Godtland Software Word Search Puzzle - Support

Updates

If you own version 1.2.2 or earlier, Update to Version 1.2.3 for free.

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

If you have a question, see if it is already answered in this list, in the Trouble Shooting, Tips, and Techniques section below, or on the General Support page. If you have any other questions that are not currently answered in any of these lists you may send your question to support@godtlandsoftware.com.

• When I try to enter my registration name and key, I get an error message that the file WordSearch.ini could not be opened.
• Saving changes gives me errors stating that the .js file could not be opened and that the .html file could not be opened.
• When I tried to install the Word Search Puzzle, I got a message that "The Publisher Cannot Be Verified".
• When I went to a web page with this puzzle on it, the applet failed to load.
• How can I put multiple puzzles on my website, so each puzzle is on a different page?

Trouble Shooting, Tips, and Techniques

The following trouble shooting, tips and techniques may also be found in the User's Guide.

Designing the Puzzle

• What should I name my puzzle? - We recommend you enter a brief descriptive name for your puzzle. Keep in mind that using a very long name may make impact the width of the area used on the web page for running the puzzles.
• Is there an easy way to get it to alphabetize my word list? - Yes, click the Sort button.
• Is there an easy way to come up with a word list? - Yes, click the Auto button then paste in text from any article, song, e-mail, etc. For example, search the web for some information on a particular subject then paste that text into the Auto Word List Generator. Click the OK button then make any adjustments you want to the word list that was generated.
• How can I make the puzzle easier or harder? - To make the puzzle easier choose the options to only allow words to go down and right, not overlap, not bend, and show the hint button. To make the puzzle harder, allow words to go in all directions, overlap, bend, do not show the hint button and use shorter words.
• What kind of Solution Text should I enter? - What you decide to share will depend on your purpose for having the puzzle on your web site in the first place. Following are some ideas you may want to consider:
  • Educational purposes - share some little known information about the subject of the words hidden in the puzzle.
  • Advertisement - share details of your company and/or products.
  • Sales - have them solve the puzzle to get a code that they can use to get a discount on their next purchase.
  • Announcement - make an announcement of some upcoming event which the words hidden in the puzzle might hint at.
  • Creative/entertainment - write a short story you made up.
• What options will make the puzzle load faster? - Have fewer puzzles in your puzzle set.
• What options will make the puzzle scramble faster? - The puzzle will scramble faster if you have fewer words, shorter words, allow words to overlap and/or do not have a secret message.
• How large can I make the puzzle? - You will be allowed to make the puzzle as large as you want. But keep in mind that too large a puzzle will not fit on a displayed web page very well, or may not print on paper very well. Also, if the puzzle is too large, you may not be able to export the solution.
• Does it matter if the puzzle is square or rectangular? - You may make the puzzle grid either square or rectangular. We recommend a square puzzle if you do not want the words to bend. This will allow more options for how scramble may fit the words in the puzzle.
• How Do I prevent the words from being all clumped together? - The puzzle was designed to always fit the words in as compact an area as possible. If the words are all clumped in one part of the puzzle you may need to make the puzzle smaller, add more words, or use options like do not bend the words, do not overlap the words, etc.
• What should I do if it was not able to fit all the words in the puzzle? - There are several options here:
  • Change the puzzle - Remove some words, make the puzzle bigger, allow overlap, allow words to bend, remove the secret message, or if you have a secret message let it be randomly placed.
  • Ignore it if you plan to let the puzzle be solved interactively - If you plan to have the puzzles solved interactively using our program, it is not a problem if the words do not all fit. It will have any any words that didn't fit already crossed off.
  • See how often it has this problem - You may also check how often it has difficulty fitting in all the words. Click the Scramble button many times. If it is having trouble fitting in all the words less frequently than 1 out of three times, do not worry about it. The program used to display the puzzle to be solved will try to rescramble a puzzle up to three times if not all the words

Running the puzzle

• It's to hard to draw the lines with my mouse - Two options were provided if you are having difficulty dragging your mouse across the letters: You can hold down the shift key and click each letter of the hidden word, or you can click the Keyboard Input On choice to select letters using the shift key and cursor movement keys instead of the mouse. Click the Keyboard Input Help button for an explanation of which keys to use to move the cursor.
• I can't get the puzzle to load - These puzzles require the use of Javascript. Make sure Javascript is turned on in your browser If Javascript is not turned on the puzzle will not work. There are more tips on this at Applet failed to load.
• I can get the puzzles to run on the website, but not my computer. - If you are able to run the puzzle when it is on the web, but not when you try running it when it is on your computer, you may have to look at the browser settings. The browser needs to be able to run Applets. Internet Explorer typically has this option turned off for files on your computer. You can turn it on by going through the Internet Explorer menu bar option of Tools / Internet Options / Advanced / Security / Allow active content to run in the files on My Computer.

.html File

• Can I modify the WordSearch.html file? - If you want to use the provided WordSearch.html file but make a few changes to it, be sure to change the copy of it that is in the Word Search Puzzle web directory instead of just the one that you have on your web server. That way you will be less likely to accidentally overlay the changes to the one on the web server with the older version one in your web directory. Also, this one that is in your web directory is the same one that gets used by the Word Search Puzzle icon on your desktop and in your Start Menu. So if you want to customize how the puzzle page looks when you run the puzzle on your desktop, you should customize the WordSearch.html file that is in your web directory. See the User's Guide for details of where to find your web directory.