Please bring back "Appendix - Dictionary Guides"

[smallshrimp]

Hi Mike

I strongly request the restoration of the "Appendix - Dictionary Guides" section.

I recently looked back at the old Pleco 2 Instruction Manual and noticed that it included a dedicated "Appendix A - Dictionary Guides" section covering specific details for dictionaries like the ABC, Guifan, and Tuttle dictionaries.

However, in the Pleco 3 Manual (and subsequent versions), this section was replaced with a placeholder text saying:
"coming soon - still updating these for version 3 as well"
It has been many years since the 3.0 transition, and this content seems to have never returned.

Dictionary appendices (like radical tables, pronunciation guides, and specific grammar notes) are crucial parts of the dictionaries we purchased. They are not just metadata; they are essential reference materials.

Could you please prioritize restoring these guides? It would be great to finally see that "coming soon" promise fulfilled. Ideally, these appendices should be built directly into the app for quick and easy access.

Thank you.

 

[mikelove]

Thanks.

To be honest I think this is the first time in years anybody has asked about those, which is why they've been on the back burner. We removed that placeholder text a while ago - both the current iOS and Android manuals make no mention of any appendices - so I don't think we've been misleading anyone as to whether or not they were included, but if you've bought a dictionary from us recently and would like a refund because you expected it to include an appendix and it did not, contact support and we'll see what we can do for you.

In general an awful lot of the data in dictionary appendices is either a) rendered unnecessary by being in our app (like radical tables and pronunciation guides), b) reference data that people would not particularly look in a dictionary app for and can easily get in other places (like dynasty tables - there are a few original ones like Kroll's but most of them are the same generic data), or c) not that interesting (letter from the chief compiler, etc), so we haven't particularly felt like there would be much to gain from adding them into the app. I'm not sure what you mean by 'specific grammar notes,' is there a dictionary you've bought from us where the print version puts those in an appendix rather than in the relevant entries? We generally try to embed any relevant grammar notes in the entries they're associated with, so if that's missing in one of them we can take a look at why.

We do want to do a better job of documenting symbols / abbreviations / etc in the dictionaries that we don't currently hyperlink those in, but in a lot of cases our version of that looks / renders very differently from the original print version (or we expand on their abbreviations to make them unnecessary altogether), so it would be more like a case of creating a Pleco-specific usage guide for each dictionary rather than simply taking content we already had and sticking it in the app.

 

[smallshrimp]

Thanks.

To be honest I think this is the first time in years anybody has asked about those, which is why they've been on the back burner. We removed that placeholder text a while ago - both the current iOS and Android manuals make no mention of any appendices - so I don't think we've been misleading anyone as to whether or not they were included, but if you've bought a dictionary from us recently and would like a refund because you expected it to include an appendix and it did not, contact support and we'll see what we can do for you.

In general an awful lot of the data in dictionary appendices is either a) rendered unnecessary by being in our app (like radical tables and pronunciation guides), b) reference data that people would not particularly look in a dictionary app for and can easily get in other places (like dynasty tables - there are a few original ones like Kroll's but most of them are the same generic data), or c) not that interesting (letter from the chief compiler, etc), so we haven't particularly felt like there would be much to gain from adding them into the app. I'm not sure what you mean by 'specific grammar notes,' is there a dictionary you've bought from us where the print version puts those in an appendix rather than in the relevant entries? We generally try to embed any relevant grammar notes in the entries they're associated with, so if that's missing in one of them we can take a look at why.

We do want to do a better job of documenting symbols / abbreviations / etc in the dictionaries that we don't currently hyperlink those in, but in a lot of cases our version of that looks / renders very differently from the original print version (or we expand on their abbreviations to make them unnecessary altogether), so it would be more like a case of creating a Pleco-specific usage guide for each dictionary rather than simply taking content we already had and sticking it in the app.

The dictionary appendices have some interesting stuff, like how entries are arranged, meanings of special symbols or abbreviations, references, and useful charts or tables. I have to disagree with you about the prefaces and postscripts being boring, though. You can learn a lot about the dictionary's compilation history and updates (I'm a bit of a dictionary nerd, I know that might sound weird).

