Copyright (c) 2010-2011 Joshua Harlan Lifton. See LICENSE.txt for details.

Stenography expertise, original concept, feature design, and testing by Mirabai Knight. Code and technical design by Joshua Harlan Lifton. Additional code contributions by Hesky Fisher.

Supported stenotype protocols:

• QWERTY keyboards with n-key rollover (e.g. Microsoft SideWinder X4)
• Gemini PR (a.k.a. Gemini Enhanced)
• TX Bolt (a.k.a. Gemini TX)
• Stentura

Contact the authors if you would like Plover to support your stenotype machine.

Plover is not mature software. Once running, it will interpret all keystrokes according to the stenography dictionary you provide. Be careful what you type. When using the Sidewinder or any other normal keyboard with Plover, your normal keyboard shortcuts may not work. Use the mouse or stop the Plover program if you are unsure of what will result from typing.

These installation notes are for Debian-like Linux systems. From the directory in which this README file is located, run the following commands:

sudo apt-get install python-xlib python-serial python-wxgtk2.8 appdirs
sudo python setup.py install

After installation is complete as above, the Plover application will be available from the command-line and as an icon in the application list. Starting the application will bring up a small window with a red 'P' icon. At this point, Plover is inactive. To activate Plover, click the red 'P' icon, or type on the steno machine the strokes corresponding to the PLOVER:TOGGLE or PLOVER:RESUME commands as defined in the dictionary. The icon will turn green to indicate that Plover is active and ready to translate stenography keystrokes into English text. Clicking the green icon or sending the PLOVER:SUSPEND or PLOVER:TOGGLE commands will cause the icon to turn red, which means Plover is again in the inactive state.