System Tray Icon

This is a new feature that will be found in version Beta 2.5. When you close the Kanji Sketch Pad, it will place an icon in your System tray. The colour tells you at a glance if everything is okay (blue brain icon), some items are stale (purple) or you are behind target (red). Hover over the icon to get an actual numerical report. Right-click to restart the program in normal mode or popup mode - where popup mode flashes up a kanji to draw every three minutes, or at whatever inerval you prefer.

Don't worry, if you don't lke this feature, you can turn it off. Click the Information icon on the main window, then System Tray. Choose "No Tray Icon". Or right click the system icon itself and choose Settings. You can also set the icon to flash up a message when you have new stale items. Click the message to launch the program, deal with the stale items, and then get back to work.

Kanji Sketch Pad

Several people have had questions about the Kanji Sketch Pad. ( described here, reviewed here and downloadable here (old version) or here (newer version, beta 2.91). (Edit, October 2012: Note that the Kanji Sketch Pad program is now hosted at kanjisketchpad.com, which is where the latest versions of the software are released and discussed.) This program is still in beta version, and the help files are not yet complete, so this blog is intended to make up for that. I am also very keen to hear of any problems, in the form of actual bugs or even just points of confusion with the interface.

This blog will provide a venue for providing updates, tips and online help.

Please report any problems you have with the software. I can usually find and fix bugs within 48 hours. It helps if you can tell me exactly what you were doing when the problem occurred.

You may also find kanji where you dispute the drawing information. The kanji vectors are copyright and belong to someone else (see the kanjivg project) but I release a version of them with the program and can make fixes. The managers of the kanjivg project are also happy to update any mistakes found by users, so pass on any issues you find and we can improve the database for everyone.