Announcing Tiger Steno!

Pretty much done adding content so I'm opening up the site.

I'm still very much a beginner (as in, it's been years and I'm still not faster than my QWERTY speed), and I've decided to use the Magnum Steno dictionary instead of the default dictionary, but that made a lot of the Plover commands incompatible... and I just didn't like those strokes anyway. Seemed too all over the place for commands that felt related to each other. Punctuation and the other non-letters were also big hurdles, so I had to find what worked for me. If your brain works like mine, these new strokes should be easier to remember. They'll probably work with the default Plover dictionary too.

Check out the About page for a little more ranting, or get right into it with Text Formatting or the other categories you see to your right.

Thanks to oktopuse over at the Plover Discord for making the improved layout display for me. I couldn't have done it myself!

And apologies for the tables, okay? They're the only way I know how to put the content exactly how I wanted. I was copying the tables from a Word document. And even then, it's still kind of tricky...

Plover Control

Plover has eight control commands that you can all hit here with the left stroke + EURPG.

Look up stroke
	HOEURPG (was: PHR*UP) {PLOVER:LOOKUP} You're hitting the H- because I picture scanning through a physical dictionary with the index finger. The same stroke plus the number bar is Alt + F4 (see Windows Control), which is the closest thing to restoring focus to the original window by closing the lookup window.

Add translation
	POEURPG (was: TKUPT) {PLOVER:ADD_TRANSLATION} Middle finger because if you're ever in a position where you need to add a translation in the middle of work, you're... well, you know.

Enable output
	TOEURPG (was: PHROPB) {PLOVER:RESUME} Easy pattern here. Up means on.

Disable output
	KOEURPG (was: PHRO*F) {PLOVER:SUSPEND} Down means off.

Toggle output
	SOEURPG (was: PHROLG) {PLOVER:TOGGLE} And "both up and down" means toggle.

Configure
	WOEURPG (was: PHROFG) {PLOVER:CONFIGURE} Middle finger stroke again, because if you ever need to configure in the middle of work... you know.

Focus the main Plover window
	ROEURPG (was: PHROFBGS) {PLOVER:FOCUS} You're "focusing" all the keys together.

Quit Plover
	KPROEURPG {PLOVER:QUIT} Should be hard to stroke by accident, if you care to put it in at all. But if anyone has a better idea...

About

Continuing from the opening post:

Tiger Steno, named after the paw shape (KPR and -RPG) that you find in many of my strokes.

I love Plover, but man, I really do not care for some of the default strokes, so I made my own system based on symmetry and patterns. I didn't really have a choice:

• Many (all?) of the recommended Plover strokes for forcing capitalization and whatnot conflicted with Magnum's phrase enders, and the Plover commands were too scattered for me to remember anyway.
• The non-letters were also too scattered to remember, and I wanted the finger position to at least slightly resemble QWERTY. This was important not only for punctuation (because I want to write sentences and not just words in drills), but it'll help to replace the QWERTY keyboard with the steno keyboard entirely. Some people can actually do this!
• Many modes and such weren't even given a suggested stroke, so I had to invent them in a way that worked for me.
• The Learn Plover pages don't actually give you the proper translations to enter into your dictionary, so I'm including those along with a picture showing the exact keys you should press. I use the number bar a lot, and it's still confusing for me to read outlines with numbers, but the stroke pictures eliminate any guessing.

Check out my strokes for upper and lowercase under Text Formatting to see what I mean.

These new strokes wouldn't replace already-existing strokes in my main Magnum Steno dictionary; they only replace either raw steno output or stuff that just doesn't make sense (like SAEURPG replacing 'Sarah Palinning').

So that's my system: shapes and patterns instead of strokes that don't resemble each other at all when they really should. To me, that's what steno is all about. (That and writing more with less!)

Full Keyboard

Looking for F1-F12? Click here.

To do: Figure out how to output the Windows key and that key to the left of Right Control. AutoHotkey calls it the "AppsKey" but the Learn Plover list isn't super clear...

