Word Splash Pro 9 Updated Features

VERSION 9.7

• New Noise Fill Features
  The Noise Fill feature, used to hide hidden phrases in the puzzle grid, has been enhanced for better page layout control.
  
  
  • Noise Fill Puzzle Text
    A new text area was added that allows defining text to appear on the actual puzzle when noise fill is being used.
    
    A GENERATE button was added to automatically generate a user fill-in text using underscores for the currently defined noise fill answer text.
    
    
  • Print Preview FILL Button
    A FILL button was added to the Print Preview screen to allow quick assess to the noise fill text formatting during the print preview stage.
    
    
  • Noise Fill Auto Refresh
    An Auto Refresh check box was added to Noise Fill window for automatic refresh of the print preview when displayed.
    
    
  • Noise Fill Magnification
    A magnification pull-down selection was added to the Noise Fill window to allow setting the zoom of the text windows.
    
    
• New Word List Sort Options
  The word list can now be sorting in any of the following ways:
  
  
  • Alphabetic Descending Order
  • Alphabetic Ascending Order
  • Word Length Descending Order
  • Word Length Ascending Order
  • Random Unsort
    
    
• Changed Hidden Word Mark-Up Character
  The character used in the word list to hide a word has been changed from a SPACE to a MINUS so that it is easier to see. The SPACE will still work, but the software will now default to using the MINUS by default.
  
  
• Updated Page Layout Logic
  The logic concerning how the page is created has been updated in various ways. The Shrink To Fit font logic was updated to allow larger words to fit in some cercumstances. The text area logic works better when pushed to a second page.
  
  
• Hidden Word Prefix/Suffix
  A prefix and suffix entry area has been added to the page layout ANSWER tab. This allows defiing how hidden words should be marked in the printed answer page. Allows removing the asterisk, or switching to parentheses, etc.
  
  
• New Q&A Answer Only Sentences
  New markup charcaters were added to allow for sentences that appear only in the answer print. Use an EQUAL (=) for standard sentences and a PLUS (+) for numbered sentences. When Answer Sentences are used in a word list then hidden words and standard sentences will not appear in the answer list. This allows creating answers with spacially formatted answer lines.
  (These are ignored in the Java Applet.)
  
  
• Ignore Word List Line Types for Icon Fonts
  The word list line types are ignored for icon fonts. This is because icon fonts do not have the symbols needed to apply the mark-up characters.
  
  
• Text Refresh Check Box
  The Text Paragraph Definition window now uses a check box to turn on and off automatic Print Preview refresh as changes are made.
  
  
• Enhanced Text Only Export
  The text only export and clip has been updated to include the text paragraphs. Previously only the title, grid and word list were exported.
  

VERSION 9.6

• Compatibility with VISTA and WINDOWS 7
  Word Splash Pro now supports the new security measures found in Windows Vista and Windows 7. Users no longer need to run the software with an Administrator security level. All the puzzle data files have been moved to the My Documents folder to avoid account restriction issues.
  
  
• Updated Interactive JAVA applet puzzle player.
  • Smoother screen update on circling.
  • Fixed the look of tyhe circle for the first word circled.
  • Timer turns back on if puzzle is played a second time.
  • Adjusted for bug in Internet Explorer that could cause the ABOUT box to display outside of the player area.
  • The applet is now signed to appease the security issues in Internet Explorer.
    
    
• Updated Users Manual
  The updated User Manual brings back context sensive help. Simply press F1 at any time and the user help will display with information about the feature being used.
  
  
• New Initialize Software Form
  When Word Splash Pro is first used a form will display to allow new users to quicky setup their spelling dictionaries and a few other user configurable options.
  
  
• New Data Migration Utility
  A new utility exists to help migrate existing data from the old locations to the new Word Splash Pro folder within the Windows My Documents folder.
  
  
• New Automatic Word List Capitalization Default Method
  Previous versions of Word Splash always applied automatic capitalization based on the capitalization of the first word in the word list. You may now optionally assign a specific capitalization method under the General Options.
  
