WordSmith

[rickk]

The new beta3 fixed my problems too.

Great job!!

This type of response is a major reason why we purchased WordSmith. Wish there were more like you guys.

Thanks,

TeamSTARS
Rick and Dick

[Winchell]

I was looking for something to complement my new Stowaway keyboard and noticed this thread. So I got a copy of WordSmith.

I must confess that I am seriously impressed. This is a quality product.

Add the responsiveness of the developer to bug reports and this becomes a "must buy" program.

From the convenience of the doc/memo view to the simple elegance of the tap-hold to select a word, this is one polished program.

[Winchell]

Originally posted by Scott Maxwell
Scott Maxwell
Quik Sense Software
(Author of Quik Budget and WordSmith Palm application)

Now I know that WordSmith is the program for me.

Quik Budget is my all time favorite PalmOS app. That one solitary program changed my life.

I disliked using budget software even though I had major trouble keeping track of my finances. But the combo of the Visor (which ment I could enter purchases as I made them) and Quick Budget (with its outrageously easy to use "wallet" metaphor) made budget keeping a snap.

Both of these programs are sterling examples of adhering to the "spirit of Palm".

[racerkb]

I am indeed impressed with this program. My only complaint is that it is currently not compatible with Left Hack. As a lefty, the ability to move the scroll bar to the left side of the screen is very important, especially in a text read/edit program. I have e-mailed Blue Nomad about this problem and was hoping it would be solved in one of the subsequent betas.
Perhaps the good folks monitoring this thread will take pity on us left-handed people and develop a suitable solution.

[Scott Maxwell]

Originally posted by racerkb
I am indeed impressed with this program. My only complaint is that it is currently not compatible with Left Hack. As a lefty, the ability to move the scroll bar to the left side of the screen is very important, especially in a text read/edit program. I have e-mailed Blue Nomad about this problem and was hoping it would be solved in one of the subsequent betas.
Perhaps the good folks monitoring this thread will take pity on us left-handed people and develop a suitable solution.

It's coming. We just didn't dare add any new features before releasing 1.0. I'll definitely add it before 1.1.

[dick-richardson]

How about support for AppleWorks? Are you going to include spell-checking capabilities or have you built compatibility with an existing spell checking hack? Just curious. I'm quite impressed thus far. Keep it up and I'll buy some of your other software as well.

[ahinds]

Originally posted by dick-richardson
How about support for AppleWorks? Are you going to include spell-checking capabilities or have you built compatibility with an existing spell checking hack? Just curious. I'm quite impressed thus far. Keep it up and I'll buy some of your other software as well.

D-

Thanks for the compliments!

WS should already support AppleWorks, as long as it can save/read RTF files. If this doesn't work, then please send a sample RTF AppleWorks document in .sit.hqx format to beta@bluenomad.com, and we'll take a look (in fact, if you happen to know the type/creator code for AppleWorks RTF files that would be helpful as well).

We will have our own spell checker - it is in the planning stages; we want it to be small & fast. It will probably be a plugin.

Alexander

[DaveTheSane]

I've noticed that documents that I have created using Smartdoc don't appear in Wordsmith's directory. Does smartdoc use some special codes of their own that is throwing a wrench into the works?

At the moment I still have smartdoc on my Visor for just that reason. Although I don't plan to create any new documents using Smartdoc, I want and need access to the documents I've already generated.

Also, is beta 3 determined by the date of December 31st?

I just looked at the "about" screen and the only information it gives is "Wordsmith Beta Dec 30 2000"

I'm guessing this mean that I have the 2nd beta, but I just wanted to ask first.

Another thing you guys might want to think about. I was apostolizing your product at work, and when my manager asked where he could get a copy, I went to the "about" screen, and the only information on it was your company name of blue nomad. You might want to think about adding a web address to it.

Just a thought.

Incidently, I want to add my humble voice to the chorus praising your product. I purchased my Visor and Stowaway keyboard with the express purpose of taking notes in class. And the only word processing solutions I had found to date were at best adequate. This sort of product should have been out a long time ago. I sincerely hope you make lots and lots of money from being one of the few that has listened to the needs of the palm os community.

[MarkEagle]

Originally posted by DaveTheSane
At the moment I still have smartdoc on my Visor for just that reason. Although I don't plan to create any new documents using Smartdoc, I want and need access to the documents I've already generated.

Also, is beta 3 determined by the date of December 31st?

I just looked at the "about" screen and the only information it gives is "Wordsmith Beta Dec 30 2000"

I'm guessing this mean that I have the 2nd beta, but I just wanted to ask first.

Open your SmartDoc files in Word and add them to WordSmith using the menu... that should get them into WS on the Visor.

The latest Beta 3 is dated Dec 31 2000. Go to Blue Nomad and get it quick!

[Scott Maxwell]

Originally posted by DaveTheSane
I've noticed that documents that I have created using Smartdoc don't appear in Wordsmith's directory. Does smartdoc use some special codes of their own that is throwing a wrench into the works?

On the doc list screen, tap and hold on the doc name until the menu pops up. Choose details and turn Sync on.

[lennonhead]

I was able to open and save a RTF file in Appleworks (make sure you have the latest version 6.0.4), but could not convert the saved RTF file with the WordSmith Converter. Since I have MS Word I just opened it and saved it with Word, but for those who don't there might be a way to change the creator type of the file without using Word, but I can't think of any at the moment. Either that or the converter needs to be updated with Appleworks RTF support.

I don't think that Appleworks can handle large RTF files, I tried to open the Wordsmith manual twice and my computer froze both times. For small stuff it seemed to work fine.

