Spell Check in Pages '08

[OldManJimbo]

Long time power user of MS Word - giving Pages a serious try. SIX DAYS left on the trial offer.

Can't figure out the Spelling function -

Words that are clearly misspelled don't get a little red squiggle under them. And when I click "check spelling" some of these mistooks are ignored.
I have selected "check spelling as you type" but I have my doubts that it is working as I'm a horrible speller and it's not catching my goofs.
Can't find a place to set the dictionary.

I see Pogue has a Missing Manual for '08 coming in January, but I don't want to wait that long.

 

[Badradio]

Can you post some examples of words you think are misspelled? Most of the time, the word you think is incorrect is actually a word - albeit an archaic, rarely used word - that the spellcheck is ok with. I've found the Pages spellchecker to be pretty good so far.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I've never had a problem with it, though it can take a while for the spell-checker to catch up when you open a long document.

This is also the very same spell checker which is shared by every native Mac application (Safari, TextEdit, Mail, etc), so it should be very easy to determine if it's working properly.

 

[OldManJimbo]

Can you post some examples of words you think are misspelled? Most of the time, the word you think is incorrect is actually a word - albeit an archaic, rarely used word - that the spellcheck is ok with. I've found the Pages spellchecker to be pretty good so far.

In a simple one-page letter I was writing this morning, the following words were not seen as incorrectly spelled - no little red squiggle:

Newsletteer (extra "e")
Likly (missing "e")
elemtns - should be "elements"

I have selected "check spelling while I type" and these three words all show up with a squiggle under them when I paste them into MAIL - so I wonder if:

I have something not set properly on Pages OR perhaps the trial version doesn't have a full dictionary.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I'd check the settings again in Pages, though I can hardly imagine what could go off if you set it once already.

Pages accesses the universal OSX dictionary, so you get it in the Pages trial version too. I'm using the trial versions of Pages 3.0 at the moment, and the spell check works fine.

 

[dsnort]

I do know that under the trial version some elements of iWork do not work, can't imagine spell check being one of those.

 

[OldManJimbo]

I'd check the settings again in Pages, though I can hardly imagine what could go off if you set it once already.

Pages accesses the universal OSX dictionary, so you get it in the Pages trial version too. I'm using the trial versions of Pages 3.0 at the moment, and the spell check works fine.

Yeah - I can't imagine it is supposed to be as "dumb" as it seems on my end. When I select PREFERENCES there is only a handful of options. The PREFs screen only has two options at the top - General and Auto-Correction. This alone seems odd to me, as most Apple apps have a slew of options in the PREF screen.

I can't find anyplace to set the default language or spellcheck defaults.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Yeah - I can't imagine it is supposed to be as "dumb" as it seems on my end. When I select PREFERENCES there is only a handful of options. The PREFs screen only has two options at the top - General and Auto-Correction. This alone seems odd to me, as most Apple apps have a slew of options in the PREF screen.

I can't find anyplace to set the default language or spellcheck defaults.

Ah, I see the problem. This setting is not under preferences (where it probably should be). It's under the menu Edit/Spelling.

 

[Badradio]

I do know that under the trial version some elements of iWork do not work, can't imagine spell check being one of those.

I thought the downloaded trial was the complete version, and that you could simply activate it using a purchased code? I can't verify that though, as I was completely anal and deleted it to reinstall the version from the retail disk.

As for the op's issues - that could be a catch-up issue like IJ Reily said.

 

[OldManJimbo]

Ah, I see the problem. This setting is not under preferences (where it probably should be). It's under the menu Edit/Spelling.

In that setting, I have selected "Check Spelling While I Type" and yet it doesn't.

I have purposefully entered incorrectly spelled words and it doesn't find them. And when highlighting errors and clicking "Check Spelling" it is "dumber" than I am and doesn't catch the mistakes.

I am perplexed - to say the least.