  
• Disallow Noise Change If Noise Fill Text
  If noise fill text exists the user will no longer be allowed to change the grid's noise text characters manually (unless they change the fill text.)
  
  
• US and UK Thesaurus Switching
  New check box under OPTIONS allows easy switching between the US and UK versions of the English Thesaurus.
  
  
• Windows Puzzle Player Changes
  The Windows Puzzle Player 9.6 has been updated with the following new features:
  • Move data files to Windows Vista and Windows 7 compatible locations.
  • New Audio Mute Button
  • Property to allow forcing the player to always use the "NONE" player. Can be set under Properties or by Power Pack users.
  • Ask if Multi-Player mode should be on/off when first run. This will set the player software to always use the "NONE" player.
  • After creating a new user on the Load Window it will now immediately assign the new user as the active player.
  • If no users exist and the NONE player is not an option the software automatically prompts for a User Name.
    
  • Increased size of text entry / message areas at bottom of player.
  • Fix so double click on a note line in Load Window no longer opens an Explorer window.
  • Added a user data delete option to the uninstall process.
    
    
• Fix Mask Color Change
  Corrected a problem that took place when changing mask colors when a puzzle exists. Selecting a color should have automatically displayed the actual text on the grid as soon as a color is selected.
  
  
• Select Text To Include on Answer Sheet
  You may now mark a box below the text entry areas to designate if that text shouls appear on the answer sheet.
  
  
• New Support Features
  New support features have been added to a Support tab within the OPTIONS window. This includes resetting Word Splash Pro settings and data files, working with the debug mode, and accessing support reports.
  
  
• Power Pack Changes
  Allow defaulting the Windows Puzzle Player to Single User Mode. Requires Windows Puzzle Player 9.6 or better.
  
  
• Additional Stabilization
  Buffer overflow checking and additional exception handling has been implemented. Internally used data files have been encrypted.
  
  
• Misc Changes
  There were many minor cosmetic and behind the scenes tweaks.

VERSION 9.5

• Spell Checker Update
  Changes to the spell checker configuration will now be instantly recognized for existing puzzles. Previously dictionary updates were not being applied until a new puzzle was loaded or created.
  
  
• Color Button Update
  The color selection buttons have been updated to display better on computers with 32 bit graphic modes.

VERSION 9.4

• Easier Hidden Phrases
  The Noise Fill feature (used to create hidden phrases) is now much easier to use. You may now enter hidden phrases prior to generating the puzzle. The software will work to fit the words to allow for the hidden phrase. It will give suggestions if it cannot be done with the current puzzle properties. Large word lists can also be optionally trimmed to fit the hidden phrase as needed, making it easy to fit a word list to a puzzle. The optional automatic grid sizing feature now takes the noise fill text length into consideration.
  
  
• Puzzle Generation Suggestions
  When a puzzle cannot be generated using the chosen words, grid and/or noise fill text some added information and/or suggestions will now be offered. The software will inform the user why the puzzle could not be generated during its various tries. If it can be determined that adjustments can be made to the word list or noise fill text to complete the puzzle then these suggestions will be made.
  
  
• Automatic Word List Reduction
  When a word list has more words than can fit within the puzzle grid the software will first ask if you want to create a larger grid. Now, when you choose "no" the software will ask if you would like to automatically remove words from the list. Choose this option and your word list will shrink to one that will work with the puzzle grid selected. If Noise Fill text exists (a hidden phrase) then words will be chosen that will allow creating a puzzle that has the correct number of noise cells.The Grid Settings "Percent To Fill", "Word Intersection" and "Effort" properties will be taken into consideration when deciding how many words should remain. Use these to define the word to non-word percentages.
  
  
• Even Word Distribution
  Logic has been added to more evenly distribute words in every direction.
  
