Tardis:Spell checking with a Mac: Difference between revisions

Tardis:Spell checking with a Mac (view source)

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 {{sc|MAC DICT}}
 All OS X installations carry with them a vast array of dictionaries, but you may never have bothered to look under the hood and find them. Changing from your default local English dictionary to the Oxford English Dictionary is a snap.
-<div id=inline-box-rt>Note that the British English dictionary in Mac OS X is ''not'' the "official" dictionary of this wiki. The OS X British dictionary will, for example, tell you that ''colonise'' and ''dematerialise'' are valid alternates for what appears to be the primary spellings of ''colonize'' and ''dematerialize''.  Because Mac British spell checking flags ''colonize'' as incorrect, however, this wiki deems ''colonise'' to be the "''practically'' correct" spelling.  For more of these "close calls", please see '''[[T:SCC|our spelling cheat card]]'''.  The technically minded may wish to seek out '''[[Tardis:Spelling policy/user-fixes.py#The code|the full list of words whose spelling we enforce]]'''. </div>
+[[File:DictionaryPrefs.jpg|thumb|'''The Dictionary preference pane''': Note how British English is checked and at the top]]
 #Go to your Applications folder
 #Open the app named '''Dictionary'''
 #Type {{cmd}} {{key|,}} to open up '''Preferences'''
 #Scan through the list of resources and put them in the order you want.  To turn on the British Dictionary and Thesaurus to the exclusion of your defaults, pull the British resources to the top of the list, select them, then deselect your defaults.  Now, when you open up Dictionary and search for a word, you'll get the British spelling.  Helpfully, if you enter an American spelling, it'll still find the word, but simply tell you that you've used an American spelling.
+[[File:DictionaryCompare.jpg|thumb|left|If you do choose to run two dictionaries simultaneously, make sure you're reading the correct entry.  If you've put the British Dictionary above the (American) Dictionary in your preferences, its entries will appear at the top when you do a word search.]]
+Just like with spell checking, you can choose to have multiple resources available to you.  Maybe you want to have the Oxford ''American'' and the Oxford ''British'' dictionaries available.  In this case you would just select both.  The only problem with doing this, though, is making sure that you know which resource you're reading.  If you've chosen to put the British Dictionary at the top of your preference list — and we strongly recommend that you do — then you'll know that the British entries will '''always''' be on top of the American ones.
+Note that the British English dictionary in Mac OS X is ''not'' the "official" dictionary of this wiki. The OS X British dictionary will, for example, tell you that ''colonise'' and ''dematerialise'' are valid alternates for what appears to be the primary spellings of ''colonize'' and ''dematerialize''.  Because Mac British ''spell checking'' flags ''colonize'' as incorrect, however, this wiki deems ''colonise'' to be the "''practically'' correct" spelling.  For more of these "close calls", please see '''[[T:SCC|our spelling cheat card]]'''.  The technically minded may wish to seek out '''[[Tardis:Spelling policy/user-fixes.py#The code|the full list of words whose spelling we enforce]]'''.
 [[Category:Help]]
 [[Category:Spelling]]