Please read Program Help and the FAQ before requesting technical support

All help refers to version 3.0. Previous versions are no longer supported.

Yes, this page is very long, but to include advice on each command or feature, it has to be. FMReader is a very powerful program.

MENU COMMANDS :: INTERFACE :: HOW TO READ A PAGE OPEN IN INTERNET EXPLORER ::
READING AOL CONTENT OR EMAIL MESSAGES, ETC :: SUMMERIZED READING ::
READING CLIPBOARD TEXT :: TRAINING MISPRONOUNCED WORDS ::

Menu Commands

File > Open > File
Opens a web page from your hard disk.

File > Open > Group
Opens a group of pages. The extension of the file containing the list of pages is "fmg". Since they are text files, you can edit the list by opening these files in Notepad.

File > Open > URL
Allows you to open any web site. Functions the same as typing a URL in the address bar and clicking on the "Go" button.

File > Open > Clipboard Text
Pastes text from the Windows Clipboard into a blank page, allowing you to read text from any program. This includes AOL, your email client (Outlook, etc.), Excel, Netscape, or Word.

File > Open > Current [browser] Page
FMReader loads the page currently open in Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera. For Internet Explorer, this is the same as clicking on the Internet "Read" button on "Links" toolbar or "Read" on the "Tools" menu.

File > Open > Printer-Friendly Version
If the current page has a printer-friendly page, which reads better, FMReader will load it.

File > Open > Audio Attachment Folder
Opens a Windows Explorer window of the folder that FMReader downloads audio attachments.  If you subscribe to RSS feeds, MP3 files are automatically downloaded to this folder.  The folder is, by default, c:\program files\fmreader\audio.  You choose a different folder on the Tools menu.

File > Open > Selected Links
Opens multiple links in their own tab.  You can open many files at once with this command.

File > Save > Page
Saves a web page to disk the same as Internet Explorer does.

File > Save > Group
Saves a list of pages so that they can later be opened simultaneously. Groups can be opened using the File, Open, Group menu command or on the Sidebar.

File > Export to MP3 > Current Page
Transforms the current page's text to MP3 audio, allowing you to listen to web pages away from your computer.

File > Export to MP3 > All Bookshelf Pages
For each page on the Bookshelf, transforms the text to MP3 audio, allowing you to listen to web pages away from your computer.  FMReader will open and close pages that are not already loaded.

File > Page Setup
Allows you to set printing parameters for the current page.

File > Print
Prints the current page.

File > Close Current Page
Closes the current tab, provided that there is at least one remaining tab open.

File > Undo File Close
Displays a list of files that you've closed; allows you to reopen any closed page.

File > Block This Page From Loading Again
FMReader does a good job of blocking most popup ads, but occasionally one sneaks through the filter. When this happens this menu command makes sure that it doesn't popup again.

File > Close
Closes the FMReader program.

Edit > Copy
Copies the selected text to the clipboard. Some pages are exceedingly complex in structure and if FMReader reads the wrong portion of a page, you can copy the correct text to the clipboard and read the clipboard text.

Edit > Select All
Selects the entire page for copying.

Edit > Find Text
Searches the text of the current page for any given text string.

View > Sidebar
Displays and hides the Sidebar, the outline control the left to the current page. The Sidebar contains links to the Bookshelf (a list of pages that FMReader will read after reading the current page), the Library (links to various literature or news sites), Groups (collections of pages that are opened simultaneously), and your Favorites. You click once on a link to open that page in a new tab.

View > Toolbar Text
Displays and hides a description of each toolbar button. You might hide toolbar text to display all of the buttons if the FMReader window size is small.

View > History
Displays a list of pages that you've visited in FMReader previously. The list can be sorted by URL, date visited, or number of visits. This list is not the same as Internet Explorer history. You can display either the Sidebar or History Bar.

View > Search Toolbar
Displays and hides a toolbar that allows you to submit search queries to many sites without first browsing those sites. Included are links to Google, Yahoo, weather, maps, etc.

View > Reader
Displays and hides the Soda, the reading companion that is included with FMReader.

View > Go To > FMReader Home
Changes the URL of the current page to the FMReader home page.

View > Go To > Home
Changes the URL of the current page to your Internet Explorer home page.

View > Go To > Back
Changes the current page to the page previously loaded in that tab.

View > Go To > Next
Functions the same as the "Next" button on the Internet Explorer toolbar.

View > Stop
Stops loading the current page.

View > Refresh
Reloads the current page.

View > Tab
You can load any number of tabs. These commands allow you to easily navigate between the tabs.

View > Tab > First
Changes the current tab to the first one that you loaded.

View > Tab > Previous
Changes the current tab to the one you loaded before the current tab.

View > Tab > Next
Changes the current tab to the one you loaded after the current tab.

View > Tab > Last
Changes the current tab to the last one you loaded.

Read > Start/Stop Reading
Starts or stops the reading of the current page. Once you c

Read > Skip Sentence
Skips the sentence currently being read aloud. This is easier than stopping reading, repositioning the text highlight and starting reading again.

