No one is perfect. Even the best writer can make typographical errors, not to mention the average bloggers like you and me. There are times when we typed too fast and mixed up the “a” and the “e” and also times when we get confused over the “is” and the “was“.
For those who are using WordPress, After the Deadline is a great spell checker plugin that checks your content for spelling and grammar mistakes. It is easy to use, and comes at no charge.
After the Deadline does not load the whole dictionary to your server. Instead, it sends your content back to their server, validate it and send it back to your server. Everything is done in AJAX, so you won’t notice the differences.
Once you have installed and activated the plugin, you will see a new “ABC” button at your post editor toolbar.
At any point of time, you can click on the button to get it to check your content for any spelling/grammar errors. Any spelling mistake will be underlined in red while a grammar mistake will be marked with green.
To correct the mistake, you just have to click on the word/phrase and a pop-up will appear, showing a list of word suggestion. You can then select from the correct entry or just select “Ignore Suggestion” to ignore it. For word like “MakeTechEasier” that is not in the dictionary, you can select “Ignore Always” to add it to the library so that it won’t bother you for the same word the next time.
Settings
Unlike other plugins that come with a dedicated Settings page, there is no Settings page for After the Deadline plugin. Instead, you will have to go to your profile settings to configure the proofread option.
Options you can configure include whether to automatically proofread content when a post/page is first published or when a post/page is updated. You can also get it to proofread various grammar and style rules such as technical jargon, or redundant phrases.
Support for various platforms
While this article is about the WordPress plugin, After the Deadline also comes in various forms, including a bookmarklet, Google Chrome addon, Firefox extension, Intense Debate comment system, bbPress plugin and even the popular Open Office extension. The bottom line is, as long as you have a text field to type on, you will have a mean to spell-check.
Trying it out before installing
If you are not sure if this is useful to you, you can always head over to the After the Deadline website and try out the demo. You just have to type in the text field and click “Check Writing” when you are done. This will give you a good feel of how it works and you can then decide if you want to install the plugin/extension.
Overall, After the Deadline is a useful plugin that works well and doesn’t take up much resources. If you have not installed it, grab it now.
After the Deadline