Tab
	12U {^\t^} From the Github, "This translation presses the tab key without any other spacing. It can be undone with the asterisk key."  Hint: Add the asterisk for Shift+Tab. See Windows Control.

Caps Lock
	1KU {#Caps_Lock} I still prefer SPWHR-FRPB for {MODE:CAPS} instead of {#Caps_Lock}, but here you go.

Space
	SP (was: S-P) {#Space} Inserts a space.  SP outputs "SP" in the Magnum dictionary but you can fingerspell two letters, right?

Backspace
	SP* {#BackSpace} Just like hitting Backspace on QWERTY. You'll want to make use of the number bar for the "Repeat previous stroke" stroke.

. Period
	P-P (was: TP-PL) {.} No space before Space after Next word is capitalized

. Period
	TP-PL {^.^}{-|} No space before No space after Next word is capitalized  I don't know why this was the default Plover stroke for a period when P-P is so much easier, but I'm putting it to good use here.

,  Comma
	W-B (was: KW-BG) {,} No space before Space after Next word is not capitalized

, Comma
	#W-B {,}{^} No space before No space after Next word is not capitalized Number bar acts as glue. I suppose you'd use this one for numbers, but I know Stan has some funky stroke for that.

? Question mark
	H-F {?} No space before Space after Next word is capitalized.  Plover default, and better than the Magnum stroke.

! Exclamation point
	1EUR7G (was: SKHRAPL) {!} No space before Space after Next word is capitalized

@ At sign
	2EUR7G (was: KWRAT) {^@^} No space before No space after Next word is not capitalized

# Number sign
	3EUR7G (was: HAERB) #{^} Space before No space after Next word is not capitalized

$ Dollar sign
	4EUR7G (was: TK-PL) ${^} Space before No space after Next word is not capitalized

% Percent sign
	5EUR7G (was: SP-PBD) {&%} Space before Space after Next word is not capitalized When used after a number, it is attached properly.

^ Caret
	K3R506 (was: KR-RT) {^}^{^} No space before No space after Next word is not capitalized

& Ampersand
	K3R507 (was: SP-PBD) & Space before Space after Next word is not capitalized

* Asterisk
	K3R508 (was: STA*R) {^*^} No space before No space after Next word is not capitalized

= Equals sign
	KPRAOT {^=^} No space before No space after Next word is not capitalized Of the two keys that you hit with your pinky finger on QWERTY, I'm giving this pinky stroke to the equals sign. The hyphen is more common and is given an easier, one-handed stroke.

+ Plus sign
	K3R509 {^+^} No space before No space after Next word is not capitalized The number bar acts as the Shift key on QWERTY.

/ Slash
	KPRAOZ (was: OEU) {^/^} No space before No space after Next word is not capitalized

\ Backslash
	KPRAOD (was: SPWHRAERB) {^\^} No space before No space after Next word is not capitalized This puts the Backslash on top of Slash, just like QWERTY.

| Vertical bar
	K3R50D (was: PAO*EUP) {^|^} No space before No space after Next word is not capitalized The number bar acts as the Shift key on QWERTY.

` Grave accent
	SAEURPG (was: KH-FG) ` Space before Space after Next word is not capitalized

~ Tilde
	15EUR7G (was: T*LD) {^~} No space before Space after Next word is not capitalized The number bar acts as the Shift key on QWERTY (just like ! to *).

<  Less than sign
	KPRAOB (was: AEPBGT) {^<^} No space before No space after Next word is not capitalized The right hand feels like it's hitting the same key on QWERTY.

> Greater than sign
	KPRAOG (was: A*EPBGT) {^>^} No space before No space after Next word is not capitalized The right hand feels like it's hitting the same key on QWERTY.

( Open parentheses
	KPRAOP (was: PREPB) {~|(^} Space before No space after Carry capitalization The right hand feels like it's hitting the same key on QWERTY. (At least for me!)

) Close parentheses
	KPRAOL (was: PR*EPB) {^~|)} No space before Space after Carry capitalization The right hand feels like it's hitting the same key on QWERTY. (At least for me!)

