Preguntas Frecuentes RAP Teclado

Frequently Asked Questions

		The new Rapa Nui keyboard manager				Font choices

		The former “Keyman” Rapa Nui keyboard manager				The new Rapa Nui auto-correct spell fixing tool

► Help improve the auto-corrector (Ctrl+Shft+F11).

► Receive notifications of updates (Ctrl+Shft+F12).

© Robert Weber, SIL International

Last revised: September 11, 2013




	▲	The new Rapa Nui keyboard manager (RAP Teclado) ► What is it? ► How do I start the Rapa Nui keyboard manager? ► Can the Rapa Nui keyboard manager be made to start automatically upon Windows startup? ► How do I exit the Rapa Nui keyboard manager? ► Is it possible to suspend/reactivate the Rapa Nui keyboard manager without exiting from it? ► How do I key Rapa Nui & Spanish characters on the English US keyboard? ► Can I use the new “RAPTeclado” keyboard manager with any font? ► Can I continue to use the old “Keyman” Rapa Nui keyboard manager? ► With which keyboard manager and fonts will the Rapa Nui auto-correct spell fixing tool work? ► How can I return to this help file? What is it ? The “RAPTeclado” Rapa Nui keyboard manager is an easy-to-use AutoHotkeyL script that facilitates the typing of: The Rapa Nui language on a Spanish keyboard (Spain, Traditional Sort). Both the Rapa Nui and Spanish languages on an English (US) keyboard. ◄ How do I start the Rapa Nui keyboard manager? There are two ways: Double click the “RAPTeclado” shortcut icon that is on your computer’s desktop. (It is recommended that you keep a shortcut icon in a convenient location on your desktop, perhaps near the notification area of the taskbar). Click the Start button and then click on the “RAPTeclado” shortcut that appears in either the Start Menu or under All Programs. When activated, you will see the tool’s icon in the notification area. ◄ Can the Rapa Nui keyboard manager be made to start automatically whenever Windows starts? Absolutely! If you write a lot in Rapa Nui or Spanish, this could be very helpful. Follow these instructions to place a shortcut in the Startup folder: 1. Right-click the “RAPTeclado” shortcut icon on your computer’s desktop and then click Copy. (Other places to possibly find the shortcut are in your Start Menu and under All Programs). 2. Click the Start button, click All Programs, right-click the Startup folder, and then click Open. 3. Right-click in a clear area of the Startup folder and then click Paste. The next time you start Windows, the Rapa Nui keyboard manager will start automatically. ◄ How do I exit the Rapa Nui keyboard manager? There are two ways: While holding down both the Ctrl and Shift keys, press the F6 key (Ctrl+Shft+F6). Right click on the “RAP Teclado” icon in the notification area of the taskbar and select “Salir/Exit”. ◄ Is it possible to suspend/reactivate the Rapa Nui keyboard manager without exiting from it? Yes! There are two ways to toggle suspension on or off: While holding down both the Ctrl and Shift keys, press the F5 key (Ctrl+Shft+F5). Right click on the “RAPTeclado” icon in the notification area of the taskbar and select “Suspender/Reactivar”. ◄ How do I key Rapa Nui & Spanish characters on the English US keyboard? Start the Rapa Nui keyboard manager. Its icon will appear in the notification area of the taskbar. Select an appropriate Unicode-compliant font for your document. Click here to see a table that compares a few commonly installed fonts. To learn what you need to type in order to obtain the Rapa Nui and Spanish language characters, consult the keyboard guide that corresponds to your computer’s keyboard. Print the guide and keep it handy for easy reference. If you do a lot of writing in these languages, you will soon memorize how to key them. The keyboard guide can also be accessed at any time in either of the following ways: While holding down both the Ctrl and Shift keys, press the F3 key (Ctrl+Shft+F3). Right click on the “RAPTeclado” icon in the notification area of the taskbar and select “Keyboard Guide”. It is recommended that in the AutoFormat As You Type tool of Microsoft Word, you disable "Straight quotes" with “smart quotes”. ◄ Can I use the new “RAPTeclado” keyboard manager with any font? Unfortunately, no. Not all fonts have the non-European characters needed for correctly writing Polynesian languages. See Font choices for further information. ◄ Can I continue to use the old “Keyman” Rapa Nui keyboard manager? The version of “Keyman” distributed with the old Rapa Nui keyboard manager does not always work properly under Windows 7 and later. Concerning this, see The former “Keyman” Rapa Nui keyboard manager. If you are still using a version of Windows earlier than version 7, the former “Keyman” Rapa Nui keyboard manager and the new “RAPTeclado” keyboard manager can both be installed on your computer. Just remember, however, that you cannot have both keyboard managers active at the same time! Here are some recommendations: From this time forward, you should create all new documents using a Unicode-compliant font and the “RAPTeclado” keyboard manager. (See Can I change the default font that Microsoft Word will apply to new documents I create?) Reserve use of the now obsolete “Keyman” keyboard manager for work only on older files that were created using the custom-created fonts: Rapa Nui SILCharisL, Rapa Nui SILDoulosL, Rapa Nui SILManuscriptL, and Rapa Nui SILSophiaL. If you keep “Keyman” installed on your computer, make certain that it not configured to start when Windows starts. Right click on the “Tevultesoft “Keyman”” icon in the notification area of the taskbar and select ““Keyman” Configuration” and then “Options”. Under “Startup”, clear the option to have “Keyman” start when Windows starts. ◄ With which keyboard manager and fonts will the Rapa Nui auto-correct spell fixing tool work? If you plan to take advantage of the accompanying, optional Rapa Nui auto-correct spell fixing tool, you must use the new “RAPTeclado” keyboard manager and apply to your documents Unicode-compliant fonts that have the same characters accessed by this keyboard manager. See The new Rapa Nui auto-correct spell fixing tool. ◄ How can I return to this help file? There are two ways: While holding down both the Ctrl and Shift keys, press the F2 key (Ctrl+Shft+F2). Right click on the “RAPTeclado” icon in the notification area of the taskbar and select “Frequently Asked Questions”. (For the Spanish version only, there is a third way: Doble click on the “RAPTeclado” icon in the notification area of the taskbar.) ◄ ▲



