Contact Us

If you have questions about our products and service, email us. All technical support is by email. We’ll aim to answer all technical support issues within 24 hours.

ADDRESS		Editor Software (UK) Ltd Woodmancote House 64 Woodmancote Dursley GL11 4AL United Kingdom
TELEPHONE		If you have not had a response within 24 hours and you need to telephone us, please do so during UK business hours on +44 7738 789621.
EMAIL		Email Technical Support

If you have a technical problem, please read the Technical Support Question section before you email us. We have placed the common support questions and answers there.

Common Technical Support Questions

 

What writing style does StyleWriter recommend?

Will StyleWriter cure all my writing faults?

Who will benefit from using StyleWriter?

What is the business case for StyleWriter?

What programs does StyleWriter work with?

Can you explain the technical information and system requirements for StyleWriter 4?

Does StyleWriter work on a Mac?

Are there different language versions of StyleWriter?

Can I install StyleWriter on more than one machine?

Is there a 30-day, money-back guarantee with StyleWriter?

How does StyleWriter calculate the Bog Index?

What is the Passive Index and how do I edit passive verbs?

What is the Style Index?

Electronic Writing Course

How does the Electronic Writing Course compare to conventional training?

How much does a Course site license cost?

House Style

Do I need StyleWriter as well as the Course?

What is an Electronic House Style?

How much does the Electronic House Style service cost?

Common technical support questions

How do I download, install and activate StyleWriter 4?

How do I run StyleWriter 4?

How do I change the version of StyleWriter running?

How can I check text other than Microsoft Word files?

Why do I get a message saying: Could not open message file SW4US.ptn?

Why don’t I have a StyleWriter button in Word’s tool bar or Add-in tab?

Why do I get an error asking if I want to save the changes to SW4_AddIn.dot?

What writing style does StyleWriter recommend?

StyleWriter helps you write in clear, concise English – often called plain English. Many people think plain English means simple, boring or childish. But it’s not. Think of plain English editing as cutting the complexity and redundancy in your writing to leave a clear, streamlined and flowing style your audience can read effortlessly. It’s the writing style of the best professional writers and communicators.

“Plain English is clear, straightforward expression, using only as many words as are necessary. It is language that avoids obscurity, inflated vocabulary canadian pharmacy world
and convoluted sentence construction. It is not baby talk, nor is it a simplified version of the English language. Writers of plain English let their audience concentrate on the message instead of being distracted by complicated language. They make sure that their audience understands the message easily.” – Professor Robert Eagleson

Plain English editing and a professional editor’s skills are similar. Both use commonsense rules to guide them to produce a more concise, clearer style. The 10 most important editing principles are:

1. Think of your reader’s needs.
2. Organize your content well.
3. Write in a natural style.
4. Keep sentences short.
5. Use active verbs.
6. Be specific rather than general.
7. Cut all redundant words and phrases.
8. Use simpler words rather than complex words.
9. Cut down on jargon.
10. Edit vigorously.

“For writing punchy, effective text, even with your own whimsical style, look no further.”– Good Software Guide

Good editing simply removes the bad style habits so your individual writing style can shine through. There’s plenty of room for individual style, rhetoric and imaginative writing. So let StyleWriter help you get rid of your poor writing habits and let you express yourself in your own words.

Will StyleWriter cure all my writing faults?

 

It will cure the common poor writing habits found in most writing. However, StyleWriter doesn’t check your grammar (as Word has a built-in grammar checker) or cure all faults. Instead of duplicating the features you have already built in to your word processor, StyleWriter concentrates on finding thousands of style faults and checking for good English usage that can transform your writing style.

StyleWriter uses a sophisticated and comprehensive database to match patterns in your writing style. Because it does not parse the sentence, the program is quick, working through about a page of text a second and displaying and analyzing all style and possible usage problems throughout the document.

“StyleWriter especially impressed me in flagging only a handful of false
errors that are so common with grammar checkers. Its advice was intelligent,
and it came across as a practical and effective aid to good clear writing.”
– PC Plus Magazine

There are other areas StyleWriter cannot help with—no computer program can. For example, StyleWriter cannot tell you how to plan your document or arrange your sections. It cannot tell you if the content you have chosen is good or bad. One reviewer of StyleWriter summed it up well: “StyleWriter will show you how to write anything in a clear, concise and readable style. However, if you write nonsense, it will show you how to write clear, concise and readable nonsense.”

