Hints for using Word Microscope

Features to help you

Don't forget that Word Microscope has several features to help you. They include:

• the undo/redo buttons and menu commands;
• dragging and dropping cells, eg. from the Gallery to the Active Word Sum
• the Ideas Probe, which can suggest example target words, analyses and word families;
• the Ideas Probe can also provide checks on the Active Word Sum;
• commands in the Tools menu for suffixing patterns, word searching and web-based references.

Copy and paste

You can copy and paste from the Findings Log. For example, you may wish to copy the matrix into a word processor to add your own editing.

To do so, select what you want to copy by dragging the mouse in the Findings Log layout (not the more colourful Word Matrix layout), and then press Ctrl-C to copy. Go to your word processor and press Ctrl-V to paste.

You may be able to do a similar thing with the Scratch Pad or other windows.

Fixing duplicate cells

If you end up with duplicate cells, they can alter the efficiency of the Word Matrix. Eg to remove a duplicated <un-> prefix:

• view Your Elements in the Gallery on the left of the screen (you may need to use the pull down box to select Your Elements); if it's duplicated, you'll see more than one <un-> prefix cell there;
• select any <un-> cell in Your Elements (eg. the first one);
• then right-click on it and choose Merge Duplicate Elements.

Forcing the Active Word Sum target to be a word

Dragging a prefix to the target cell in the Active Word Sum turns the target into a prefix, which it then isn't easy to turn back into an ordinary word.

A simple solution is to Undo your action as soon as you notice.

If that isn't appropriate, right-click on the target cell, then select the 'Clear Cell' command. You will need to re-type the target word into the empty cell.

Copying the log to Mac

You can't run Word Microscope natively on Mac yet, but if you know how to transfer files from PC to Mac, you can copy the results of an investigation by exporting the Findings Log.

Use the File | Export Log menu command, which exports the log as a portable HTML file.

The same file could be posted as a web page; or customised in your favourite web page editor.