Spellbound with the Firefox Web Browser
Posted 04-02-2006 at 10:03 AM by lake
I Really Needed a Spell checker
I've always had a problem with spelling, but luckily it went away with the advent of computer word processing and the wonderful world of integrated spell checkers. But when I started blogging, things changed...and for the worse! While nearly every writer program now has a spell checker, my FireFox (Deer Park V1.5) browser didn't, and believe me, I needed one bad! So when I was in a blog site text entry window, I was really on my own.
A quick check on the web delivered me to the Spellbound site (http://spellbound.sourceforge.net/). Installation looked at first really easy, and it was, except that I could not figure out how to grant write access to my FireFox 'component directory' in order to get the installed dictionary to show up on the spell check form.
First of all, you need to install the spellbound program (extension) and then the Mozilla spell check libraries. This is easy, just follow the instructions and these two elements will be added to your 'Extensions' list found in the 'Tools' drop down list. Then the dictionaries need to be downloaded from one of two sites hyper linked from the instructions page. Here, you are presented with a list of just about every language on earth! I choose the American English dictionary and it loaded successfully...at least that's what was reported... OK, except for one thing: the dictionary never appeared on the spell check form. The program acted as though there was no dictionary installed at all. Spellbound just reported 'no misspelled words' in my test document even though there were many...believe me... there were many misspelled words!
The problem was the access issue I mentioned earlier. To solve this dilemma I switched to Root user and again opened Firefox where I downloaded the program and libraries again and then the dictionary. Success! The program worked like it should and the install proved to be global when I switched back from Root to my usual user account.
What can I say? Spellbound is just wonderful! By the way, the program icon, (an 'abc' with a check mark), won't automatically show up on your FireFox toolbar. You have to get it by going to 'View - Toolbars - Customize'. You won't see the icon until you slide down the list. Then you can drag and drop it where you want it. When text is present in the blog entry window, the icon will 'illuminate' in color to show that it's ready to work for you.
Have fun with Spellbound, and remember, there is no excuse for misspelling words in your blog!
Carl
I've always had a problem with spelling, but luckily it went away with the advent of computer word processing and the wonderful world of integrated spell checkers. But when I started blogging, things changed...and for the worse! While nearly every writer program now has a spell checker, my FireFox (Deer Park V1.5) browser didn't, and believe me, I needed one bad! So when I was in a blog site text entry window, I was really on my own.
A quick check on the web delivered me to the Spellbound site (http://spellbound.sourceforge.net/). Installation looked at first really easy, and it was, except that I could not figure out how to grant write access to my FireFox 'component directory' in order to get the installed dictionary to show up on the spell check form.
First of all, you need to install the spellbound program (extension) and then the Mozilla spell check libraries. This is easy, just follow the instructions and these two elements will be added to your 'Extensions' list found in the 'Tools' drop down list. Then the dictionaries need to be downloaded from one of two sites hyper linked from the instructions page. Here, you are presented with a list of just about every language on earth! I choose the American English dictionary and it loaded successfully...at least that's what was reported... OK, except for one thing: the dictionary never appeared on the spell check form. The program acted as though there was no dictionary installed at all. Spellbound just reported 'no misspelled words' in my test document even though there were many...believe me... there were many misspelled words!
The problem was the access issue I mentioned earlier. To solve this dilemma I switched to Root user and again opened Firefox where I downloaded the program and libraries again and then the dictionary. Success! The program worked like it should and the install proved to be global when I switched back from Root to my usual user account.
What can I say? Spellbound is just wonderful! By the way, the program icon, (an 'abc' with a check mark), won't automatically show up on your FireFox toolbar. You have to get it by going to 'View - Toolbars - Customize'. You won't see the icon until you slide down the list. Then you can drag and drop it where you want it. When text is present in the blog entry window, the icon will 'illuminate' in color to show that it's ready to work for you.
Have fun with Spellbound, and remember, there is no excuse for misspelling words in your blog!
Carl