Read > Speed
Instructs Soda to read faster or slower.

Read > Pitch
Instructs Soda to read at a higher or lower pitch.

Read > Mode > Read To Me
The default reading mode. FMReader reads words aloud as it highlights them.

Read > Mode > Video
Opens a new page that displays words as they are read aloud and pictures associated with the words. The words and pictures are from pages that you have loaded in FMReader. This database is never uploaded to FMReader.com. We respect your privacy and have no way of knowing what pages or pictures that you've viewed.

Read > Mode > Read With Me
With this Learning Mode, FMReader will highlight a word from the current document, Soda will say the the word aloud, and wait for you to repeat the word into your microphone.

Learning Modes require the Microsoft® Speech Recognition Engine (6 MB exe).

Read > Mode > Listen To Me
With this Learning Mode, FMReader will highlight a word from the current document and Soda will wait for you to say the word into your microphone. If you mispronounce the word, Soda will say the word and wait for you to repeat it.

Learning Modes require the Microsoft® Speech Recognition Engine (6 MB exe).

Read > Learn With Phonics
Works with Learning Modes. When you mispronounce a word, FMReader will open a page that shows how to pronounce each of the word's sounds, allowing you to build the word with its component sounds.

Read > Word Phonics
Opens page that shows how to pronounce a word by allowing you to build the word with its component sounds.

Read > Display Word Balloon
Displays or hides Soda's Word Balloon, which displays words as they are read aloud. The Word Balloon allows you to see words even if you are using other programs during the reading.

Read > Load Printer-Friendly Pages
Pages often contain a lot of text that is tedious to listen to, like menus or links to other pages. Printer-friendly pages omit most of this text and results in a more pleasant reading. If this feature is enabled, when you first read a page, FMReader will attempt to load and read a printer-friendly version of the page. Sometimes, though not often, FMReader guesses the wrong link and you'll have to stop reading, go back to the original page, disable this option and resume reading.

Read > Summary Only

This feature is ideal for students. You can use Microsoft Word to highlight the most important passages in a long page with a lot of text. The result is like marking a textbook with a yellow marker. This option tells FMReader to only read the text highlighted in yellow. If this feature is on when a page is loaded, it's text is automatically highlighted. Be careful about leaving this option on, though, because highlighting every page will slow down browsing considerably.

Read > Train Word Pronunciation
Soda pronounces most words correctly. But he has problems with some words and needs you to "misspell" the words so that they are pronounced correctly. For instance, dovetailed is pronounced correctly when misspelled as "duv-tailed".

Tools > Block Popup Windows
Popup windows are a real pain. Why web advertisers insist on offending potential customers is beyond me. FMReader seeks to minimize your annoyance by blocking most popup windows. However, this feature can have unintended consequences. For instance, a site may display magnified images in a popup window. FMReader's popup filter might accidentally block these windows, too. You can turn off this option temporarily to view these popup windows.

Tools > Summarize
This feature is ideal for students. You can use Microsoft Word to highlight the most important passages in a long page with a lot of text. The result is like marking a textbook with a yellow marker. The "Summary Only" option on the Read menu tells FMReader to only read the text highlighted in yellow.

To remove highlighting from a page, you need to Refresh the page.

Tools > Add This Page to Bookshelf
FMReader's tabs allow you to listen to one page while browsing another. Sometimes you'll encounter a page that you want FMReader to read after the current page is finished. This feature adds the page to FMReader's Bookshelf. You can add as many pages to the Bookshelf as you want. FMReader will read them all. The effect is like listening to a radio station.

Tools > Add Selected Links to Bookshelf

Similar to adding a page to the Bookshelf. This feature allows you to add many page to the Bookshelf at once. For instance, you could browse a newspaper's home page, highlight all of the links on the front page, and listen to all the stories, one at a time.

Tools > Clear Bookshelf
Removes all pages from the Bookshelf.

Tools > Add to Favorites
Adds the current page to your Internet Explorer favorites. Favorites added using FMReader will also be available in Internet Explorer.

Tools > Organize Favorites
Opens the Internet Explorer Organize Favorites dialog window.

Tools > Load/Don't Load This Page on Startup
FMReader allows you to have as many home pages as you want. This option allows you to specify that you do or don't want FMReader to open this page as a home on startup. This does not change your Internet Explorer home page.

Tools > Internet Options
Opens the Windows Internet Options dialog window.

Tools > Register
Opens a page that allows you to enter or modify your FMReader registration info. Your FMReader serial number, used to obtain a registration code allowing you to use FMReader permanently, is displayed on this page.

Tools > Enter Registration Code
Allows you to enter the registration code that was emailed to you when you purchased FMReader.

Help > Program Help
Displays this page in a new tab.

Help > FAQ

Displays FMReader's Frequently Asked Questions in a new tab.

Help > About FMReader
Displays FMReader's home page in a new tab.