Who will benefit from using StyleWriter?

Just about anyone who writes.

• Advertisers for better ads, leaflets and press releases.
• Editors who want to use software to develop a house style.
• Journalists to check and polish their writing style.
• Judges for legal briefs to be just that – brief.
• Lawyers trying to break centuries of bad writing habits.
• Scientists who want to write clearly about complex issues.
• Social Scientists who want to sound human.
• Students wanting to get A-Grade essays.
• Technical Authors for shorter, readable documentation.
• You, if you want to learn the secrets of clear, direct language.

What’s the business case for StyleWriter?

National governments, councils, multinational corporations, major industry bodies and others have adopted the plain English model for sound, commercial reasons — plain English saves time and money. The savings claimed for plain English are remarkable:

• The US Navy estimated plain English could save it between $250–$300 million every year.
• General Electric saved $275,000 by redrafting manuals into plain English.
• The US Department of Veterans Affairs saved $40,000 redrafting one standard letter into plain English.
• Customers in three surveys of standard letters from banks unanimously preferred the plain English versions.
• British Telecom cut customer queries by 25 percent by using plain English.
• The Royal Mail saved £500,000 in nine months by redesigning one form in plain English.
• UK businesses lose £6 billion a year because of badly written letters.
• A UK Government Plain English initiative saved £9 million in printing costs.

These savings come from organizations training key staff, employing professional writers and editors. But these people can only edit a few of the thousands of documents produced each day in large organizations. Imagine the savings if you used training and editing software to guarantee all employees wrote clear, plain English in every document.

See: Professor Joe Kimble’s article: Writing for Dollars

What programs does StyleWriter work with?

StyleWriter works with all versions of Office and Word from Word 2000 onwards. For all other programs, you need to save your document to the clipboard. StyleWriter can then check the clipboard text. Although this does not offer the same ease of use offered when working with Word files, it means you can check any text.

Alternatively, you can copy clipboard text into Word, edit with StyleWriter and then copy the edited text back to the original program.

Can you explain the technical information and system requirements for StyleWriter 4?

System Requirements

• StyleWriter 4 is a Win32 application and works on all current editions of Word and Windows.
• StyleWriter 4 does not work with the Apple Mac, but some users have successfully run the program on this system using products such as Parallels Desktop® for Mac.

Installation and activation

Installation, either from CD or download, requires:

• the executable file StWrIV.exe (either local or on a share),
• data files containing the patterns (SW4xx.ptn) that find problems and messages (SW4xx.msg) that provide advice (either local or on a share),
• Help files (SW4xx.chm) that must be on the same path as the data files,
• a Word add-in template for calling StyleWriter from Microsoft Word (either in the user’s Word\Startup folder or the Office\Startup folder),
• optional Tutorial files, and
• Registry entries that tell the system where to find the executable file and tell StyleWriter 4 where to find its data and Help files.

The StyleWriter 4 executable is copy protected and must be activated to run beyond its 14-day trial

Using StyleWriter 4 with Word

• When Word documents are open on the Desktop, StyleWriter 4 uses Word’s COM interface to interrogate the Word document and get a copy of the text.
• StyleWriter 4 displays its own view of the text, highlighting the problems it has found, and offering editing advice. When it can suggest direct replacement of a word or phrase, StyleWriter 4 offers the suggestion in blue underlined text as an active link. Clicking this link causes StyleWriter 4 to use Word’s COM interface to replace the text in the source document, then get a fresh copy of the text.
• When checking a Word document, StyleWriter 4 offers the alternative of inserting advice comments in the source document, creating a ‘marked-up’ document.
• The Word add-in template SW4_AddIn.dot allows users to call StyleWriter to check the current document, and to call StyleWriter’s writing advice and the Tutor, House Style advice and Writing Course if installed. The add-in has an AutoExec macro that adjusts its own toolbars to suit the version of Word and the Editor Software applications installed.
• StyleWriter 4 can be configured to save document statistics to an archive file.

