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A "How To" Guide for the WCT Reader

How Do I Open and Read Ebooks?

How do I launch the WCT Reader using the desktop icon?

When you install the WCT Reader on your computer, an icon appears on your desktop. It looks like this:
Double click on the icon, normally with the left button on a Windows-based mouse. The Personal Computer version of the WCT Reader operates like a browser, and you will be taken to the program's home page. Here in Screen 2 is an example:

This home page will be explained further along. For now, let's look at another way to start the program.

How do I launch the WCT Reader by choosing a specific ebook?
In general, there are three places where ebooks may be located on your computer.

Sample ebooks, bookshelves, and documents are either in C:\Program Files\Marpex OR wherever you chose to redirect them during installation of a sample pack from www.WordsCloseTogether.com.

Batches of one to ten ebooks that you have downloaded from www.WCTSE.com are wherever you chose to put them. The same applies to selected ebooks that you have dragged and dropped from the DVD.

If you dragged and dropped the entire Ebooks directory from the DVD onto your C: root directory, then the books are arranged in subdirectories of C:\Ebooks\. The first level subdirectory is a single letter, A through Z, the first letter of the author's last name. Within the letter subdirectories are further subdirectories, one for each author. Watch for large accumulations of books under Ebooks\A\Anonymous and Ebooks\U\Unknown.

Using "My Computer" or (Vista) "Computer", browse to the desired ebook and double click on it, or highlight it and choose menu option "File -- Open" as in Screen 3:

When you launch the program by clicking in "My Computer" on a particular ebook, you are taken directly to its interactive table of contents, which looks something like Screen 4:

Incidentally, one of the many applications of Words Close Together technology is classic literature such as that offered through Project Gutenberg. When you have opened a Project Gutenberg ebook, you will see summary terms at the top and the entire Project Gutenberg license following the interactive table of contents of the ebook.

Often the table of contents is too long to show all at once. Use the scroll bar on the right to drag down (or use the PgDn button on your keyboard) to move down the page.

We will examine how to browse an ebook using the Table of Contents further along. Let's deal first with the Home Page, then with the interactive Table of Contents.

What is the Home page? How do I use it?
The Home page appears as some variation of Screen 2 above. It consists of a series of buttons, each with a brief explanation. Each button is for an option currently open to you. The page may look different, depending on what you have done in the past or what you are working on now.

For example, the very first time you launch the program, you will see a button labeled Review license. You are being asked to read the EULA ("End User License Agreement"). At the bottom of the terms of use are two buttons, I Accept and I Do Not Accept. To continue in the program, you have to Accept. Once you have accepted it, you are not likely to see the Review license button again.

Among the Home Page headings is "First time user?" beside a button labeled Introduction. Try it. You will see a set of quick tips that enable you to move about in an ebook, most especially in this "How to" Guide for the WCT Reader.

All pages other than the Home Page have a Home button. Click on it when you want to return to the list of options that are open to you at that moment. For example, if you have not yet selected an ebook, chances are you will want to Select and open a particular ebook.

Note: Every time you click on the Home button, any search that is underway is cleared. This feature is a convenience to save the bother of highlighting terms and pressing the Delete key. This will make more sense after you have learned how to conduct a basic search.
How do I select an ebook from within the Home Page?
If no ebook is currently open, you will see a Select button. If an ebook is already open, the same button has the label Switch. To open an ebook, click on Select or Switch (whichever is showing). You will be shown a standard browse dialog box as in Screen 5, open at the last place at which you selected an ebook:

Browse as necessary to reach the location of the ebook that you want. Double click on it, or highlight it and click on the Open button at the lower right.

Once an ebook is open, how do I read it?
An interactive table of contents is the first page shown when an ebook is opened. Here is the illustration in Screen 4 again:

Some lines in the table of contents are preceded by a plus [+] sign in a box. If you click on a plus sign, the page is redisplayed, now with details showing within the heading that you opened up. In general, a [+] sign is clicked to get more detail, a [-] minus sign is clicked to hide detail.

To start reading an ebook, look for either a boxed-in plus sign or a magnifying glass to the left of the first line in the table of contents.

If there is a magnifying glass, click on it.

If there is not, click on the plus sign. The first line of the table of contents will expand. Expand as necessary, then click on the first magnifying glass.

That brings you to the first page of the book. You will notice near the top and bottom of each page a Previous button and a Next button. Screen 6 is a typical page:

Read the page, click on Next. Proceed as per Lewis Carroll's advice in Alice in Wonderland: "Begin at the beginning. Keep going until you reach the end. Then stop." If you follow that all the way through, you will have read the whole book. Congratulations!

How do I adjust the amount that shows on a page?
You will notice that a screen most of the time ends at a paragraph end. You can control whether the screen shows relatively little at a time (up to 300 words) or quite a lot (up to 1000 words). You may set a ceiling of 300, 400, 500, ... 1000 words per page. To do so, go to the Home page and click on the Preferences button. One of your choices is as in Screen 7:

Try out different numbers. See which setting is most comfortable for you.

The letters are too small or too big. How do I adjust the size of the font?
Font size is directly adjustable through the Preferences button. It makes quite a difference in readability. Here pictured in Screen 8 is the option you want on the Preferences page:

Try out different percentage values. See which setting is most comfortable for you.

Meaningful precision search for text data is available now. Learn more.

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