How to use the blank table
Using our blank table and associated rules, albeit with some horses of your own choosing, will ensure every line you enter will be
consisting of the right kind of horses
in the right kind of proportions. This means you will be entering only lines which are well-structured
lines. And, as all TTF fans know, that is half the battle in this exciting competition.
The template can be used to list any number of horses from 18 all the way up to 36.
To cover a basic 18 selections, your strongest horses' names should be written against all the pink numbers
in col 3. But 18 is not really enough. To cover between 19 and 27 horses, further names should be added against
the yellow numbers. To cover between 28 and 36 horses (this is the range we recommend), your
more speculative horses' names should
be added against the green numbers.
There are two ways in which you can use our blank table. Either (i) print off a paper copy and
hand-write horses' names on the sheet or (ii) recommended, save the page to your computer's (My)
Documents folder, so you can open it off-line and type directly into the blank table.
Fuller instructions now follow...
1. How to print the blank table
1.1 To print the whole page
You can print out the page, while you are still online, in the normal way, from your web
browser. Click File > Print Setup... > at Margins, change the settings for all four
margins from the present setting (e.g. 25mm), down to 12mm (so as to see more table per page) > OK > click
File > Print > at print range, choose to print just the first two pages (that will span the full table) > if there is a choice between printing in B&W or colour, choose
B&W (no point in wasting expensive coloured inks) > at number of copies, choose 1 > OK. If you do not have a working printer for your own computer, you can call up this web page on some other computer e.g.
a friend's, one at work, or one in an internet cafe, and print the page from there.
1.2 To print just the table area
If you just want to print the bare table, with little or none of the extraneous text above or below it, set up the four
margins to 12mm as per item 1.1 > hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse down
the area of the page containing the table, so as to highlight just the whole of the table, taking
care to include the top and bottom borders of the table > with the table suitably highlighted,
release the mouse button > then click File > Print > at print range choose 'Selection' >
at number of copies, choose 1 > OK. The print-off will spread over two x A4 pages.
2. How to type directly on the screen
Being able to type on to the screen is the recommended option because it is then so much easier to add or delete
selections or shunt selections about, the same as we do it.
Start by downloading this page...
2.1 To download the web page
With this page still open in your browser, click File > Save as... > choose to save
in (My) Documents > choose to save as a web page complete (*.htm) > click Save > open your
(My) Documents folder > find the saved file (called ttfblank.htm) and make a copy of it >
name the copy after the current season so it reads, say, 2009-10 (or 2009-10.htm if file extensions
are set to be visible on your system). You now have a blank master for future years (ttfblank.htm), plus
a current copy to work on (2009-10.htm). There will be an associated folder from the download,
created by the browser, called something like 'files_ttfblank', which is for preserving the page's
formatting. There is no need to open that folder, but don't delete it. For easy access to the working copy
of the .htm file, create a shortcut to it on your desktop. Once that is done, double-click the shortcut >
choose 'Open with...' (not Open) and, from the list of available tools capable of opening a .htm
file, choose the browser (e.g. Internet Explorer). The
page will then open offline in the browser and will look exactly like the one you saw earlier online. Cont. in RH col. |
|
Cont. from LH col.
2.2 To edit the downloaded page
Right-click on the new shortcut > again choose 'Open with...' but, this time, select
whatever word processor or web editor is listed (e.g. Microsoft Word or Microsoft FrontPage, but
not Notepad, Wordpad nor Excel if any of those are listed).
2.2.1 To edit the page with MS Word or other Word Processor
The HTML file should open satisfactorily in most if not all brands of word processor since MS Word 2002. Just be careful, though, when resaving the file, after editing the contents, to
resave as a .htm file, not as a native word processor file (like .doc or .docx) as that will
greatly increase the KB-size of the file. One thing to be aware of, when opening the .htm file in a word
processor (or a web editor for that matter) is that you will see the outlines of all the layout tables which were used to construct the web page,
not just the intended border lines in and around the main table. Table outlines are not normally
seen when viewing the page in a web browser, only the intentional borders. Do not try to remove the
outlines. Just ignore them.
To start adding horses, click in any cell next to one of the pink number 1s and start typing away. Keep saving your work as you proceed and, at the end of each editing session, make a backup copy of the file
to external media just so you will never be in any danger of losing everything.
If you intend to print off a copy of the edited page at some stage, the best way is not from the
word processor or web editor. Instead, save the file (as a .htm file), then open the
file off-line in a web browser and print it from the browser. That will stop any table
outlines from showing on the printed copy.
If your word processor is handling the .htm file satisfactorily, skip the next part 2.2.2 and go to item 3.
2.2.2 To edit the page with a web editor
If, for some unknown reason, your word processor cannot open or edit the .htm file reliably, or you do not have a word processor installed, then using a web editor is the solution. There was a time when no word processors could open or edit HTML files so a web editor was always
needed. Consequently, there are dozens of different WYSIWYG web editors available. Though only a small few can
handle the file ttfblank.htm. They are Dreamweaver, FrontPage and GoLive, or the freebies Netscape Composer (which was a component within the Netscape 6
web browser), Nvu (which was a standalone version of Netscape Composer) and KompoZer (which was
a later, improved offshoot of Nvu). If you do not already have one of those six, the one to download would
be KompoZer. You will
not need to learn anything about HTML or web design. The tool is just
a vehicle to open the table so you can type straight in it. Compiling a shortlist in a web editor is just as easy as
doing the same thing in a Word table or an Excel worksheet.
KompoZer does not require installing, it just runs. Extract the zip file's contents directly into a new folder called Kompozer > move the folder so it has the
path C:\Program Files\Kompozer. Then
put a shortcut to KompoZer on the desktop, and one in the Send To menu. You will now be able to
open KompoZer and browse to the .htm file to open it or, alternatively, right-click on the .htm file and choose
Send To to cause it to open in KompoZer.
3. Finally
If you do intend to compile your own shortlist of horses, rather than use the main list by
Capital Ratings, using our blank table as your template will, at least, ensure your horses are
efficiently arranged. And the associated rules within the table will then ensure that every line you enter will be a well-constructed line of ten. Good luck with
your go-it-alone endeavours and thank you for using our system as the basis. |