Apuntesd 5

Office suites
1. MS Word: From 2007 onwards typing =lorem(i) or =lorem(i, j) in MS

Word creates greeking text--don't forget to hit the enter key; i and j
need to be integers, where i stands for the amount of desired para-
graphs and j numbers the sentences per paragraph. j has a default
value of 3 and a maximum set to 6665. >> screenshots
2. Open Office: An extension named Magenta Lorem ipsum generator
is available at services.openoffice.org. Once installed, an icon will be
shown in a toolbar below the menu bar, with the option to insert a
number of paragraphs, the maximum is set to 25. >> screenshots
3. Libre Office: Magenta Lorem Ipsum Generator 2.0.2, available for
LibreOffice 3.3, LibreOffice 3.4, and LibreOffice 3.5.
Lorem Ipsum plugins: content management systems (CMS)
◦ Joomla
◦ Dummy Content: an editor button and system plugin
(Joomla extension) that sets random dummy copy in arti-
cles or in other content item that have editors like custom
HTML modules, category descriptions, or third party con-
tent.
This is quite a problem to solve, but just doing without greeking text
won't fix it. Using test items of real content and data in designs will
help, but there's no guarantee that every oddity will be found and
corrected. Do you want to be sure? Then a prototype or beta site
with real content published from the real CMS is needed—but you’re
not going that far until you go through an initial design cycle.
Lorem Ipsum actually is usefull in the design stage as it focuses our

attention on places where the content is a dynamic block coming
from the CMS (unlike static content elements that will always stay
the same.) Blocks of Lorem Ipsum with a character count range pro-
vide a obvious reminder to check and re-check that the design and
the content model match up.
Kyle Fiedler from the Design Informer feels that distracting copy is
your fault:
1
If the copy becomes distracting in the design then you are doing some-
thing wrong or they are discussing copy changes. It might be a bit annoy-
ing but you could tell them that that discussion would be best suited for
another time. At worst the discussion is at least working towards the final
goal of your site where questions about lorem ipsum don’t.
Summing up, if the copy is diverting attention from the design
it’s because it’s not up to task.
Typographers of yore didn't come up with the concept of dummy copy

because people thought that content is inconsequential window
dressing, only there to be used by designers who can’t be bothered
to read. Lorem Ipsum is needed because words matter, a lot. Just fill
up a page with draft copy about the client’s business and they will
actually read it and comment on it. They will be drawn to it, fiercely.
Do it the wrong way and draft copy can derail your design review.
Asking the client to pay no attention Lorem Ipsum isn't hard as it

doesn’t make sense in the first place, that will limit any initial inter-
est soon enough. Try telling a client to ignore draft copy however,
and you're up to something you can't win. Whenever draft copy
comes up in a meeting confused questions about it ensue.
Summing up, really:
Lorem Ipsum is a tool that can be useful, used intentionally it may

help solve some problems. If you go about content strategy the
wrong way, fix that problem.
torches and pitchforks, wanting to tar and feather it at the least, run-
ning it out of town in shame.
One of the villagers, Kristina Halvorson from Adaptive Path, holds

steadfastly to the notion that design can’t be tested without real
content:
I’ve heard the argument that “lorem ipsum” is effective in wireframing or

design because it helps people focus on the actual layout, or color
scheme, or whatever. What kills me here is that we’re talking about creat-
ing a user experience that will (whether we like it or not) be DRIVEN by
words. The entire structure of the page or app flow is FOR THE WORDS.
If that's what you think how bout the other way around? How can you
evaluate content without design? No typography, no colors, no lay-
out, no styles, all those things that convey the important signals that
go beyond the mere textual, hierarchies of information, weight, em-
phasis, oblique stresses, priorities, all those subtle cues that also
have visual and emotional appeal to the reader. Rigid proponents of
content strategy may shun the use of dummy copy but then design-
ers might want to ask them to provide style sheets with the copy
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decks they supply that are in tune with the design direction they re-
quire.
Or else, an alternative route: set checkpoints, networks, processes,

junctions between content and layout. Depending on the state of af-
fairs it may be fine to concentrate either on design or content, re-
versing gears when needed.
Or maybe not. How about this: build in appropriate intersections and

checkpoints between design and content. Accept that it’s sometimes
okay to focus just on the content or just on the design.
Luke Wroblewski, currently a Product Director at Google, holds that

fake data can break down in real life:
Using dummy content or fake information in the Web design process can
result in products with unrealistic assumptions and potentially serious de-
sign flaws. A seemingly elegant design can quickly begin to bloat with un-
expected content or break under the weight of actual activity. Fake data
can ensure a nice looking layout but it doesn’t reflect what a living,
breathing application must endure. Real data does.
Websites in professional use templating systems. Commercial pub-
lishing platforms and content management systems ensure that you
can show different text, different data using the same template.
When it's about controlling hundreds of articles, product pages for
web shops, or user profiles in social networks, all of them potentially
with different sizes, formats, rules for differing elements things can
break, designs agreed upon can have unintended consequences and
look much different than expect

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Office suites

1. MS Word: From 2007 onwards typing =lorem(i) or =lorem(i, j) in MS

Lorem Ipsum plugins: content management systems (CMS)

Lorem Ipsum actually is usefull in the design stage as it focuses our

Typographers of yore didn't come up with the concept of dummy copy

Asking the client to pay no attention Lorem Ipsum isn't hard as it

Summing up, really:

Lorem Ipsum is a tool that can be useful, used intentionally it may

One of the villagers, Kristina Halvorson from Adaptive Path, holds

I’ve heard the argument that “lorem ipsum” is effective in wireframing or

Or else, an alternative route: set checkpoints, networks, processes,

Or maybe not. How about this: build in appropriate intersections and

Luke Wroblewski, currently a Product Director at Google, holds that

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