Englex and Other Updates

I know I don’t update this site much. The main reason is that very few of you are using the YourOtherMind writing platform anymore, so writing updates is a bit of a waste of time for me.

What you should know, if you are using YourOtherMind, is that there are several updates available. They have been getting checked into the github repository (if you are a build-it-yourself type). I have not posted self installing files, due to a lack of demand. If you do want the latest version, let me know, and I’ll take the time to post them.

A recent new feature I’ve added to the Proofreading addin, is the ability to query a new crowd-based, word connection app I’ve created, called Englex. The site is in very early days, but ideally it would become a user powered thesaurus and word connection tool.

Mostly I see Englex useful for writers. I used to use an application similar to it on an old PDA and it was immensely useful. The basic idea is that Englex is an easy way to explore how words are connected — not just straight antonym and synonym types of relationships, but mental connections… words we tend to think of together (i.e., salt and pepper).

The site was also an experiment on my part to create a responsive site and I think that has succeeded. I have a long list of new features I might add, if it ends up with the user base I’d like.

What I need now — and what you might help with — is just to get a few users on the site who enjoy adding words and making word connections. When a word is added, beneath another word, that creates an implicit connection (i.e., dog and cat). Users can then vote which words are the *most* appropriate, to be connected with another word. Play around with it and let me know what you think and if there are any issues with signing up to the site — instead of creating my own login system I’m using the WordPress user system. The integration is a bit of a kludge but its more secure than what I’d have been able to pull together on my own.

Thanks… and please do check Englex out for me. I could really use the help!

(I’ve also created two other portal sites — lazydesigner.brentknowles.com and www.brentknowles.com… any feedback on these would be great too).