Getting Started: Learning Tools

Nota Bene provides you with many tools for learning how to use the program. The following is a list of the resources that are available to you.

Menus, dialog boxes and toolbars: The pull-down menus, dialog boxes and toolbars provide a wealth of information on how the program works. Dialog boxes often provide explanatory information as well as a means for selecting various options. Menus show the keyboard shortcuts to the right of the menu option for many of the functions. Toolbar buttons can be identified by moving the mouse pointer to the button and pausing. A label identifying the button will appear.

Sample files: The program includes active sample files that demonstrate the use of features such as codes view, headers/footers, footnotes, outlines, bibliographic references and the use of the program in academic work. The sample files are Nota Bene files that contain suggested exercises to show how various features work. These files can be opened from the Help menu.

Nota Bene Help: Nota Bene Help is accessible by clicking Help, Nota Bene Help or by pressing F1. Narrative overviews at the beginning of major sections are designed to describe how the program "thinks" and step-by-step instructions give details about how to use the various features. For more information, see Using Nota Bene Help.

Orbis and Ibidem Tutorials: Two of the most complex and useful programs in your Nota Bene workstation are Ibidem and Orbis. Tutorials are provided consisting of an overview of the program followed by a series of exercises to demonstrate the use of the program. It is highly recommended that you read the overview and complete the exercises in these tutorials before beginning to use Orbis or Ibidem. The tutorials can be opened from the Help menu on the Nota Bene screen or from the tutorial page on our web site.

Instructional Videos: A series of short videos demonstrating different program capabilities is available by clicking Help, Instructional Videos. These videos were developed by Professor Mark D. Szuchman to introduce his graduate students in the History Department at Florida International University to the ways that Nota Bene is used in academic writing and research. Dr. Szuchman is now making these videos available to all who are interested. See NB Videos.

ActionTips: Messages briefly detailing various available options are provided when you initiate certain operations such as inserting an academic style, switching to Codes View, or opening Ibidem or Orbis. ActionTips disappear on any keystroke or mouse movement. These messages are helpful when you are learning to use different features, but will not be necessary once you know about the different options that are available. Each message contains a "Don't Show This Again" box that can be checked so that the ActionTip will not be displayed again. The appearance of ActionTips can also be controlled by clicking Help, ActionTips. This will open an ActionTips dialog that will allow you to review all of the ActionTips and choose which ones will be active.

InfoTips: If you click on certain elements or formatting codes in Page Layout view (for example, a footnote, a cross reference label or a counter) or if you use the arrow keys to move over one of these codes, a pop-up message will show the contents of various text elements (for example, the contents of a footnote), along with notes about available options. Like ActionTips, InfoTips contain a "Don't Show This Again" box so that users who don't need this information can turn it off. The InfoTips dialog (Help, InfoTips) provides a number of options for the display of InfoTips. You can set InfoTips individually to display as a result of mouse action (clicking on a code), keyboard action (using arrow keys to move over a code), both or neither. You can also set a timer to delay the appearance of the InfoTips or to make them disappear automatically after a brief interval. There are over 250 InfoTips and they are shown in the dialog in groups, with an "Other" category covering those that are not listed. Some of the InfoTips are active only if format markers are displayed in Page Layout view. See Page Layout View.

F1 and Ctrl+F1: Pressing F1 when the main Nota Bene screen is active will open the Contents page of Nota Bene Help (the on-screen version). Pressing F1 when the Ibidem screen is open will open the Contents page of Ibidem Help and pressing F1 when the Orbis screen is open will open the Contents page of Orbis Help. Ctrl+F1 provides context-sensitive pop-up help panels as follows: (1) When Ibidem is active and the cursor is in an Ibidem field, Ctrl+F1 will provide information about that field. (2) In Show Codes View, pressing Ctrl+F1 will highlight the command that the cursor is on, or the previous command, and it will display information about the command. (3) When in Page Layout view, Ctrl+F1 will will turn InfoTips (see above) off or on for the remainder of the NB session

Key assignment chart: Nota Bene has numerous keyboard shortcuts. By pressing some combination of Ctrl, Alt, Shift and any key on the keyboard, you can implement certain functions more quickly. A chart showing the key assignments is available. From within Nota Bene, click Help, Key Charts to open a printable key chart. Click each of the four buttons at the top of the chart to see all of the key assignments. A keyboard diagram for the active keyboard can be displayed by pressing Ctrl+Shift+K for a floating diagram or Alt+K for the same diagram in a dialog bar on the right side of the screen. This is particularly helpful when using the non-Roman alphabets that are available if you have the Lingua module. See Keyboard Dialog Bar.