Spell check

A word that is not in the dictionary gets a red line under it as you type. The red line is only on your screen. It is never saved or exported.

FoxQuill draws the line and builds the right-click menu itself, and the settings are in Settings > Writing > Spelling.

Fixing a word#

Right-click the underlined word. The menu starts with up to five suggestions, or a grayed No suggestions. Click one to put it in place of the word. Undo takes it back, like any other change.

Under the suggestions are Add to dictionary and Look up, then Cut, Copy, Paste, and Select all. Look up is there in the writing view, where the Words tab can show the word. The menu opens from the keyboard too: put the caret in the word and press Shift+F10, or the menu key.

Look up opens the word in the Words tab of the side panel. See Dictionary and thesaurus.

Adding a word#

Choose Add to dictionary and the word is not underlined again, in any book. Names are the usual case.

A possessive counts as a word of its own. If Laurie’s is still underlined after you add Laurie, add it too.

Settings > Writing > Spelling lists your words under Your words. Type a word under Add a word and press Add, or press the cross beside a word to remove it.

Add card names collects the names and aliases on this book’s cards that the spell checker does not know, with their possessives. It shows the list first, and adds nothing until you press Add followed by the number of words, such as Add 12 words. Cancel adds nothing.

On Windows and on a Mac, the words you add also go into the computer’s own dictionary, so other programs accept them too.

Choosing the language#

On Windows and Linux, pick it under Language in Settings > Writing > Spelling. FoxQuill starts with the language of your computer.

On a Mac there is no language box. The Mac checks spelling with its own dictionaries, in the languages set in System Settings.

Turning it off#

Choose View > Spelling in the menu, or press Ctrl+; (Cmd+; on a Mac). The check mark beside it shows whether spell check is on. Or clear Check spelling as I type in Settings > Writing > Spelling. Both are the same switch, so they always agree. The red lines go away in every book. The right-click menu stays, with Cut, Copy, Paste, and Look up.

The red lines are hidden in focus mode even when spell check is on, so the page stays bare. They come back when you leave it.

What is downloaded, and when#

On Windows and Linux, each language needs a dictionary file. English (United States) and English (United Kingdom) come with FoxQuill, so English downloads nothing. Any other language is downloaded once from Google, the first time it is needed, and kept on your computer. That is when you choose it, or when the language of your computer is not English. Only the dictionary file comes down. Nothing you write is sent anywhere.

A Mac downloads nothing for this.