Interface

FMReader is structured like most Windows programs. There is a menu and toolbar on the top of the screen, outline bar on the left, and content is displayed in the bottom-right corner of the window. Below the current page are tabs, contain page titles, that allow you to open many pages simultaneously.

However, some elements of the interface need further explanation.

Bookshelf
Contained on the Sidebar, the Bookshelf lists the pages that you want FMReader to read after the current page is read. You can click on the page in the Bookshelf to open them in a new tab. You can remove a page from the Bookshelf by right-clicking on the page title and choosing "Remove".

You can drag-and-drop pages within the Bookshelf to alter the order in which the pages will be read. FMReader will the first page on the list and remove it from the list when it is finished reading.

Library
Contained on the Sidebar, the Library lists links to pages that you might want to read, such as Project Gutenberg e-texts, USA Today, etc. If you add a link to FMReader.com, your page can be included in the FMReader Library.

The Chrislip College Journal is a sample site that was created to demonstrate how you can link many pages on your site and trigger FMReader to read all of them, one after the other. For more details, see Your Page Can Talk.

Favorites
Unlike Internet Explorer, FMReader displays your Favorites on the Sidebar, making them always available. You click on a Favorite to open the page in a new tab. Right-clicking on the Favorites section of the Sidebar allows you to Organize Favorites, Delete a Favorite or folder, or rename the Favorite.

Unique to FMReader is the option to open all links in a Favorites folder. You could, for instance, right-click on the "Link" folder and choose "Open Folder Group". FMReader would open each page in that folder in a separate tab.

Search Toolbar
Allows you to submit search queries to many sites without first browsing those sites. Included are links to Google, Yahoo, weather, maps, etc. You can search based upon any text you enter, selected text, etc. The Search button on the main toolbar displays and hides the Search Toolbar. You can resize the Search Toolbar with your mouse. Even though you don't have to leave the current page to initiate a search, the search isn't limited to the current page.

Address Toolbar
Displays the current page's URL. Typing a new URL into the Address Toolbar and clicking on "Go", opens the page in a new tab. You can resize the Address Toolbar with your mouse.

Tabs
There is one tab at the bottom of the screen for each open web page. The page's title is displayed on its tab. If the page has no title, the URL is displayed on the tab.

You can change the current page by clicking on its tab. You can right-click on the tab to: remove the tab (close the page), block the page from loading again, load or not load the page on startup, add the page to your Favorites, or add the page to the FMReader Bookshelf.

When a page is still loading, the icon on the tab will be a white dot. When the page has complete loaded, the dot will be black. When you begin reading a page, it's tab icon is a speaker.

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How to Read a Page Open in Internet Explorer

Browse the page you want to read using Internet Explorer. The page must be completely loaded before it may be read.

Launch FMReader by:

a) clicking on FMReader's Start Menu shortcut and choosing the File, Open, IE Page menu item, or
b) clicking on the "Read" IE Toolbar button.

When the page is completely loaded, click on the FMReader "Read" button. This may take a minute or two depending the speed of your Internet connection.

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Reading AOL Content or Email Messages, etc.

You need to select the text, copy it to the clipboard (CTRL-C), and use FMReader's clipboard reading button.

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Summarized Reading

This feature will highlight the most meaningful text on a page. Be patient, summarizing can take up to a minute to complete. FMReader will change the background color of each summarized sentence to yellow.

Clicking on Summary toolbar button cause FMReader to highlight important passages in the current page.

On the Read menu, you can instruct FMReader to only read the highlighted text. (Otherwise, it will continue to read all of the text, regardless of background color.)

This feature requires Microsoft Word. Word selects the sentences to highlight, not FMReader.

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Reading Clipboard Text

FMReader can read text from any Windows program, including Netscape and Microsoft Word, using the Clipboard.

1. Just select the text (usually Ctrl-A will select all the text in the document).
   
2. Copy the text to the Clipboard (usually Ctrl-C will do this).
   
3. Open FMReader, if you haven't already.
   
4. Clicking on Clipboard toolbar button will open the clipboard text in Internet Explorer.
   

If the desktop "Read Clipboard" shortcut is present, you can just press Alt-Ctrl-C to launch FMReader and automatically begin reading the clipboard.

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Training Mispronounced Words

FMReader will pronounce most words correctly, but for those it doesn't, you can substitute a phonetic misspelling for the word so that it will be pronounced correctly in the future.

1. 1. If the FMReader is still reading, pause reading (as described above).
   
2. 2. Highlight the mispronounced word in the browser window.
   
3. 3. Choose the Read, Train Word Pronunciation menu.
   
4. 4. FMReader will prompt you to phonetically misspell the word so that it is pronounced correctly. For example, the word "ballgame" is pronounced correctly only if it is phonetically misspelled "ball-game." Compound words are commonly mispronounced. Phonetic corrections are submitted to us so that they may be included in the master phonetic dictionary contained in future versions of FMReader.
   

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