PageFour Blog

PageFour running well under Windows 7

Darren — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 14:59:50 +0000

The Windows 7 beta has been available for a couple of months now. We’re not expecting many users to be using this, as it’s still in the early beta stages, but for those who are, one issue with PageFour has been identified. It relates to changing the location of PageFour pages, something most users probably never do. The issue makes this impossible on Windows 7, and has a knock on effect on the Options Dialog as a whole, and probably on the Export Notebooks feature.

When PageFour is run with its default settings, there should not be any problems. We’ll be testing under Windows 7 shortly, but we’re fairly sure we know what the problem is and that it will not be difficult to fix. If anyone encounters any other issues with Windows 7, please get in touch.

edit: This issue has only been reported by a single user. The current version of PageFour runs very well on Windows 7.

Work on the Next Release

Darren — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:54:23 +0000

As many users have noticed, this blog has not been updated in some time. This does not mean that development has stopped on PageFour, only that over the past year I got side tracked with other projects. A lot of work is planned for PageFour over the next couple of months, and I’ll be reporting on that work here as it’s completed.

The beta version that many users have already downloaded has recently been finalised into a release version (1.70), with appropriate documentation. Full details can be found in the post below. The reason this version was released as is, is that I wanted to make a stable version containing the Word DOCX format changes available before any other changes are made with the upcoming release.

Many of the new features planned for the next release are based on user feedback, and comments left on previous posts on this blog.

Version 1.70 Released

Darren — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:53:42 +0000

Version 1.70 was released today. This is the release version of the previous beta (1.67), and contains only those new features that were already in the beta version. They include:

Support for the MS Word DOCX format when importing documents.
Changes to the Import Dialog so that a folder within a Notebook can now be selected as the import destination, and the ability to quickly paste the import location into the Import dialog rather than navigating the file tree.

Two major bugs have also been fixed in this version, as well as many minor bugs reported by users. The major bugs are: software crashes when selecting text that was made up of Chinese or Japanese characters, and in a small number of cases the failure of the Import Dialog to open. These issues are now resolved.

The PageFour license changes mentioned some time ago are also now in effect. These changes allow a single PageFour license to work in one of two ways: either a single PC with multiple users, or multiple PCs with a single user, and means that users working on more than a single PC do not now need to purchase a second license if the software is for their own use.

The latest version can be downloaded from the download page.

PageFour and PDF

Darren — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:11:40 +0000

Though PageFour itself does not contain any built in PDF capabilities, it is possible to use other PDF software with the product, and there is a multitude to choose from, many of them free.

Some time ago, I recommended PDFCreator, and I still stand by it as the simplest free product to incorporate a PDF writing feature into PageFour. It installs itself as a printer driver, which means that to convert a Page to PDF, you simply set PDFCreator as the Default Printer from the Print menu, and print the page.

Those of you with only a single printer linked to your PC will never have come across the Set Default Printer option on the Print menu, as it only becomes visible when two or more print devices have been installed. When PageFour is opened, the default printer is ALWAYS set to the Windows default, but this can be changed by simply selecting another printer or print device from the list. This changes the default only for PageFour, and only for the current session. Other programs will happily carry on using the Windows default.

If you do choose to install PDFCreator, you will need to close PageFour and reopen it for the changes to take effect. A point worth mentioning, is that the installation of PDFCreator also attempts to install an Internet Explorer toolbar - the reason for which escapes me. This can be prevented by unclicking the appropriate option on the final page of the installation wizard.

There are other, more sophisticated PDF programs out there, many of which offer far more options, such as merging multiple pages into a single PDF document - ideal for novels. These should be tested thoroughly - especially if you plan to hand over money - as not all are as capable of handling multiple pages and merges as they suggest.

PageFour beta 1.67

Darren — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 13:38:02 +0000

The first beta version of the next release is now available for download. Over the coming weeks, a series of betas will be released as changes are made. This is to allow enough time for feedback, and for any corrections that need to be made prior to the official release.

We’re not planning any major new features for the next version. Instead, the plan is to strengthen the current version by making some of the more complicated elements of PageFour easier to understand, and to work on areas of the software that are weak and need improving.

PageFour 1.67 can be downloaded here.

This first beta concentrates on improving the Import dialog which allows you to import MS Word documents into PageFour. It includes the following:

Full handling of the new Word 2007 docx format.
Ability to import directly into a particular folder within a notebook.
Option to paste or type a folder location into the Import dialog, rather than browsing for the location in the file tree.

As with previous versions, the Word document importer relies on Word itself to handle the conversion process. This means you will still need to have Word installed on your PC if you wish to import Word documents, and to import Word 2007 documents you will need either that version of Word, or an updated version capable of recognizing the docx format.