After syncing the new Word RTF file it appeared in WordSmith as "Utilities...Palm...Users...MF...Files to Install" which is the listing of the directory where the file was on my computer. The original name was completely discarded. What did I do wrong, or have I found a bug?

[Edited by lennonhead on 01-02-2001 at 09:43 PM]

[TreoRock]

I don't know if anyone who uses Chrome (black background) has noticed that there are still some white dots around the edges of the WS icon. It doesn't really bother me but it makes the application look as if it were cut wrong with a pair of scissors.

I hope they could fix it.

Thanks

Al

[Winchell]

Originally posted by acajigas
I don't know if anyone who uses Chrome (black background) has noticed that there are still some white dots around the edges of the WS icon. It doesn't really bother me but it makes the application look as if it were cut wrong with a pair of scissors.
I hope they could fix it.

Ummmmm, I fear that is impossible to fix.
To make smooth edges, one has to "anti-alias" an image.
This is the digital equivalent of blending color.
So to make a smooth icon, you blend the edges starting at the edge color and shading to the background color. The background color is assumed to be white. One generally blends using a program like Adobe Photoshop on the Windows platform.

The blended icon is then added to the *.prc program.

You see the problem? The icon is fixed. It doesn't know that you've changed the background color to black, purple, or electric green.

So naturally if the background is changed, one gets whitish edging on the icons.

[TreoRock]

Originally posted by Winchell
Ummmmm, I fear that is impossible to fix....


....So naturally if the background is changed, one gets whitish edging on the icons.

I'm sorry to tell you that you are wrong. In my Prism, while using Chrome (Black Background) I don't see any white dots around the built-in applications' icons and many other applications like:
All tealpoint applications
AvantoGo
Album To To
Chrome
PacMan
QuickBits
Zap2016
FireViewer
and more..!

Test them

Al

[dsilver]

Version 1.0 WordSmith is available now at:

http://www.bluenomad.com/ws/prod_wor..._download.html

The price has gone up to $29.95 (for a limited time). A "what's new" file is not included, but color support is still mentioned as a future option. Get it while it's hot!

[Winchell]

Originally posted by acajigas
I'm sorry to tell you that you are wrong. In my Prism, while using Chrome (Black Background) I don't see any white dots around the built-in applications' icons and many other applications like:

*sigh*

Use Chrome and set the background back to white.

Look really closely at the application icons you mentioned. Notice how jagged and stair-step like their boarders are? Especially the ones with a circular boarder? (e.g., AvantGo) Ugly, eh?

Now look closely at WordSmith's icon. See how smooth and wonderfully blended the boarder is. Slick, eh?

There is no way to fix WordSmith's boarder short of butchering it.

[ahinds]

Originally posted by dsilver
Version 1.0 WordSmith is available now at:

http://www.bluenomad.com/ws/prod_wor..._download.html

The price has gone up to $29.95 (for a limited time). A "what's new" file is not included, but color support is still mentioned as a future option. Get it while it's hot!

D-

Thanks - you beat me to the punch ;-)

There is one new minor feature: on the main memo or doc view, if you tap in the left-most column, it will pop up the "contextual" menu that you normally get by tapping and holding.

We needed to stay pretty disciplined about not adding new features during the beta. We will probably have a 1.01 shortly that adds "low-hanging fruit" features (easy stuff we wanted to put in 1.0, but didn't for time reasons), before we do 1.1.

I also wanted to take the time to thank everybody here for all their help and support. We definitely couldn't have done it without you guys! :-)

Alexander

[Scott Maxwell]

Originally posted by ahinds

D-

Thanks - you beat me to the punch ;-)

There is one new minor feature: on the main memo or doc view, if you tap in the left-most column, it will pop up the "contextual" menu that you normally get by tapping and holding.

We needed to stay pretty disciplined about not adding new features during the beta. We will probably have a 1.01 shortly that adds "low-hanging fruit" features (easy stuff we wanted to put in 1.0, but didn't for time reasons), before we do 1.1.

I also wanted to take the time to thank everybody here for all their help and support. We definitely couldn't have done it without you guys! :-)

Alexander

I also wanted to thank everyone on this thread. Your comments and tolerance of beta bugs was truly helpful to Alexander and me as we prepared this product for market.

Scott Maxwell
Quik Sense Software

[MarkEagle]

Alexander and Scott...

I think it's you guys that deserve the thank you's... Your attention to your customers for the past few weeks have been an example of what all developers and companies need to be like.

I'd also like to suggest my one, single feature request for the next version: a font preference, either by reading it out of the NORMAL.DOT file or by allowing me to specify it once and have it used as the default. I can never seem to remember to set it on a new doc in WordSmith.

As for having to remain disciplined... could that also have something to do with the big, ugly dragons your were trying to slay?

[ladychem]

WordSmith is *great.* I have used it for everything from 1k notes to 500k Word documents with nary a hitch. Integration with Word is, in fact, seamless as Blue Nomad claims (I really like the WordSmith drop-down menu that now appears on my Word menu bar). Also helpful - if you change a document on your visor and also on your desktop without syncing first, WordSmith automatically creates a second copy so that you don't lose either set of changes. No problems with syncing (so far). It also fortunately has full support for the Stowaway keyboard - no typing delays or quirky idiosyncracies. I highly recommend it - buy it cheap quick while it's still in the beta-test period. Blue Nomad promises a free upgrade to the final version, so you might as well get it now. I got it for $19.95 (not sure what they're selling it for now) - it should sell for $39.95 when it's finished. So run, don't walk, to Blue Nomad Software's website, and get this program if you're interested in a terrific text editor.