Using StyleWriter 4 with other programs

• When Clipboard Text is available, StyleWriter can check and display this in the same way. It offers suggestions in blue text without underline, and without any link to the source document. Edits must be done manually.

• If Word is used as the editor in Outlook (2003 and earlier), Word provides full interactivity for StyleWriter to check emails.

Security

• StyleWriter 4 does not make copies of documents.

• StyleWriter 4 does not access the Internet.

Does StyleWriter work on a Mac?

We’ve designed StyleWriter to work with Word in Windows.

Although we do not support Apple/Mac, some of our users have successfully run the program on this system using products such as Parallels Desktop® for Mac, where, according to their claims:

“You don’t have to choose between Windows and Mac OS X. You can seamlessly run both side-by-side, drag-and-drop your files between operating systems, and run Windows applications on your Mac without rebooting.“

If you want to download and try StyleWriter before you buy, you can do so by visiting our downloads section.

Please note that while we’re happy to offer advice on using StyleWriter for Mac users, we cannot offer technical support.

Are there different language versions of StyleWriter?

We have United States, United Kingdom and Australian versions of the program. Each international version of StyleWriter reflects the English usage of the area. Each entry in the program, its advice and help screens are consistent with the following authorities:

• USA— Webster’s Dictionary
• UK — Oxford Dictionary
• Australia — Macquarie Dictionary

When you install StyleWriter, you can choose the US, UK or Australian versions or all three.

Can I install StyleWriter on more than one machine?

StyleWriter is normally a single-user license that allow you to install on one machine.

You can buy the License Extension Pack for $30 to allow you to install StyleWriter on up to three machines for your personal use. This allows you to have the program on your home, portable and work machines.

The License Extension Pack does not allow you to install one StyleWriter license on multiple work or office computers used by someone other than you or let a second user install the program.

The $30 fee covers administration, technical support and registration for each extra machine licensed.

If you have bought the License Extension Pack, install from the download file or the Software for Writers CD on each machine and complete a new registration for each copy installed and ask for a Second Authorization or Third Authorization. We will then send you codes authorizing use on your second and third machines.

Is there a 30-day, money-back guarantee on StyleWriter?

Rather than give you a 30-day, money-back guarantee, we encourage you to download the StyleWriter free trial. That way, you don’t buy the program unless you’re 100 percent happy with it.

If you buy the program without using the trial, we will normally refund your payment if you have not Registered the software. We cannot issue refunds once you have Registered the program.

However, we will consider any requests for refunds and our decision will depend on the specific circumstances.

How does StyleWriter calculate the Bog Index?

StyleWriter’s Bog Index is a measure that improves on the standard readability formulas. Its key feature is to measure readability with a graded word list rather than simply using a syllable count, or word length. It then rates the style and readability of your document according to document type – the Writing Task and the Target Audience.

Sentence Bog measures the effect of sentence length for different writing tasks.
Word Bog measures word difficulty (rather than word length), abbreviations and acronyms, wordiness, passive verbs and other style issues.

Pep measures features that are the hallmarks of good writing. They include proper names, interesting words, conversational expressions, direct questions, short sentences, and sentence length variety. Sentence length variety is measured by taking the sentence length standard deviation, multiplying by 10 divided by the average sentence length.

What is the Passive Index and how do I edit passive verbs?

The Passive Index shows whether you have used too many passive verbs helps you decide how many you need to change into active verbs. Too many passive verbs make writing tedious and difficult to read.

StyleWriter counts the number of passive verbs, divides them by the number of sentences and multiplies the result by 100 to give a Passive Index score.

If you have too many passive verbs, change as many passive verbs as you can into active verbs. If you can keep your Passive Index below 20, you’re using a good, active writing style. If you can, write with the Passive Index below 10.

Changing passive verbs to active verbs transforms your writing. To change verbs from passive to active, either:

1. Place who did the action first – click here to see examples
2. Cut out as much of the passive verb as you can – click here to see examples

What is the Style Index?

The Style Index was StyleWriter’s measure of good writing before we designed the Bog Index. The Style Index measures all plain English problems in the text, including a weighted score for long sentences. It then converts this measure into an index. The best writing consistently scores below 20 – equivalent to two style faults for every 100 words.

Return to StyleWriter FAQs Menu