The Custom Fields Panel

The Custom Fields Panel of the Editor is there in case you need a field that has not been included in Miromaa.

There are 9 custom fields.

An example of how people have used this field is for phonetic spelling.

How To Add Custom Fields

1. Click on Tools in the Main Menu
   
   
   
   
2. Select Options 
3. Under Manage select Custom Fields
   
   
   
   
4. Enter your Custom Field names
5. Your field names should now appear in the Custom Field section in your Editor Screen
   
   

Customising Miromaa

Many aspects of Miromaa can be customised to suit your language needs.

Miromaa was initially developed to support our work, reclaiming the Awabakal Language from written, historical sources. Miromaa has now adapted and is used by hundreds of people world-wide, who are doing language work in circumstances that are different, with different needs for example you may not wish to use English as your Translation Language, or you may not be working from written sources.

We designed Miromaa to be customisable, so that you can make the program suit your needs.

We only recommend customising the field labels if you are 100% sure they do not suit your needs, and that you won’t need them in the future as your work might change over time. You can add your own fields in addition to the fields that are already set up in Miromaa, this can be done in the Custom Fields Panel. This is a better option if you want to add a field. See the Custom Fields Panel section previous.

If you wish to change your field labels, the earlier in your language work that you can do it the better. Then you wont have to go back later and redo that field for each entry

Where Does The Customising Happen?

All customising of Miromaa is done in the sections offered under Manage in the Options screen.

You can access the Options Screen through the ‘Tools’ option in the menu bar or the Main Menu.

Customising Field Labels

You can customise the following field labels if you wish.

Which Fields Labels Can Be Changed?
The Editor:
Key Information Panel

Notes Panel

Linguist View:

How to Customise Field Labels

The method for customising all field labels is the same, via the ‘Custom Labels’ section of the Options screen.

In this example we’ll change the Translated Language from English to Spanish.

Many of the members of the Miromaa community are in Latin America, doing wonderful and brave work with their Indigenous Languages.

1. Access the Options screen through the ‘Tools’ option in the menu bar or the Main Menu.
   
   
2. Click on ‘Custom Labels’ under ‘Manage’.
   (If you do not see a list of options under ‘Manage’ click on the [^] next to it.)
   
   
   
   
3. Click on the name of the field you would like to change, in this case ‘Translated Language’
4. Delete what is currently written in the field on the right, in this case ‘English’
5. Write in your new field label, in this case ‘Español’ or Spanish
   
   
   The Editor with the Translation Language Field labelled ‘Español’
   
   

Customising Word Category and Parts of Speech Lists.

To Add a Word Category or Parts of Speech

In this example we are going to add the category ‘Wildlife’

1. Access the Options screen through the ‘Tools’ option in the menu bar or the Main Menu
   
   
   
   
2. Select Options
   
   
3. Click on ‘Word Categories’ or ‘Parts of Speech’ under ‘Manage’ to open Word Category or Parts of Speech options
   
   
   
   
4. Click on the Add, Edit or Delete button, for our example we are going to click on ‘Add’
5. Write the Word Category you’d like to add into the box that opens
6. Click on ‘OK’
   
   
   
   The Word Category will appear in the list that pops up when you click ‘Add’ in the Editor.
   
   
   

To Edit a Word Category or Parts of speech

1. Follow steps 1-3 in the Add a Word Category or Parts of Speech section
2. Click on the Word Category or Parts of Speech you wish to edit
3. Click on ‘Edit’
   
   
   
   
4. Edit the Word Category or Parts of Speech
5. Click on ’OK’
   
   
   
   

To Delete a Word Category or Parts of Speech

1. Follow steps 1-3 in the Add a Word Category or Parts of Speech section
2. Click on the Word Category or Parts of Speech you wish to delete
3. Click on ‘Delete’
   
   
   
   
4. Click ‘Yes’ to delete the Word Category or Parts of Speech
5. Click on ’Yes’ to confirm you wish to delete
   
   

To Add a Sub-Category for Word Category or Parts of Speech

1. Follow steps 1-3 in the Add a Word Category or Parts of speech section
2. Click on the Word Category that you wish to add the sub category to 
3. Click ‘Add’
   
   
   
4. Type in the sub-category you wish to add
5. Click on ’Yes’
   
   
   
   The Sub-Category you have added will appear in the list that pops up when you click ‘Add’ in the Editor.
   