	▲	Font choices ► What are the best fonts to now use for writing the Rapa Nui language? ► Why should I stop using Rapa Nui SILCharisL, Rapa Nui SILDoulosL, Rapa Nui SILManuscriptL, and Rapa Nui SILSophiaL? ► Should I remove the old, custom-created Rapa Nui fonts from my computer? ► Can I change the default font that Microsoft Word will apply to new documents I create? ► Where can I learn more about Unicode? ► How can I return to this help file? What are the best font s to now use for writing the Rapa Nui language? The new “RAPTeclado” keyboard manager was created for use with Unicode-compliant fonts, and especially those that include the alphabetic character assigned by the Unicode Consortium for representing the glottal stop consonant or eꞌe (U+A78C, Latin Small Letter Saltillo). Beginning with the release of Windows 7, the following well-known fonts now include all the right characters for writing in Rapa Nui. (By now there may be even more.) Arial Courier New Tahoma Times New Roman Verdana Some other good font choices are: Andika Charis SIL Charis SIL Compact Doulos SIL Doulos SIL Compact Gentium Basic Gentium Book Basic Segoe UI Segoe UI Light Segoe UI Semibold Of this second group of fonts, all but Segoe can be downloaded without cost from SIL International. Consult the built-in help system for your version of Windows for instructions on how to install fonts. Click here to see a table that compares a few commonly installed fonts. Not all fonts have the non-European characters needed for correctly writing Polynesian languages. However, more choices will become available in the future, as font developers and software companies distribute even more Unicode-compliant fonts that include all the characters needed. ◄ Why should I stop using Rapa Nui SILCharisL, Rapa Nui SILDoulosL, Rapa Nui SILManuscriptL, and Rapa Nui SILSophiaL? These fonts served their purpose well, but for several reasons it is now time to retire them. They are non-standard, custom-created fonts made for an earlier period of technological development. They are not widely available. Only people who have these fonts can read documents that use them, and then only under the Windows operating system. Newer technologies and Unicode are much better. Because Unicode is a universal character encoding standard, your documents that use Unicode-compliant fonts will always be readable under any operating system. ◄ Should I remove the old, custom-created Rapa Nui fonts from my computer? No. You should leave the old Rapa Nui SILCharisL, Rapa Nui SILDoulosL, Rapa Nui SILManuscriptL, and Rapa Nui SILSophiaL fonts installed. They are still needed in order for you to be able to read older documents that used these fonts. If you also need to finish work that you have in progress on a document that uses these older custom-created fonts, see Can I continue to use the old “Keyman” Rapa Nui keyboard manager? ◄ Can I change the default font that Microsoft Word will apply to new documents I crea te? Yes, you can. And, in fact, if you will be doing a lot of writing in Rapa Nui, it would be good for you to change the default font to one that is Unicode-compliant and that includes all the alphabetic characters needed for typing Rapa Nui. (See What fonts are now best to use for writing the Rapa Nui language?) Consult Microsoft Word Help for instructions on how to change the default font. After setting the default font, any new document you open will use the font settings you selected. The default font applies to new documents based on the active template. Different templates might use different default font settings. ◄ Where can I learn more about Unicode? A good place to start is at the Unicode Basic Questions page. You might also want to read this Wikipedia article or explore the Unicode Consortium web site. ◄ How can I return to this help file? There are two ways: While holding down both the Ctrl and Shift keys, press the F2 key (Ctrl+Shft+F2). Right click on the “RAPTeclado” icon in the notification area of the taskbar and select “Frequently Asked Questions”. (For the Spanish version only, there is a third way: Doble click on the “RAPTeclado” icon in the notification area of the taskbar.) ◄ ▲