 

[Mechcozmo]

I have sometimes founds that the spellchecker forgets to check my spelling, but all it takes is to uncheck/recheck the "Check Spelling As You Type..." option and it works just fine. I've been using the built-in dictionary for years, and it always has caught misspelled words right after I've typed them.

 

[OldManJimbo]

I have sometimes founds that the spellchecker forgets to check my spelling, but all it takes is to uncheck/recheck the "Check Spelling As You Type..." option and it works just fine. I've been using the built-in dictionary for years, and it always has caught misspelled words right after I've typed them.

Hmm - that doesn't seem to fix the problem either.

I'm not one of these people who tries to find things wrong with an app - I really want this to work so I can stop using MSWord when they bring out that stupid 2008 version with the "ribbon" -

But this has me freaked out - I am terrible speller and really need an app that covers my behind.

Does anyone know of a website with detailed "how to" stuff on iWork '08?
I am convinced this is something that I have set improperly, but can't determine what it might be.

I've repaired permissions - I wonder if there might be a plist file that needs to be deleted?

 

[IJ Reilly]

My next suggestion would be to delete the preference file, which is:
com.apple.iWork.Pages.plist

 

[OldManJimbo]

My next suggestion would be to delete the preference file, which is:
com.apple.iWork.Pages.plist

Done - we'll see what happens today. I have three days remaining on the trial.

My prime motivation for making the switch to Pages is that horrid "ribbon of death" being shown for the Word update - I have some friends with PCs and that stupid thing drives me crazy - they've added multiple steps to the simplest of tasks.

 

[IJ Reilly]

If it works you should know right away. Just remember to reset "Check Spelling as You Type." Let us know if this fixes the problem. I'm very curious.

 

[OldManJimbo]

If it works you should know right away. Just remember to reset "Check Spelling as You Type." Let us know if this fixes the problem. I'm very curious.

Deleting the plist file seems to have done the trick - I fired up Pages and started tying away with my usual reckless abandon and the page was full of little red squiggles - NICE.

Question - does the "Check Spelling as I Type" selection remain as a default or do I need to check that every time I open a document?

 

[dpaanlka]

Pages got it for me:

I thought the downloaded trial was the complete version, and that you could simply activate it using a purchased code?

Thats correct.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Deleting the plist file seems to have done the trick - I fired up Pages and started tying away with my usual reckless abandon and the page was full of little red squiggles - NICE.

Question - does the "Check Spelling as I Type" selection remain as a default or do I need to check that every time I open a document?

Excellent. The selection should stick from now until the Earth's crust cools. Beyond that, no guarantees.

 

[syverex]

but, no auto-correct as you type?

my mum was ranting to me that pages do not have a auto correct as you type function, it is in MS Word, but not in Pages?
and i do not mean that red line thingy only, as in, correct the whole word automatically

 

[.adam]

my mum was ranting to me that pages do not have a auto correct as you type function, it is in MS Word, but not in Pages?
and i do not mean that red line thingy only, as in, correct the whole word automatically

Your Mum is right, my friend. Infuriating, isn't it?

 

[IJ Reilly]

Your Mum is right, my friend. Infuriating, isn't it?

Infuriating in a way, since you're both wrong. Look under Preferences for the Auto-correct tab.

 

[syverex]

Infuriating in a way, since you're both wrong. Look under Preferences for the Auto-correct tab.

but which one is it? i have ticked all of them, but no auto-correct as you type function

 

[IJ Reilly]

but which one is it? i have ticked all of them, but no auto-correct as you type function

You select the words and symbols you want auto-corrected from the list. If you need more words to be auto-corrected, add them to the list.

 

[syverex]

Thanks!

You select the words and symbols you want auto-corrected from the list. If you need more words to be auto-corrected, add them to the list.

oh...thanks for the info and the quick reply!
but to do all this is a little, tedious..isn't it?

 

[IJ Reilly]

That depends -- what do you need it to do? I've got it set so it corrects common typing errors, such as inversions, and some of the symbols. I don't think I could stand having Pages change my proper nouns into the closest word it could find in the dictionary. That would be truly tedious!