I'm not sure if this has been requested before. I tried several different variations of the subject, but came up empty.
Many sites like this one (where you upload files) also have a feature to type/paste the articles or stories directly onto the site. This serves two purposes. Instead of uploading a file, you can copy/paste it directly into a file which is compliant to the site, and it is a means of saving works in progress before submitting.
This would also serve to stop most of the problems with compatibility issues. Someone who has Office 2007 for example can paste directly without having to worry about the docx formatting. There will be bugs. Pasting from a notepad document tends to add extra spaces between lines, especially in a phpbb environment. Any fancy fonts in a Word or PDF document would be lost, but they really shouldn't be there to begin with as per the submission guidelines.
Just a thought to consider for future upgrades.
Saving Directly to Site
Moderators: Celeste Stewart, Ed, Constant