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WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get!

By
Real Estate Agent with Brown Realty, 210-789-4216, TREC #0492321

WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get!
I have to admit when I first saw “WYSIWYG”, I had no idea what it meant, and being a Newbie last year,  I was afraid to ask. Now, I was very familiar with all those Army abbreviations, since I made a career learning many of them, but this “WYSIWYG”  had me confused. Funny, I knew what HTML was all about, since the tech guy at my office had drilled me with that one for editing and adding things like video to my website.

Active RainFor some reason, I was hesitant to ask all my mentors last January 2011, what “WYSIWYG” meant, but my friend, and fellow AR blogger, Cathy Bureau, made a comment on one of her posts and said, “What You See Is What You Get”. Ah Ha!! The light came on, and I realized back then that some AR posts looked a lot better than others. That’s when I started to ask more questions. I knew that the AR editor was not being used by the top bloggers for their posts. That’s when  I learned about Google Docs from Clark Cook, Broker and Owner from Fayetteville, NC. Stop by and say Hello to Clark, an urge him to come back to blogging. Check out one of my earlier posts, and you will see what I mean.

If you would had seen some of my very first posts, you would had known why I was not happy about “WYSIWYG”. No spacing, and no photos were used on some. Even now, with Dick Greenberg’s Contest  for a Sensei Mentor, I am helping another Active Rain Member, who has asked for help to make her posts look more attractive. Believe me, I truly understand, since I was there myself last year when I first started blogging. Sometimes, we just don’t know what we don’t know.

Next, I was excited and thrilled when I got a message from my fellow Rain Member in Northern Virginia, Steve Bachman, who taught me how to use that image appearance button to position my photos and images for my blogs. 10-10-4 were Steve’s recommendations, and I have since learned the different effects you get when you increase these numbers. By May 2011, the month for my very first contest by the way, I was well on my way to writing more attractive looking posts. Here is a past post last May 2011, Cinco de Mayo in San Antonio, TX  Note the comments from my friend Steve Bachman.

So for any New Members, or even some Not So New Members, who are  not happy with “WYSIWYG”,  You may want to get some help like I did by signing up for AR Boot Camp, or find a mentor in Dick Greenberg’s Contest to help give your posts a better appearance.

Comments(67)

Charita Cadenhead
eXp Realty - Birmingham, AL
Serving Jefferson and Shelby Counties (Alabama)

I first became familiar with WYSIWYG back in the '80s when Lotus software was popular.  As for me, I use 10-10-1 and that seems to work for me.

May 02, 2012 11:19 PM
Donna Yates
BHGRE - Metro Brokers - Blue Ridge, GA
Blue Ridge Mountains

Jerry: I remember having an "aha" moment with this too.  I would hear people say it (sound like whizzie wig) and finally it hit me, "what you see is what you get".  You make some great references in your post and going to check them out. 

BTW: (by the way) :-)   Thank you for your great service to our country. 

May 02, 2012 11:23 PM
Richie Alan Naggar
people first...then business Ran Right Realty - Riverside, CA
agent & author

For years I thought RESPA was short for respiratory failure.....and I am in the business. Every-time I used to hear it or read it, I would think...My... quite a few people get heart attacks when dealing with Real Estate

May 02, 2012 11:59 PM
Eileen Hsu
Douglas Elliman Real Estate - Manhattan, NY
LICENSED REAL ESTATE SALESPERSON

WYSIWYG does not always read so well in blog posts. It is always a good idea to make it easy read for the readers. Good post Jerry.

May 03, 2012 12:30 AM
Ron Cooks
The Real Estate Marketplace - Killeen, TX
Texas Real Estate, Ft Hood/Killeen Homes for Sale

Jerry, yet another good post!  Unfortunately, cutting and pasting text into the box does not always translate like you hope.

May 03, 2012 12:36 AM
Jonathan Benya
The Benya Group - Waldorf, MD
The Benya Group

WYSIWYG makes life easy for agents that don't understand how to write HTML code.  Unfortunately AR's WYSIWYG can get a little hairy at times, which is why you should always proof it as a draft before going live.  Thanks for the post!

