KOReader question

[ArizonaGuy]

I only installed KOReader perhaps 2 days ago on my Boox tablet so it is all pretty much brand new to me. I did some of the basic setup so I have been through the setup pages and did most of what I wanted. But there are some things in the setup process that I just could not figure out and chief among them is setting up a dictionary,

I went to the Search icon and opened the setup for the dictionary. I went to the download dictionary section and selected English, expecting a list of English dictionaries to use by highlighting specific words and expecting the dictionary definition to pop up, as that is what I see in other eReading apps. But the dictionaries listed all seemed to be either for specific specialties or English-to-Other-Language dictionaries. That is, translation dictionaries. All I want is a regular English language dictionary to use with KOReader.

Perhaps I am missing something here. The initial extracted KOReader app does not come with any default dictionary; at least the setup pages shows 0 installed dictionaries and highlight does not do anything. So my questions are (1) is it possible to install just a simple English dictionary? (2) If so, how? And (3) do definitions pop up automatically when words in a book are highlighted? Or do I have to open the dialog box and then type in the word I am looking for a definition for? My apologies for ending a sentence with a preposition ...

[jonnyl]

The 2nd entry, "GNU Collaborative ..." is a quite decent English-English dictionary.
You can also find links to other dictionary sources and other information here:

https://github.com/koreader/koreader...ionary-support

If you want to launch the dictionary on long-press on a single word, make sure this option is enabled in the top menu, Gear icon > Taps and gestures > Long press on text >.

[jackm8]

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=358795

There's a post there with Oxford Dictionary. Shorter one is as detailed as default Kindle Oxford Dictionary. Longer one is overkill.

When you have at least one dictionary installed, long press on a word will start it up with a popup definition of the word that was pressed. Along it, you'll also have options to move from one dictionary to the other.

[ArizonaGuy]

Originally Posted by jonnyl

The 2nd entry, "GNU Collaborative ..." is a quite decent English-English dictionary.
You can also find links to other dictionary sources and other information here:

https://github.com/koreader/koreader...ionary-support

If you want to launch the dictionary on long-press on a single word, make sure this option is enabled in the top menu, Gear icon > Taps and gestures > Long press on text >.

Thank you for the information. I downloaded the GNU dictionary and make sure the proper buttons were set (including Dictionary On Single Word Selection and Ask With Popup Dialog), but doing a long press still did not bring up the dictionary definition. I then restarted the device, just in case, but still nothing.

I assume I am doing something wrong or have not set something I should set, or not unset something I should unset, or ... Any suggestions?

[jonnyl]

So what happens exactly when you long-press on a word?

[ArizonaGuy]

Originally Posted by jonnyl

So what happens exactly when you long-press on a word?

The word gets selected and nothing else happens. And the leaves me with another question. I try to de-select the word by tapping on the screen but that does not de-select the word. I tried to again long press but that does nothing either.

I assume I am just missing something here.

[jonnyl]

It also doesn't highlight it, i.e., no bookmark is added? If you turn the page forward and then back again, is the word still "selected"?

[ArizonaGuy]

Originally Posted by jonnyl

It also doesn't highlight it, i.e., no bookmark is added? If you turn the page forward and then back again, is the word still "selected"?

Sorry for the delay in responding, but it has been a busy couple of days.

I have been going through the menus trying to make sure I know what does what and to where, and one of the things I found was that the External Dictionary item was checked. I unchecked it and now the dictionary popup works properly, so thank you for your help.

It feels like it takes a bit of time to remember what settings are where. There are settings for tapping the 4 corners of the screen, other settings for two finger tapping the corners of the screen and still other settings for long pressing the corners of the screen. I think I will need to create a short cheat-sheet until I remember what does what. Then there is the double tap setting which for some reason does not open up a dialog box for me when I press it. More things to go through to find out why,

But it is a great editor and free from advertisements. I had been using the Moon+ reader but got annoyed at the advertisements so I will just have to buckle down and learn.

[jonnyl]

Glad you got it working. All those gestures you're speaking of are fully customizable in the Gesture manager, and as a new user it's probably best not to use too many at once. I suggest you start with QuickMenus, which will show you what they do before you execute anything. You can also have an overview of all gestures shown under Top menu: Gear> Taps and gestures> Gesture overview.

If you're ever looking for a menu item, the Menu search feature (Top right hamburger menu, Help> Menu search) comes in handy.

[ArizonaGuy]

Originally Posted by jonnyl

Glad you got it working. All those gestures you're speaking of are fully customizable in the Gesture manager, and as a new user it's probably best not to use too many at once. I suggest you start with QuickMenus, which will show you what they do before you execute anything. You can also have an overview of all gestures shown under Top menu: Gear> Taps and gestures> Gesture overview.

If you're ever looking for a menu item, the Menu search feature (Top right hamburger menu, Help> Menu search) comes in handy.

Thank you for that help.

The setup menus are so extensive that I find that I can not remember from moment to moment which setting is where, especially since I have also been using other readers with their own configuration settings.

I have KOReader installed on both my old Boox and my new ViWoods devices and find that somehow I set the version on my Boox to open with the list of previously open books instead of the folders and I can't find whatever menu entry I used to do that so I could also set it to do that on my ViWoods.

I need to go through the user guide in some detail and I think that most of my questions will be answered there. I assume there is probably some setup file somewhere on the system that KOReader uses to set the options and I suppose one of these days I will go looking for it, even if only out of curiosity.

[jonnyl]

Go to File browser (top menu is different than in reader). Open top menu, first tab (filing cabinet), Start with >.

[ArizonaGuy]

Originally Posted by jonnyl

Go to File browser (top menu is different than in reader). Open top menu, first tab (filing cabinet), Start with >.

I guess I don't know what you are referring to. Top Menu in KOReader? Or Top Menu someplace else? If someplace else, where? Sorry to be so ignorant, but this is all new to me.

On the other hand, I cheated. I looked through the file structure of the Android system on the ViWoods device and found the KOReader folder. In there I found the setup file (named settings.reader.lua), copied to my Mac, edited it to add the entry for the startup action (which I found on my Boox version), copied it back and started KOReader. Now it starts in the history folder like I wanted it to.

The problem with "cheating" like that is that although I now know more about the internal working of KOReader I still don't know where in the menu system the setting is made. But then I was a software guy before I retired and the internals of the software is often more interesting to me than the UI.

[ArizonaGuy]

Thought I found, but perhaps not.

Yeah. I finally got it figured out. I just did not realize that there were menus available in the file browser page in KOReader so I did not understand your post. But I got it now.