I did not see this idea brought up yet so,

 

I was wondering if it would be possible to insert a spell checker on the site?

 

You can learn alot from a spell checker.

It's possible.

Well since it is possible I say it would be a great implement to the site, anyone agree?

100% agreement. I don't like sloppy posts and I rarely copy from an original in word just to capture a few typographical errors. (Like most of you I also rarely make spelling mistakes. Just loads of typos!)

That's just a PHP function, so we can't really "implement it" just like that.

 

It would have to take a previewed or submitted post, check the spelling for what it thought were errors, then send you back to the post create/edit form with a message. That could get annoying, especially on a site like this where we use lots of jargon.

 

Although a "don't spell check this post" check box would be an obvious option.

Slightly off topic, but in my experience, the mere existence of spell-check facilities has led to an over reliance on them especially in terms of what most people think they will do for their work. Every semester I have to tell students to proofread their work rather than relying solely on their word processor to do the work for them, as (for example) "Dear Sir or Madam" and "Dead Sod or Moron" are equally acceptable to a spell checker.

Probably typos, but I do believe proofread is one word (no hyphen) and there are 2 p's in opponent (unless Nietzsche couldn't spell). Spellcheck is like a cash register that informs the user of how much change is required after a sale. Spelling mistakes are not just a North American phenomenon but global, or so it appears after viewing some of the posts published here in this forum and others. I wonder about our educators. Is spelling not that important anymore? Is everyone 'hooked on phonics?" Very difficult to read some posts and when someone responds to an illegible post I am amazed. Do those people understand gibberish or are they armed with a translating device? Could be that fatigue and hurrying cause a majority of the mistakes. If I've screwed up somewhere in this post then please let me know.

I'd like it, as long as there was an option to disable it temporarily. I see several people who consistently post with poor grammar and spelling; while I can understand if you're not a native English speaker, these people just do it out of habit. That looks bad.

Plus sometimes I keep thinking, Is that spelled right?

I keep thinking, [i']Is that spelled right?[/i]

 

Yup, you dont want to waste too much time thinking.

I'm a spelling moron and I will copy a long post into word and use spellchecker so no one knows how dense I am--oops now they do. An onsite spellchecker sounds nice but I can’t see it being much use under most circumstances. Most of the time Word or another program is handy to check it and I imagine the word processor spellcheckers are better anyway.

On-site is much more convenient, and also it could be updated with scientific word dictionaries and stuff - just to make it even more useful.

Ah, that would be useful if it had a scientific word dictionary.

Well, you can add custom dictionaries to any functions using pspell(), but as Glider was saying sometimes it's nicer all around just to leave the bar higher.

I grew up with spellchecker and really never learned to spell. I use to be a human calculator as a child but once I started using the graphing calculators I gradually lost the ability. I use to be able to multiply and divide large numbers with decimal places in my head. Now I reach for the calculator for very simple multiplication.

Probably typos, but I do believe proofread is one word (no hyphen) and there are 2 p's in opponent (unless Nietzsche couldn't spell).

Not typos, errors. But by having them pointed out, I have learned something (even if it's only to take a little more care when typing 'opponent'). Had I used a spell checker to automatically make corrections for me, I would have learned nothing.

 

PS. The errors are corrected.

It's not the spelling errors, but rather the ambiguous grammar, that causes most of the confusion.

I AGREE! i'm very careless and even though i re-read my intended post, i don't seem to find my grammatical errors or typos.

Glider: I have made many errors myself when typing and I know my grammar is not the best. I try to proofread but sometimes the focus isn't there. You're a good sport by not taking offense to having those tiny errors pointed out. You are absolutely 100% correct, we should learn from our mistakes. Now if we could convince a few politicians of those words of wisdom then maybe the world would be a better place

That's just a PHP function, so we can't really "implement it" just like that

this is not a simple and easy thing to do and it comes with several problems.

 

"That could get annoying... a site like this where we use lots of jargon."

the dictionary will need to be updated and it will stop all short hand and acronyms etc. Chemical compositions would probably not be in the dictionary and in a scientific community with scientific posts it would be a bit of a pain.

 

"Although a "don't spell check this post" check box would be an obvious option"

if we did include that then people might well not use it at all as it is extra stuff to do and more time 'wasted'.

 

whilst it is useful it takes a lot of hard work to instal and would cause problems with scientific words. furthermore would people use it purely because of the time it takes?

e.g. i use it in word where it is readily available... but not for emails where there are no red lines and its just another page to load.

this is not a simple and easy thing to do and it comes with several problems.

Yeah, I sort of mentioned that.

im aware, hence i quoted you right before i said that!

 

i basically agree totaly with your post [below] and put it in my own words with a few more points.

 

That's just a PHP function' date=' so we can't really "implement it" just like that.

 

It would have to take a previewed or submitted post, check the spelling for what it thought were errors, then send you back to the post create/edit form with a message. That could get annoying, especially on a site like this where we use lots of jargon.

 

Although a "don't spell check this post" check box would be an obvious option.

[/quote']

Maybe we should take a poll on this...

This is essentially a request to write an entire mod for VB. I'm not sure anyone who can actually do that has the time - I know I don't.

basically its like most airplane security (i was just watching a program on it!) its all good, helps people etc, but it cannot be set-up because its too expensive or time consuming in this case and weighs too much in the plane or takes up too much time to instal in this case.

 

so i doubt it will happen.

cool