	▲	The former “Keyman” Rapa Nui keyboard manager ► But isn’t “Keyman” a good, reliable program? ► What disadvantages are there to continuing to use the old “Keyman” keyboard manager? ► Is there any reason at all for me to keep “Keyman” installed? ► How can I return to this help file? But isn’t “Keyman” a good, reliable program? Yes, the “Keyman” program is a well designed piece of software that provides excellent keyboard solutions. It is a valued tool that is used by many individuals and linguistic people groups around the world. The latest, improved versions of “Keyman” that are compatible with the newest versions of Windows, can be purchased from its creator, Tavultesoft. ◄ W hat disadvantages are there to continuing to use the old “Keyman” keyboard manager? There are several: Incompatibility. The old version of the “Keyman” program that was distributed with a Rapa Nui keyboard manager definition file does not always work properly under Windows 7 and later. Cost. Newer versions of “Keyman” now require the purchase of a license. (The new “RAPTeclado” keyboard manager uses AutoHotkeyL, a free, open source program.) Obsolescence of the custom-created fonts. Even if everyone was willing to purchase a license for a newer version of “Keyman”, the older Rapa Nui keyboard definition file works only with the custom-created fonts: Rapa Nui SILCharisL, Rapa Nui SILDoulosL, Rapa Nui SILManuscriptL, and Rapa Nui SILSophiaL, which now ought to be retired from general use. (See Why should I stop using Rapa Nui SILCharisL, Rapa Nui..., etcetera?) ◄ Is there any reason at all for me to keep “Keyman” installed? Maybe. But only if you still need to work on previously-created documents that use the obsolete fonts: Rapa Nui SILCharisL, Rapa Nui SILDoulosL, Rapa Nui SILManuscriptL, and Rapa Nui SILSophiaL, *and* you are still using a version of Windows earlier than version 7. (See Can I continue to use the old “Keyman” Rapa Nui keyboard manager? ◄ How can I return to this help file? There are two ways: While holding down both the Ctrl and Shift keys, press the F2 key (Ctrl+Shft+F2). Right click on the “RAPTeclado” icon in the notification area of the taskbar and select “Frequently Asked Questions”. (For the Spanish version only, there is a third way: Doble click on the “RAPTeclado” icon in the notification area of the taskbar.) ◄ ▲



	▲	The new Rapa Nui auto-correct spell fixing tool Under construction! ► How do I …? ► Where can I find …? ► Why doesn’t …? ► Who is …? ► What is …? ► When is …? ► How can I return to this help file? How do I …? This is the answer to the question. ◄ Where can I find …? This is the answer to the question. ◄ Why doesn’t …? This is the answer to the question. ◄ Who is …? This is the answer to the question. ◄ What is …? This is the answer to the question. ◄ When is …? This is the answer to the question. ◄ How can I return to this help file? There are two ways: While holding down both the Ctrl and Shift keys, press the F2 key (Ctrl+Shft+F2). Right click on the “RAPTeclado” icon in the notification area of the taskbar and select “Frequently Asked Questions”. (For the Spanish version only, there is a third way: Doble click on the “RAPTeclado” icon in the notification area of the taskbar.) ◄ ▲