[ Open bracket
	KPRAOPB (was: PWR-BGT) {~|[^} Space before No space after Carry capitalization The "left" bracket is still on the left in this series.

] Close bracket
	KPRAOLG (was: PWR*BGT) {^~|]}{>} No space before Space after Next word is not capitalized The "right" bracket is still on the right in this series. I'm adding the {>} to lowercase the next word just because of my work.

{ Open curly bracket
	K3R507B (was: TPR-BGT) \{{^} Space before No space after Next word is not capitalized The "left" curly bracket is still on the left in this series, and the number bar acts as the Shift key on QWERTY.

} Close curly bracket
	K3R508G (was: TPR*BGT) {^~|\}} No space before Space after Carry capitalization The "right" curly bracket is still on the right in this series, and the number bar acts as the Shift key on QWERTY.

- Hyphen-minus
	EGS (was: H-PB) {^-^} No space before No space after Next word is not capitalized No pattern or symmetry here; it's just an easy stroke, because it's so common.

_ Underscore
	#EGS {^_^} No space before No space after Next word is not capitalized The number bar acts as the Shift key on QWERTY.

-- Em dash
	#*EGS (was: TK-RB) -- Space before Space after Next word is not capitalized Basically two hyphens with spaces (which will convert in Word unless you disable). I don't really use it, though, so it gets the "hardest" version of the stroke, having both the number bar and the asterisk. Here's a nice page on its usage.

; Semicolon
	KPRAOFR (was: SKWR*RBGS) {;} No space before Space after Next word is not capitalized

: Colon
	KPRAO*F (was: STPH-FPLT) {:}{-|} No space before Space after Next word is capitalized This is an exception to the "number bar means Shift" rule, but that's because uppercase and lowercase follow colons equally, and I wanted the strokes to make sense. See below.

: Colon
	KPRAO*R {^:} No space before Space after Next word is not capitalized Get it? The *R is below *F, so lowercase.

: Colon
	K3R50*6R (was: KHR-PB) {^:^} No space before No space after Next word is not capitalized Used to write clock times and... that's it, I guess. At least it's consistent with the other colon strokes and the "number bar means Shift" rule.

' Open single quote
	KPRAOF {~|'^} Space before No space after Carry capitalization Write things like '70.

' Close single quote
	KPRAOR {^~|'}{>} No space before Space after Next word is not capitalized Add an apostrophe at the end, like Chris'.

" Open double quote, carry capitalization
	KPRAOFP {~|"^} Space before No space after Carry capitalization

" Open double quote, capitalize next
	K3R5067 {~|"^}{-|} Space before No space after Next word is capitalized The number bar acts as the Shift key on QWERTY.

" Close double quote, carry capitalization
	KPRAORB {^~|"} No space before Space after Carry capitalization

For quote strokes that "do more," check out Text Formatting.

Up
	KPRAOEFP {#Up} For the shapes of the arrow keys, imagine a 2x2 cube. Think Lumines.

Right
	KPRAOEPB {#Right}

Down
	KPRAOERB {#Down}

Left
	KPRAOEFR {#Left}

Insert
	KPRAOEF {#Insert} For Insert, Home, Page Up, Delete, End, and Page Down, these next six strokes should feel just like hitting the keys in QWERTY.

Home
	KPRAOEP {#Home}

Page Up
	KPRAOEL {#Page_Up}

Delete
	KPRAOER {#Delete}

End
	KPRAOEB {#End}

Page Down
	KPRAOEG {#Page_Down}

Num Lock
	KPRAOET {#Num_Lock} Num Lock is to the right of Page Up on QWERTY, so this made sense.

Print Screen
	KPRAOES {#Print} Print Screen, Scroll Lock, and Pause were leftovers that happened to fit perfectly in this space.

Scroll Lock
	KPRAOED {#Scroll_Lock}

Pause
	KPRAOEZ {#Pause}

Escape
	KPRAOETSDZ {#Escape} Made intentionally hard to stroke... and, well, it's the only way I could nicely fit it in this space. You're hitting these four keys with your pinky finger.