 

[smallshrimp]

Thanks.

To be honest I think this is the first time in years anybody has asked about those, which is why they've been on the back burner. We removed that placeholder text a while ago - both the current iOS and Android manuals make no mention of any appendices - so I don't think we've been misleading anyone as to whether or not they were included, but if you've bought a dictionary from us recently and would like a refund because you expected it to include an appendix and it did not, contact support and we'll see what we can do for you.

In general an awful lot of the data in dictionary appendices is either a) rendered unnecessary by being in our app (like radical tables and pronunciation guides), b) reference data that people would not particularly look in a dictionary app for and can easily get in other places (like dynasty tables - there are a few original ones like Kroll's but most of them are the same generic data), or c) not that interesting (letter from the chief compiler, etc), so we haven't particularly felt like there would be much to gain from adding them into the app. I'm not sure what you mean by 'specific grammar notes,' is there a dictionary you've bought from us where the print version puts those in an appendix rather than in the relevant entries? We generally try to embed any relevant grammar notes in the entries they're associated with, so if that's missing in one of them we can take a look at why.

We do want to do a better job of documenting symbols / abbreviations / etc in the dictionaries that we don't currently hyperlink those in, but in a lot of cases our version of that looks / renders very differently from the original print version (or we expand on their abbreviations to make them unnecessary altogether), so it would be more like a case of creating a Pleco-specific usage guide for each dictionary rather than simply taking content we already had and sticking it in the app.

Actually, it's acceptable if the dictionary appendices aren't integrated into the app's unified style. Just hosting them as HTML on a website like this works fine (I imagine it’s not hard to create, and the layout and styling are very flexible). After all, people don't check them very often, but they are really useful on the rare occasions when you do need them.

 

[smallshrimp]

Thanks.

To be honest I think this is the first time in years anybody has asked about those, which is why they've been on the back burner. We removed that placeholder text a while ago - both the current iOS and Android manuals make no mention of any appendices - so I don't think we've been misleading anyone as to whether or not they were included, but if you've bought a dictionary from us recently and would like a refund because you expected it to include an appendix and it did not, contact support and we'll see what we can do for you.

In general an awful lot of the data in dictionary appendices is either a) rendered unnecessary by being in our app (like radical tables and pronunciation guides), b) reference data that people would not particularly look in a dictionary app for and can easily get in other places (like dynasty tables - there are a few original ones like Kroll's but most of them are the same generic data), or c) not that interesting (letter from the chief compiler, etc), so we haven't particularly felt like there would be much to gain from adding them into the app. I'm not sure what you mean by 'specific grammar notes,' is there a dictionary you've bought from us where the print version puts those in an appendix rather than in the relevant entries? We generally try to embed any relevant grammar notes in the entries they're associated with, so if that's missing in one of them we can take a look at why.

We do want to do a better job of documenting symbols / abbreviations / etc in the dictionaries that we don't currently hyperlink those in, but in a lot of cases our version of that looks / renders very differently from the original print version (or we expand on their abbreviations to make them unnecessary altogether), so it would be more like a case of creating a Pleco-specific usage guide for each dictionary rather than simply taking content we already had and sticking it in the app.

You can take a look at https://iphone.pleco.com/manual/220/tuttle.html for specific grammar notes.

Actually, the reason for my request is that I bought the Grand Ricci, but I simply cannot understand the logic behind how the entries are compiled. I’ve been puzzled by this for a year or two now. Specifically, I don't understand the numbers next to the Oracle Bone and Bronze script glyphs in the Histoire Ricci section, the numbers preceding each definition, or the citations at the end of each entry. I'm also confused about whether there is a specific relationship between the definitions and the dynasties listed.

 

[mikelove]

Sorry, I misunderstood "specific" to mean "tied to a particular word."

Regarding Ricci, I just DMed you a PDF of their abbreviation guide, but I don't actually know if there is a written document explaining the entry arrangements in more detail - they've never sent us one anyway.