Open Window Software News Summer 2012 Featuring Tips on Using WinFlash and Flashcard Exchange Contents: 1) WinFlash Basic is Now Freeware 2) WinFlash Feature Highlight - Notes File 3) Study Tip - Use Your Smartphone 4) How To - Put Your Leitner Study Files On Vacation 5) Latest In-line Program Updates --------------------------------------------------- 1) WinFlash Basic is Now Freeware We now offer our introductory level program to users at no cost. This helps us compete with the MANY free flashcard programs that are now available. We hope that after using Basic for a while people will see the value in the additional features available in Scholar or Educator and upgrade to these more powerful programs. This change to a free Basic has implications for users who purchased their programs before Basic was changed to the freeware model. 1. If you have an older version of Basic and don't feel the need for Scholar and Educator-level features, go ahead and download the new version from the website and register for a free unlock code. 2. If you're a teacher or a trainer using Educator to create study files for others, everyone can now have their own personal copy of Basic for free. Just have them download Basic from the website and register for a free unlock code. 3. If you're organizing a study group to share the work of creating the study decks you'll only need to purchase one copy of Educator to use to do the merging. Everyone else can use Basic to create their sections of the assigned file(s). --------------------------------------------------- 2) WinFlash Feature Highlight - Notes File Educator v12 can create a companion .rtf file for each study file. This file can be used to keep any data about the study file handy and editable. I use the notes file with my wildflower study files to keep a copy of the scientific names of the various flower families available. When adding a new flower to the file, I open the Notes file and can cut & paste the name of its associated family into the editor. To create or open an existing Notes file, first open the study file with which it is associated. Then click the Notes icon (fifth one, counting from the left) on the main window's button bar. --------------------------------------------------- 3) Study Tip - Use Your Smartphone Since you have your phone with you at all times, consider using it in spare moments (waiting in line, waiting for your doctor's appointment, waiting for...) for additional study time - rather than playing yet another session of Angry Birds. Educator can export decks compatible with several smartphone flashcard apps, but I prefer simply exporting .jpg's and running through these on my phone in spare moments. See http://www.openwindow.com/newsletters/ow20120101.txt for detailed instructions in the How To - Optimize Settings to Export .jpg's to Handheld Devices article. --------------------------------------------------- 4) How To - Put Your Leitner Study Files On Vacation OK, you've just returned from a lovely 3-week cruise (we can dream, can't we?) and opened your Leitner-mode study file to find that you now have 237 pairs due! Yikes! OK, don't panic, just select Options|Q&A Modes|Mode Specific Settings. Click on the Shift All Due Dates Earlier or Later button and enter 21 in the Shift in Days dialog that appears. This will 'erase' the effect of your 3-week vacation and your deck will now have the number of pairs due that it would have had on the first day of your vacation. Don't use this too often, though - the "forgetting curve" never takes a vacation :-) --------------------------------------------------- 5) In-line Program Updates Since the Last Newsletter The 12.00.02 update to all WinFlash versions addresses the following issues: 1. Correct filename info on output of .jpg's 2. Add At End mistakenly closes open Notes document 3. Repair TestModeOptions crash in Scholar and Basic 4. Fix initialization problem with AdvStats after previous file was loaded --------------------------------------------------- Need Help? Have A problem? Check out our online listings of the latest releases and the problems that they've solved: http://www.openwindow.com/pages/wfprobs.htm If your issue isn't covered there, please send e-mail to support@openwindow.com and we'll do our best to resolve your problem. --------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIBE: Send e-mail to service@openwindow.com with SUBSCRIBE as the Subject. UNSUBSCRIBE: Simply send an email to service@openwindow.com with REMOVE as the Subject. This newsletter is a free service of Open Window Software and is Copyright (c) 2012 Open Window Software. All worldwide rights reserved. ---------------------------------------------------