MS Word to database

[netfrugal]

I've noticed that when someone copies text from a word document and pastes it into a text field and then submitted to a database there are some pretty weird characters that show up.

for example: ’

Does anyone know a fix for that?

[rsmith]

You need to strip all the formatting out before inputting it into sql.

[netfrugal]

Yes, true. That would be the ideal fix. But we're talking about people who don't know this, or don't read instructions.

I have web pages with forms, and I notice that some people will just copy and paste from word. I've put directions to explain they must not do this.

Is there a php function that assists with this? Or something I can do that will ensure proper formatting?

[kbc1]

You could use a free editor such as FCKEditor which when you paste the content it strips the ms word styles out for you. To the user, all they see different is a text area with toolbar icons. It makes your system look slightly more professional also. You can even change the config file so that you restrict what they can do i.e. bold, font formats, font size and colours etc.

http://www.fckeditor.net/