May 03, 2012 12:43 AM
Sandy Acevedo
951-290-8588 - Chino Hills, CA
RE/MAX Masters, Inland Empire Homes for Sale

Hi Jerry, shame on you for not asking... you know that there is never a dumb question, especially around here at AR. And WYSIWYG isnot that simple. Great post....!!

May 03, 2012 01:21 AM
Fred Carver Real Estate Consulant
Retired BC Realtor - Victoria, BC
Accredited Real Estate Consultant

Hi Jerry...Congratulations on your feature and getting Spammed...seems the AR Spammers likes Featured posts...

Did anyone know what WYSIWYG Meant  when they started, like you said many of us were afraid to ask.

Have a Great Day!

May 03, 2012 01:25 AM
Cathy Criado
Criado Realty - San Antonio, TX
Making Real Estate Profitable

Hi Jerry, good post! Congrats on the feature, nice.  I know what you mean about military acronyms, as a dependent I had to learn a few. Ray Barrone on Everybody Loves Raymond takes the cake: AIS. Look it up, it's a funny episode.

I heard my ears buzzing, glad I stopped by. Actually, I tried yesterday but my comment didn't post and I was too tired to do over. Have a good day!

May 03, 2012 02:41 AM
Toni Weidman
Sailwinds Realty - Trinity, FL
20+ Years Selling Homes in New Port Richey, FL

Great post, Jerry, and congrats on the feature. There IS a lot to learn when you're new to AR. And it's a steady learning curve. I wish more folks would ask questions--there is so much knowledge here in the Rain.

May 03, 2012 02:46 AM
Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED
RETIRED / State License is Inactive - Portland, OR

At first I thought that WYSIWYG was some keyboard pattern.  It's great that we can learn by doing here and asking questions and seeing something you like, you want to learn more.  Great lightbulb moment!

May 03, 2012 02:56 AM
Reuben Fine
Fill-In-The-Blanks PDF Flyer Templates www.TurnKeyFlyers.com - Rossmoor, CA

WYSIWYG: "What you see is what you get" ==> thought that was a real estate term for "AS-IS" ;) lol...

May 03, 2012 06:46 AM
Frank Rubi
Frank Rubi Real Estate, LLC - Metairie, LA
FrankRubiRealEstate.com

Jerry thanks for bring up the point for newbies to ask questions. Carry on!

May 03, 2012 10:07 AM
Ron Cooks
The Real Estate Marketplace - Killeen, TX
Texas Real Estate, Ft Hood/Killeen Homes for Sale

Jerry, yet another good post!  Unfortunately, cutting and pasting text into the box does not always translate like you hope.

May 03, 2012 05:48 PM
Kathy Sheehan
Bay Equity, LLC 770-634-4021 - Atlanta, GA
Senior Loan Officer

Jerry you have come a long, long way in a short time.  

May 03, 2012 10:26 PM
Jerry Newman
Brown Realty, 210-789-4216, - San Antonio, TX
Texas REALTOR, San Antonio Military Relocation

@ Debbie. Bob gives a lot of great information in his webinars. Boot Camp just started this week, and we are off the a great start.

@ Joan. Thanks. I am working on improving content and graphics this year in all my posts.

@ Greg, We shouldn't be afraid to ask questions about any of those little things. But, we don't always ask.

@ Mike. It does take time to build a quality blog. I know you will get there soon. Keep on blogging!

@ Melissa. There is always something New to learn in this world of blogging. We certainly don't have to worry about being bored.

@ Dale. You are not alone when it comes to looking up these terms. I struggle with all the new text abbreviations.

@ Joni. Yes. I agree. We can get a lot of education and training right here in the Rain. We just have to ASK..

@ Doug. Now, that was different. I have known many New Home builders to build their Models, and load them up with upgrades, and the consumers find themselves spending more money, since they like what they see in the Models. Big difference between the base price and that final price with all the upgrades added.

