Maria’s Guides

A Firefox Web browser spelling checker extension.

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere in this blog, I’ve discovered that I’ve become almost dependent on automatic spelling checkers like the one in Microsoft Word to check my typing for spelling and typographical errors. Trouble is, an automatic spelling checker is not always available.

Like right now. I’m creating a new post in my WordPress-based blog. To do that, I fire up my favorite Web browser, Firefox, and fill in a form. If, while I’m typing, I realize that I’m not sure about the speling of a word, there’s nothing built into Firefox that’ll identify the misspelled word in a form.

I used to use the Dictionary widget to check my spelling. Press F12, type the spelling in the Dictionary widget box, and press Return. If I spelled it right, the definition appears. If I spelled it wrong, either a different word’s definition appears or the Dictionary widget tells me that the word can’t be found. I then spend some time typing in other suggestions. Not very productive or fun — although I have learned a few new words.

Enter RiteOfTongue by Terry Yuen. This Firefox extension adds a Suggest option to the bottom of the contextual menu that appears when you select a word in a form, hold down the Control key, and click on the selection (or just right click, if you have a two-button mouse).

To check the word’s spelling, choose Suggest and wait a moment.

If the word is correctly spelled, the Suggest option turns into a gray Correct item with a green check mark before it.

If the word is not correctly spelled, a pop-up menu displays possible suggestions. Pick the one you want to use and it’s automatically inserted in place of the selected word.

Of course, you have to check a word to correct it. If you think you have it spelled correctly and don’t bother to check it, this extension won’t help you.

And I’ll use that excuse for any typos or spelling errors you see in my blog from this point on.