   
   
   

To Edit a Word Sub-Category or Parts of Speech Sub-Category

1. Follow steps 1-3 in the Add a Word Category or Parts of Speech section
2. Click on the Word Category or Parts of Speech you wish to edit the subcategory of
3. Click on the sub-category you would like to edit 
4. Click on ‘Edit’
   
   
   
5. Edit the Word Category or Parts of Speech
6. Click on ’Yes’
   
   
   

To Delete a Word Sub-Category or Parts of Speech Sub-Category

1. Follow steps 1-3 in the Add a Word Category or Parts of Speech section
2. Click on the Word Category that you wish to delete the sub-category of
3. Click on the sub category you wish to delete
4. Click ‘Delete’
   
   
5. Click ‘Yes’ to confirm you wish to delete the sub-category
6. Click on the [x] to close the window
   
   

Customising Eras

We have included the following Eras in the Controls field of the Editor by default:

• Not Yet Classified (please do not edit or delete this one this will appear automatically as your default classification before you select another era)
• Modern
• Post Contact
• Traditional
  
  

You may wish to add additional Eras, for this example we are going to add ‘Imported’ for words that have been imported from other languages and adapted to our language.

1. Access the Options screen through the ‘Tools’ option in the menu bar or the Main Menu.
   
   
2. Click on ‘Eras’ under ‘Manage’ in the menu
3. Click ‘Add’
   
   
   
4. Type in the name of the Era you would like to add
5. Click ‘Ok’
6. Click [x] to close the windows
   
   
   
   Your new Era will now appear in the list in the Controls Panel of the Editor.
   
   

 Editing Eras

To edit Eras:

1. Access the Options screen through the ‘Tools’ option in the menu bar or the Main Menu
   
   
2. Click on ‘Eras’ under ‘Manage’ in the menu
3. Click on the Era you would like to edit
   
   
   
   
4. Click ‘Edit’
5. Edit the name of the Era you have chosen
6. Click ‘Ok’
7. Click [x] to close the windows
   
   

Deleting Eras

To delete Eras:

1. Access the Options screen through the ‘Tools’ option in the menu bar or the Main Menu
   
   
2. Click on ‘Eras’ under ‘Manage’ in the menu
3. Click on the Era you would like to delete
   
   
   
   
4. Click ‘Delete’
5. Click ‘Ok’ to confirm that you wish to delete that Era
6. Click [x] to close the windows
   
   

Editing The Special Characters Keyboard

In this example we’ll add a  to the Special Characters Keyboard.

 is an important letter in many Aboriginal languages including the Warrgamay language from North Queensland and symbolises the NG sound.

To add a special character to the keyboard:

1. Access the Options screen through the ‘Tools’ option in the menu bar or the Main Menu.
   
   
2. Click on ‘Keyboard’ under ‘Manage’ in the menu
3. Click on ‘Edit’
   
   
   
   The default characters 1-11 that are inculded in Miromaa are those which Lancelot Threlkeld used when he documented the Awabakal language. You may not need these, in which case you can replace them with your own.
   
   
4. Go to the file from which you are sourcing your characters. You can use:
   - A document
   - The Internet
   - Microsoft Word
   
   We used the following method to find our special characters:
   a. Open Microsoft Word
   b. In the blank document that opens by default click on the ‘Symbol’ option in the Menu Bar at the top of the page:
   
   
   
   c. Click ‘More Symbols’
   
   
   
   
   d. A window will open with many symbols, scroll down and click on the symbol that you need. 
   e. Click on ‘Insert’.
   
   
   
   The symbol will be inserted into the blank Word document.
   
   f. Highlight the character, making sure that you do not highlight any space before or after:
   
   
   
   
5. Click ‘Control’ (Ctrl) and ‘C’ (at the same time), or right click and select ‘Copy’
6. Go back into Miromaa to the Options screen
7. Type ‘Control’ and ‘P’ (at the same time), or right click and select ‘Paste’
8. Click ‘Ok’
   
   
   
   Your special character will appear in the list:
   
   
   
   
   
9. Click [x] to close the window
10. Click on ‘Tools’ in the Main Menu Bar
11. Select ‘Keyboard’ from the drop-down menu
    
    
    
    Your Special Characters Keyboard will appear under the Menu Bar.
    
    
    
    
    

Skin

The Skin Menu option allows you to change the appearance of Miromaa, this is fun but also important when you spend many hours using it.



We can’t list them all here but two examples are:

About Your Language

The About Your Language menu option is a place for you to write about your language. You have the option to include this document when you export word lists and dictionaries.

What you include in this part of Miromaa is entirely up to you.
In our About Awabakal section we have:

• A list to acknowledge the people who have contributed to our Miromaa work and the documentation of our language
• A preface with general information about the Awabakal language and people - Notes on learning the Awabakal language
• A guide to the alphabet we have used
• A guide to pronunciation and sounds
• A guide to terminologies and abbreviations - A list of reference source documents

Adding An About Page For Your Language

To add an about page for your language:

1. Access the Options screen through the ‘Tools’ option in the menu bar or the Main Menu
   
   
   
   
2. Click on ‘About Page’ Under ‘Manage’
   
   
3. Navigate to where you are keeping the document you would like to upload as your about page.
   
   
4. Select which format you are going to upload
   
   You can upload the following file formats: .htm, .html, and .pdf
   
   
5. Click ‘Open’
6. Click on ‘About Your Language’ in the Menu Bar
   
   

Congratulations you have added an about page to your Miromaa!