I write in the forums with normal fullstop, two spaces and a capital letter in my posts but always seems to start the next sentence as a whole new paragraph.

Anybody have an idea why it works like that?

I see some other peoples posts that don't have such a problem so.....

Boring question but it's been bugging me :o)

I think it's the habit of inserting two spaces after a full stop, which is what I'm about to do.

Whereas placing just one space allows you to keep the paragraph intact. And I'm trying to keep this going to see if that's the cause because it happens to me too. I just used one space and so this should be in the same paragraph.

Not to be a pedant, but It's no longer considered necessary - or even normal - to include two spaces after the end of a sentence.

If you are interested in pedantic histories of such things, check out en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TeX

Basically, two spaces was a hack on monospace typewriters to create a more visually appealing document, prior to the advent of automated typesetting, 38 years ago.

TeX was the first system to really create accessible automated typesetting, setting the standard for computer typesetting for decades, and still broadly in use (in later iterations) particularly in academic circles. It was initially programmed by a single guy, Donald Knuth, who is an absolute genius as well as an interesting fellow.

TeX used to produce DVI (device independent) files - referring to the capacity of these files to be translated in to commands for different types of printing hardware - and then PS (postscript), which was the vector format graphics language used by many printers that Adobe's PDF format is derived from.

"Since version 3, TeX has used an idiosyncratic version numbering system, where updates have been indicated by adding an extra digit at the end of the decimal, so that the version number asymptotically approaches π. This is a reflection of the fact that TeX is now very stable, and only minor updates are anticipated."

Pedantry is awesome. If you are interested in modern printing history and the transition to phototypesetting and digital typesetting, two of the better museums are in Lyon (France) and Prague (Czech Republic).

@nnoble Cheers for the investigation. Time to lose my two space habit :o)

I thought the reason monospace typewriters (or their manufactures and the public) considered that style visually attractive was derived from even earlier printing technologies.

2 spaces is a crime against the environment and therefore humanity! Think of all the wasted paper, not to mention the calories you use from wastefully pressing the space bar! You then need to consume more food! Disgraceful! ;)

@voltaire
My uncle has been pestering me to investigate LaTEX (pronunciation "lay-tech") for academic publication-ready documentation.

I remember TeX (pronounced "tech") from a LONG time ago, but never had the patience to study it or incorporate it into my workflows.

Looks like I'll be doing a deep LaTEX dive shortly.

@michael2015 I suggest using LyX instead, it's much easier.