import, the "Styles" tab forces me to add a <p> or <div> or <h> tag as part of the conversion.

In Flare's Options > XML Editor > Defaults, I have specified "Simple" Lists, as opposed to "Paragraph" Lists ("Paragraph" would insert <p> tags for each list item—which I don't want). But apparently, this setting applies only to lists inserted when you click the bullet button—not the lists you import?

The only thing I can think of is to specify some weirdo <p> class for the import, which I can later go in and remove using "Find Elements" in Find and Replace. (The "Find Elements" tab is much easier than RegEx, if it applies to what you're doing. I wish I'd discovered it earlier!) Anyone have a better idea?

SECOND, Is there any way to add image styles to the conversion?

Once again, I carefully put all my images into specific paragraph formatting except the inline images, which get specific character formatting. Unfortunately, there's no "image formatting" in Word.

Has anyone found a way around this without mapping by hand?

Thanks!
Last edited by Curlyshell on Thu Apr 14, 2022 10:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I'm a technical writer, not a developer," she said...
Curlyshell
Propeller Head
Posts: 65
Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2019 9:14 am

Re: Revised: Unwanted tags in Word imports

Post by Curlyshell »

I got the answer from Support:
  • The <p> tags in bullets is a bug: #163814.
    I'm dealing with that as described above: I map the List Bullet style from Word to a unique style made for this purpose. Bedbug is nice and entertaining, or use the curse word of your choice. Fun to eradicate.
  • The image styles is a feature request: #68576.
    I'm dealing with that also by assigning the images to special styles. In Word, I give images specific styles based on their role or appearance - exclusive to images, never used for text.
    Then I have unique <p> or <span> tags to map them to upon import. That'll make it possible to search and replace afterward.
Hope this helps someone.
"I'm a technical writer, not a developer," she said...
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