You won't see on the surface, but Microsoft Word adds all sorts of hidden tags to material that is created there. When you copy it over to Neopoet, you might see problems like extra linebreaks where there shouldn't be, or other formatting issues.
How do you solve this?
There are two ways. The first is foolproof:
Using Notepad
First, start by selecting the poem in Microsoft Word that you want to copy. Then copy it, either by selecting "copy" from the toolbar, pressing the keyboard shortcut Control-C, or by selecting "copy" in in the right-click context menu.
Now the slightly difficult part: Open up Notepad. You can find this in Windows 98, XP, or Vista by clicking the Start Menu. In Vista, select "All Programs" (you don't have to do this in other versions). Then go to Accessories. You'll see Notepad: 
Just click on it and let it open.
Paste your work into Notepad. This will strip away all the hidden formatting. It's literally what-you-see-is-what-you-get.
Now cut your work from Notepad. You should cut instead of copying because you'll see for sure that the cut worked.
Now fire up Neopoet, select, "submit a poem", and paste your work. It should be exactly as you want it!
Using "Paste from Word"
First, start by selecting the poem in Microsoft Word that you want to copy. Then copy it, either by selecting "copy" from the toolbar, pressing the keyboard shortcut Control-C, or by selecting "copy" in in the right-click context menu.
Now, fire up Neopoet. You'll see a bar that looks like this:
Select the "Paste from Word" icon (the icon with the little clipboard with the "W" icon). This will launch a screen. (Hint: Having problems launching the screen? You probably have a pop-up blocker. Try this: Hold down the SHIFT key on your keyboard as you click the button. This should temporarily override the blocker.)
You'll get a second screen that looks like something this:
Paste your work into the box. Then, click "GO". Your work will appear in the "submit a poem" page and you can go on normally. Look the work over once or twice -- you might have to fix small inconsistencies.
This method isn't foolproof. It might not work for everyone. If you are still having trouble, try the Notepad method.
A few other words
If you try both methods and they still don't work for you -- contact us. Save your Microsoft Word document and send it to us so we can try to duplicate the problem. We tweak our filters and settings from time to time. Maybe there is something we can improve.
