help.inc.html

<!-- set TITLE FOLDOC Questions and Answers -->

<h2>Questions About the Dictionary of Computing</h2>

<h3>How do I look something up?</h3>

<p>To look up a term in the dictionary, enter it in the text input box at
the top of any page and click on the <strong>Search</strong> button.
On most browsers you can just type your term and press the Enter key.</p>

<h3>What is the search syntax?</h3>

<p>There is <em>no</em> special syntax for search strings - no quotation marks,
Boolean operators, + or -.  Case and punctuation is generally irrelevant.  Just
enter the term as you would expect it to be written.</p>

<h3>How can I suggest a change to a definition?</h3>

<p>Fill in the comment form below the definition.</p>

<h3>How can I send in a new definition?</h3>

<p>Fill in the comment form at the bottom of this page.</p>

<h3>What do the buttons at the top of the page do?</h3>

<dl>

<dt><strong>(Home)</strong></dt>
<dd>Clicking on the FOLDOC logo will return
you to the dictionary's home page.</dd>

<dt><strong>Contents</strong></dt>

<dd>This takes you to the <a href="contents.html">contents
page</a> which contains links to information about the
dictionary, other ways to browse it and various subsets
of terms - by subject area and first letter.</dd>

<dt><strong>Help</strong></dt>
<dd>The help button brings you to this page.</dd>

<dt><strong>Random</strong></dt>
<dd>Takes you to a different randomly selected definition each time.</dd>

<dt><strong>Search</strong></dt>
<dd>Looks up the text you have entered in
the box to the left of the button.</dd>

</dl>

<h3>How do I create a shortcut to search the dictionary?</h3>

<a href="https://www.howtogeek.com/114176/how-to-easily-create-search-plugins-add-any-search-engine-to-your-browser/">See here</a>.

<h3>How do I get a copy of the dictionary?</h3>

<p>You can download the dictionary or the whole website.
See <a href="source.html">here</a>.</p>

<h3>Can I get it on paper?</h3>

<p>Not sensibly.  The dictionary currently contains 764,861 words,
which would be nearly 2000 sides of A4.</p>

<h3>How should I refer/link to it in my own publication?</h3>

<p>
Feel free to create links to the dictionary home page, or definitions,
from your own pages.  I would be interested to hear about references
from popular sites or print media, or about new ways of using FOLDOC.
</p>

<p>
Links in HTML should look like:

<blockquote>
<pre>
&lt;a href="http://foldoc.org/"&gt;The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing&lt;/a&gt;,
Editor Denis Howe
</pre>
</blockquote>

Refererences from other media:

<blockquote>
<pre>
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
URL: http://foldoc.org/, Editor Denis Howe
</pre>
</blockquote>

For <a href="/BibTeX">BibTeX</a>nicians (thanks to Jens Troeger):

<blockquote>
<pre>
@manual{FOLDOC,
  title   = {Free Online Dictionary of Computing},
  author  = {Denis Howe},
  address = {http://foldoc.org/}
}
</pre>
</blockquote>

<h3>How does it work?</h3>

<p>See <a href="about.html">here</a>.</p>

<h3>What does ... mean?  There's no definition of ...  </h3>

I'm afraid there will always be many undefined terms.  I use my time
to add the <a href="missing.html"> most frequently requested missing
terms </a> first.

<h3>How do I fix ...?  Where can I find ...?</h3>

Please enter requests for help on fixing your PC,
homework assignments or Windoze error messages you don't
understand in the comment box below.  I will respond in
my <a href="http://foldoc.org/copious+free+time">
copious spare time</a>.

<h3>A cross-reference goes nowhere</h3>

<p>Cross-references (hyperlinks which take you from a
word in one FOLDOC definition to the FOLDOC definition
of that word) work just like the searches you type in.
This means they can sometimes fail because the linked
word is <a href="/dangling pointer">not found</a>.</p>

<p>"<i>Why link it then?</i>", you may ask.  To see how many people
try to follow it.  Bad cross-references (just like other searches)
get added to the list of <a href="missing.html">frequently requested
missing terms</a> each time someone tries to follow one.  This
allows me to see either that the link was really bad (e.g.
mistyped), or that it is worth adding a new definition.</p>

<p>"<i>Why don't you just fix them all?</i>", you now
ask.  Because there are a lot and I don't have time.  This
way I can spend my time on the ones most people want.</p>

<p>So, please don't tell me if a cross-reference goes nowhere
or returns "not found" (unless it is obviously mis-spelled).
I already know and will fix it eventually.</p>

<h3>A link to another site is bad</h3>

<p>If the broken link was not a cross-reference within
the dictionary but a link to a different web site, please
<em>do</em> let me know so I can fix it.  If you can suggest
where it should point, that would be even better.</p>

<p>If you get an error like "host unknown" or "host unavailable" this
may indicate a temporary problem so, if possible, please try again
after an hour or next day before reporting it as a bad link.</p>

<h3>A cross-reference or search for ... goes somewhere odd</h3>

A cross-reference or search may occasionally take you to some
completely unrelated entry because the exact term was not found but a
partial match was.  Please <em>do</em> let me know if this happens,
giving details in the comment form on the relevant page or below.</p>

<h3>How can I contact you?</h3>

<p>Please use the comment form on any page.  Remember
to give your e-mail address if you want a reply!</p>