As well as the Word changes, a small number of minor changes have been made to version 1.67:

A shortcut key combination of Shift+Ctrl+R has been added to switch subscript text on or off. This should work with all keyboard variations.
A Justify text button has been added to the format toolbar and menu, along with an appropriate shortcut.

Changes have also been made to the PageFour user license. Previously, a license was necessary for each computer the software was installed upon. This has now been changed to allow a license to apply to either a single PC with multiple users, or a single user working on multiple PCs, but not both. This means that single users can now install PageFour on their home PC, lap-top, and work PC without needing to buy extra licenses.

As this is a beta release, there may be undiscovered bugs. If you find any, or if you have any suggestions or comments to make about the changes, please let me know.

One final point: the PageFour help file has not yet been updated with these changes. This will be true until all changes have been made and the release version is made available.

PageFour on Spiegel

Darren — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:24:53 +0000

I’d like to welcome all our German visitors who’ve dropped by today courtesy of PageFour’s brief mention on the Spiegel website. Thanks to Google’s language tools I was able to get the gist of the article quite quickly this morning. It’s always nice to get a mention in the main stream press, and it was interesting to see particular attention drawn to PageFour’s Smart-Edit feature.

Though there is no German language version of PageFour yet, there are some German dictionaries available which can be easily installed. These dictionaries enable the spell checker for use with German, as well as other languages. Details can be found here.

Minor Release - Version 1.65

Darren — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:13:53 +0000

Version 1.65 of PageFour was released this afternoon. This version is an interim release and contains a small number of bug fixes, as well as some changes to the way the Notebook tree and the word processor pages interact.

The selected page in the tree will now correspond to whichever page is open in the word processor. This means that as you navigate through tabbed pages, the selected page in the tree will change to correspond with the open tab. The only exception to this is if the open page does not belong to the current Notebook.
As the current page will now be selected in the tree at all times, the New Page and New Folder buttons will be available, even when the Notebook tree is not selected.
Minor bug fix whereby certain Quick-Insert shortcuts changed the line spacing settings in error.

The reason for these changes is to make it easier for new users to quickly understand how PageFour works. By keeping the open page and the open Notebook in synch, it should be far easier to understand where new pages and folders will be created. Clicking the New Page button (Ctrl+N) without first selecting a folder in the Notebook will immediately create that new page in the same folder as the current page.

The new release is available from the download page.

Outstanding Issues:
There is still an issue with smart quotes for those using PageFour where the Windows Input language is set to a language other than English. I’ll post a notification when this problem has been resolved.

Version 1.63 released

Darren — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 11:23:43 +0000

The latest version of PageFour was released today. This release contains one new feature, as well as a number of small changes, improvements, and bug fixes. They include:

1. Overhaul of the way smart quotes work.

2. Shortcut key combination (Shift+Ctrl+’) to switch smart quotes on and off.
Opening the Options dialog can be a little time consuming, particularly if you need to switch between smart and plain quotes on a regular basis, so the new short cut should help speed things up.

3. New Quick-Insert shortcuts.
This option allows the user to set a series of shortcut keys for commonly used words, phrases or characters. It is especially useful for long names or unusual keyboard characters that require multiple key strokes to implement.

The keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2, Ctrl+3, etc. have been adopted for use by this feature. Simply type the character, combination of characters, word, or phrase, into the edit box next to the control key combination of your choice, and from then on that key combination will insert the corresponding characters into your text. This dialog can be opened from the right click Insert menu in the word processor, or from the main Edit | Insert menu.

In order to locate an unusual character, click on the Insert Character button at the bottom of the dialog. This opens a second dialog listing every available character. Double Click on the character you wish to use before leaving the dialog, and it will be inserted into the Quick-Insert edit box.

A side effect of this new feature is that the shortcut keys for changing the color of text have been changed from Ctrl+1,2,3 to Shift+Ctrl+1,2,3, etc.

4. Insert Date shortcut.
This option works within the word processor, as well as in the edit box on the new page dialog and comes with an accompanying global date format setup on the Miscellaneous page of the Options dialog. Once you set up the date format you wish to use, the current date will be inserted into your text, or into a new page name by using the shortcut key Ctrl+D.

5. Background color extended to side windows.
A new checkbox has been added to the word processor page of the Options dialog called “Apply background color to side windows.” This will change the background colour of the Notebooks list, current Notebook tree, and Smart-Edit windows to correspond to the word processor.

6. Font Dialog Improvements.
The Font dialog has been improved to allow any color to be chosen and set as the default, rather than the limited selection of only 8 colors.

