Why Formatted Text (Italic and Bold) Doesn't Always Work for Non-English Letters

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You might have noticed that some characters, such as 'é' and 'ö', don't always display properly. In this article, we'll explain why this occurs and provide some tips for working with these characters, including examples from German, Polish and Serbian languages.

The Issue:

Our text editor uses standard fonts provided by your browser. However, when it comes to previewing your text for platforms like LinkedIn, we need to convert the text into special fonts (unicode characters) that are compatible with LinkedIn's feed. This is because LinkedIn doesn't officially support bold or italic formatting in their posts.

The challenge arises when converting non-English letters into LinkedIn-compatible bold and italic fonts. Unicode characters, like 'é' and 'ö,' may not display correctly because the method used to generate these specially formatted characters doesn't work optimally for all letters. In some cases, like with Polish letters, they may not be formatted at all.

Examples of problematic characters:

German: ß, ä, ö, ü

Polish: ł, ś, ź

Serbian: č, ć, š, ž, đ

What You Can Do:

When working with non-English letters, it's important to keep an eye on the preview of your text.

Here are a few steps you can follow:

  • Monitor the preview: Always check the preview before finalizing your text to ensure that the formatting looks good on the platform where you'll be posting it.
  • Decide on a case-by-case basis: If you notice that certain non-English letters are not displaying properly, consider whether the special formatting is essential for your text. You may choose to keep the formatting or remove it, depending on the specific situation and the readability of your text.
  • Use alternative formatting: If the special formatting isn't working for a particular non-English letter, you can consider using other text formatting options, such as underlining or using quotation marks, to emphasize the text.

While our extension aims to provide formatting options for non-English letters, compatibility issues with certain platforms like LinkedIn can cause the formatted text not to display correctly.

By following the steps outlined above, you can ensure that your text looks its best, even when dealing with special characters and non-English letters.