  
• Choose Word To Circle
  You may now mark which words in the word list should be circled in the grid when the puzzle is printed. To mark a line as circled simply place an open parentheses in front of the word.
  
  On the Page Layout Window, under the Puzzle Grid section you can specify how word circling should be handled for the puzzle. Specify "Only If Marked" to only circle a word if it is marked for circling, "Circle First Word" to circle the first word in the list if no words are specifically marked, or "None" to never circle a word (even if marked).
  
  If a puzzle is already generated you may use the "Select Line Type Of Word List" option to mark a line as Circled. Simply move to the line then choose this option under the Edit menu or the right mouse buttons pop-up menu. Choose "Selected" and then "To Circled". To remove the circling mark choose "To Normal".
  
  
• Cancel Manual Censor Check
  The censor check feature now allows using the Cancel button to stop it prematurely.
  
  
• Unavailable Printer Handling
  The software now handles unavailable network printers.
  
  
• Rounding Differences In New Processors
  Mathematical rounding differences in newer CPU's were causing a few people to have problems starting the software.
  
  
• Enhanced Puzzle Player Sound Support
  The Puzzle Player version 9.4 now supports more sounds and allows easier sound pack creation using the Sound Studio.
  

VERSION 9.3.3

• Publish HTML Grid Spacing
  When publishing a puzzle grid as an HTML table the table cells will now be sized using the Spacing Amount setting found under Printing Options.
  
  
• World Support For Power Pack
  The power pack has been updated to work on for all national settings under Windows.

VERSION 9.3

• Puzzle Pack ZIP Builder Fix
  Corrects the creation of predefined puzzle pack lists when creating a puzzle pack ZIP file.
  
  
• Puzzle Pack Hidden Word Display
  You may now assign to show the length of the hidden words using asterisks, a single question mark or a blank line.

VERSION 9.2

• Choose HTML File Extension
  When Publishing HTML you can now choose between HTML or HTM file extensions. Do this on the "Pages To Generate" tab of the Publish HTML feature.
  
  
• About Box Fix
  The About Box would freeze if accessed after running the Check For Update.
  
  
• Debug Mode Message
  When the keyboard is used to start the debug mode a message will now be displayed.
  

VERSION 9.1

• AUTO SORT Modified
  The AUTO SORT feature no longer removes duplicate words during the sort
  
  
• Duplicate Word Support
  When duplicate words are included in the list some feaures were not handling the duplicates correctly. Double clicking on the word in the list was only highlighting the first word. The Java Applet web pages were only allowing the first occurance of the word to be circled. Both of these have been corrected.
  
  
• Saves AUTO SORT and CAPITALIZATION Settings
  The new AUTO SORT and AUTO CAPITALIZATION settings are now saved when Word Splash is exited and they are restored when Word Splash restarts.
  
  
• Enhanced DEBUG Mode
  The debug mode now saves more of your puzzle details to the DEBUG.TXT file. This file is sometimes used by support to analize information that can help track down a reported problem. When the debug mode is turned on the debug data is saved to a file and can then be sent to us in an email.
  

You may also want to update the Windows Puzzle Player to version 9.1 if you are using it since the following changes have been made to that program as well:

• Windows Player "Out Of Bounds" Error
  The SOLVE button was sometimes giving an "out of bounds" error when no words were circled in the word list prior to the SOLVE button being pressed.
  
  
• Windows Player Note Diplay
  After automatically displaying puzzle NOTES the player would be in PAUSE mode. This has been changed to switch to PLAY mode automatically.
  
  
• SOLVE With Duplicate Words
  When using the SOLVE button an a single word it will now handle duplicate words. It was only solving the first occurance of a word found.
  
  
• After SOLVE Highlighting
  After a puzzle is solved you can click on the words in the list to see where the word was hidden in the grid. When words were duplicated in the list only the first word was being highlighted. This has been corrected.
  
  
• Completed Puzzle with SOLVE Button
  When the SOLVE button was used to complete a puzzle a message now displays when the puzzle is complete.