@ Jeff. KISS was one of my favorites in the military. Never did like all those complex problems.

@ Phil. Yes, it is very different alright. I for one was glad AR made it simple for us beginners, who didn't know about HTML.

@ Gita. Boot Camp started yesterday, and Bob was awesome in his presentations. Not everyone is New in the Boot Camp. I believe that we have quite a mixture of AR members, who have signed up.

@ John. We never have any dull days when we are learning something New. I know I get excited whenever I learn something New.

@ Jamie. How I remember those first blogs that had to many words in that small text that was hard to read. Yes, Like you. I have come to appreciate the better looking posts with nice images and graphics, and less text.

@ Michael. Everyone says there is no "dumb" question. We just have to ask someone when we don't know.

@ Charita. I never mastered that Lotus Software back in the 80's. In fact, I was just getting my feet wet with all those computer games back then. I did take a Basic Computer Class while working on my Masters in the 80's, and often wandered why I didn't pursue a second Masters in Computer Technology. I guess I didn't want to spend another year going to school at nights after work. But, Today, I have a New mind set when it comes to learning new techy things.

@ Donna. It was my honor to Serve. Those " A Ha" moments raise our learning curve.

@ Richie, LOL. Now, that's a good one. I will have to remember this about RESPA.

@ Eileen. That has been my goal in AR, Making my posts more attractive for my readers to understand. I use images, and graphics, and sometime videos to get my point across.

@ Ron, I haven't had any issues with cutting and pasting once I got the hang of it. I stopped using the AR editor because the fonts were to small to read.

@ Jonathan. Yes, I do a lot of proofing in the draft mode, but in Google Docs and in AR before I release that Final product. I may spend more time on my posts than most, but I want them to be appealing to my readers.

@ Sandy. You are right. I should have asked one of my mentors. I was asking them everything else.

@ Fred. I picked up some additional points from all the SPAM. 10 points is better than deleting. Wishing you a Great Day too!

@ Cathy. I will have to look up AIS, since I don't watch much TV anymore. BTW, I will be in your neighborhood this weekend for an Open House.

@ Toni. You are so right about a lot to learn in AR. I am glad to see the New Boot Camp get off to a great start this week.

@ Carla. We all get these "Light Bulb" moments. The more we ask, the more we will learn.

@ Reuben, LOL. It is "AS-IS" in the blogging world.

@ Frank. Hoping this post will be very beneficial for many of our New Members.

@ Ron, Cutting and Pasting is easy as Pie.

@ Kathy. It's been a Fun Journey. I had a lot of help and support along the way. Have a Great Day!

May 04, 2012 12:47 AM
Terri Koepper
Reddy Realty LLC - South Windsor, CT
ABR, GRI, e-Pro, PSCS

Great post, but I also just wanted to say THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY!!!  

 

Terri Koepper

Dzen Realty, Inc.

South Windsor, CT

May 05, 2012 12:50 AM
Jerry Newman
Brown Realty, 210-789-4216, - San Antonio, TX
Texas REALTOR, San Antonio Military Relocation

Hi Terri. What a wonderful looking pet you have in your photo. Welcome to Active Rain! Thanks for your comment on my Service to our country. I was honored to Serve.

May 05, 2012 11:15 PM
Michelle M. Arnold
Keller Williams Realty Yuma - Yuma, AZ
Associate Broker

Terry, Thank You for writing this blog!  I've been off track lately and I'm trying to get back on.  Your post was just the refresher I needed!

Nov 13, 2012 04:02 AM
Jerry Newman
Brown Realty, 210-789-4216, - San Antonio, TX
Texas REALTOR, San Antonio Military Relocation

WOW! Michelle, This post goes back aways. I had almost forgotten that I had written it. But, I am glad you were able to use it as a refresher to get back on track with your blogging. Have a Great Day!

Nov 13, 2012 06:54 AM