How can I get smart quotes to show up properly?

  • byjeffburger · Member ·

    I’m having persistent trouble with smart quotes (especially half quotes) on my site. See, for example, this page:
    http://byjeffburger.com/1973/11/01/joe-south-a-look-inside/ In the fifth line from the bottom, the half quote before the slash is pointing the wrong way. I’ve tried copying and pasting a correct half quote there and a few other tricks but nothing works. Is there a way to revert to straight quotes or to get smart quotess to always show up properly?

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

  • kraftbj · Staff ·

    Hi Jeff,

    WordPress.com will actually convert “regular” straight quotes (both full and half) to the smart style without needing to specifically copy/paste the special quotes.

    How are you adding your text in for your posts? Writing them elsewhere and copy/pasting, or doing that just for the quotes?

    Cheers!

  • byjeffburger · Member ·

    Yes, I’m aware that WordPress.com converts regular quotes to smart quotes. I am not copying and pasting—I’m entering text and quotes directly on my site. But as noted above, WordPress gets it wrong with half quotes in certain situations. In those cases, I’ve tried pasting a correctly pointed half quote into position, but WordPress automatically reverts to what it thinks it should be. Please see the example in my message above.

  • kraftbj · Staff ·

    Hi Jeff,

    We’re on the same page now. I’m testing out a few things and will ask the developers to check things out. As a head’s up, our annual company meeting is starting, so my responses may be delayed for the next few days.

    Thanks for your patience and for reporting this.

  • byjeffburger · Member ·

    Well, your last message said your response might be delayed a few days but that was a month ago…any progress on this issue??

    Thanks.

  • kraftbj · Staff ·

    Hi Jeff,

    My sincere apologies for the delays.

    As far as the way the process automatically converts, it will remain as it is for the time being (the same code is used on all WordPress sites–those on WordPress.com and those on their own servers).

    That said, when it does incorrectly convert quotes, you can fix it by using the Text Editor. When editing your post, click the “Text” tab on the upper-right above where your post content is.

    Then, replace the mis-transformed quote to the one of your choice by ending this code in it’s place. When adding it, do not include the space between the & and the #. I’m doing so here so it won’t convert it into a quote instead:

    • & #8217; for a closing curly single-quote ( ’ )
    • & #8216; for an opening curly single-quote ( ‘ )
    • & #8220; for a opening curly double quote ( “ )
    • & #8221; for a closing curly double-quote ( ” )

    Again, my sincere apologies for the delay. If you need anything else, please do let me know.

    Thanks!

  • byjeffburger · Member ·

    OK, thanks. I’ll try this next time the quote marks misbehave. Not the ultimate solution but this looks like a good workaround for now.

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