The early release of version 1.63, with only a limited selection of new features, is due to the importance of the smart quote corrections. As always, if anyone encounters any problems with the changes, please let me know.

Forgotten Features of PageFour

Darren — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 18:38:26 +0000

Every now and then I get an email from an old-time user of PageFour where they suggest adding a feature that already exists. This is an easy mistake to make with software, especially if you’ve been using it for some time and grown accustomed to working with it in a certain way. I’m as guilty of this as the next person, and frequently stumble across features I never knew existed in other people’s software, despite being a regular user for months or even years.

With that in mind, I’d like to draw attention to a few PageFour features you may never have used, but might find interesting.

1. Lock and Unlock

When you return to your seat, you simply Unlock PageFour (F5) by entering your password.

To enable the feature, all you need to do is ensure that a password has been set within PageFour - Tools | Change Password menu. You may never use the password to encrypt any pages, but it can still to used to Lock and Unlock the software.

2. AutoCorrect Dictionaries
I’m not the greatest typist in the world, being in the habit of typing just a little too quickly and carelessly. My most common mistake is typing teh in place of the. As with other word processors such as MS Word, this is where the AutoCorrect feature comes in. This particular feature will be switched off the first time you use PageFour, but once you enable it, will run automatically from that point on.

From the Spelling menu, select Options, and ensure that Correct spelling errors as you type is checked. Click on the Dictionaries button, and check either the autocorrect.adu or autocorrect-british.adu dictionary. Both dictionaries are similar, the only difference being that one automatically converts US spellings to English, and vice versa. (color to colour, center to centre, etc.)

3. Global Font and Paragraph Settings
The default font used in the word processor is Verdana 10, and the default paragraph settings are single line spacing, with no spacing before or after lines or paragraphs. This can be changed for the current, and also for every subsequent page, by using the Font and Paragraph dialogs on the Format menu.

Simply set up the font and paragraph settings you require, and check the Make default for all new pages checkbox.

4. Shortcuts you may not know about
Most shortcuts appear next to whichever menu option they relate to, but not every feature of PageFour has a corresponding menu item. To move between open tabs in the word processor, use the Ctrl+Alt+ Left or Right arrow keys. This is a very quick method of flicking backwards and forwards between open pages without using the mouse.

Other shortcuts you may not be familiar with include Ctrl+J to shift focus between the word processor and the notebook tree, the left and right arrow keys to open and close the currently selected folder, and F12 to take a snapshot of the current page.

The font colour drop down list on the format toolbar has a series of shortcut keys (Ctrl+1 - Ctrl+8) to change the current font colour to any one of 8 preset colours - very useful for greying out text or highlighting in red.

5. Cut / Copy / Paste across Folders and Notebooks
Most people will have found the drag and drop feature within the notebook tree, possibly by mistake when they moved the mouse too suddenly, but not everyone is aware of the short cut keys that do much the same. Cut, Copy, and Paste is fully implemented across pages, folders, and notebooks, and can be accessed either from the Edit menu, or the almost universal shortcut keys of Ctrl+X (Cut), Ctrl+C (Copy), and Ctrl+V (Paste).

This allows you to easily move or copy pages and folders between other folders or notebooks. The icon of the cut or copied pages and folders will appear slightly different depending on which operation you are carrying out. As with most cut and copy operations, the Ctrl+Z (Undo) shortcut will undo a cut or copy, returning the notebook to its previous state.

6. Export Notebooks
Saving a file out of PageFour is a straight forward process, one that I’m sure most people have done at some point, but exporting an entire notebook, or all notebooks within PageFour, may not be an everyday occurrence. There are two ways to do this: either select an individual notebook or folder (Ctrl+X) and use the Tools | Export Selected menu, or simply click on the Tools | Export Notebooks menu to export everything.

Both of these options allow you to select a destination folder, and immediately make a copy of your notebooks. I use this particular feature to backup to an external hard drive every couple of days, rather than opening Windows Explorer and copying the relevant folders myself. As well as providing a simple method of backing up, the Export feature works in conjunction with the Import Notebooks feature, also on the Tools menu, allowing you to synchronize between two installations of PageFour on different machines.

All of these features are explained in detail in the PageFour help (F1), or in the manual on the website.

Version 1.61 Released

Darren — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 20:18:08 +0000

PageFour Version 1.61 was released today. This is an interim release consisting of fixes for two bugs reported by users. The first corrects inconsistencies in the background colour of the word processor when the chosen colour is not white, and the second corrects an error in screen position when PageFour is used on a PC with dual monitors.

Existing users should be aware that if neither of these scenarios are relevant to the way they use PageFour, there is no reason to download or install the interim release.

Download instructions can be found on the download page.