Communicating
There are several ways you can communicate in Shavian with other people on the Internet. Before you try any of the methods mentioned below, make sure that everyone involved has a Shavian font installed on their computer.
By email. Many email programs allow you to write and read messages in HTML format, meaning that you can specify the font (e.g. Lionspaw). If your email program does not support HTML messages, then you can send HTML file attachments, or simply cut and paste text between your email program and a word-processor which allows you to change the font.
By joining the Shavian mailing list. Enter your email address in the box below, then click on the "join group" button. Alternatively, send a blank email to shavian-subscribe@egroups.com.
Once you've joined the mailing list, you can send messages to it. Any message sent to shavian@egroups.com will automatically be distributed to everyone else on the list.
By browsing the web. Click here to jump to the web links page.
By using Ghoti Fingers or the Virtual Shavian Typewriter. Both give you an on-screen keyboard of Shavian letters which you just click on with your mouse to make the Shavian letters appear in a text area. This means that you don't have to learn which keys on your computer's keyboard correspond to which letters of the Shavian alphabet.
Ghoti Fingers is a program for Windows; the Virtual Shavian Typewriter is an HTML file containing Javascript, which currently only appears to work when viewed with Internet Explorer 4 or higher. To use either, you'll need a Shavian font installed on your computer. You can try out the Virtual Shavian Typewriter online, but if your operating system is Windows I recommend that you use Ghoti Fingers instead. It is much easier to use, and has many more features. Once you have composed your Shavian text, you can copy it to an email program, or print it out to send as a Shavian letter in order to worry your friends.
