WinEdt's Configuration Wizards

WinEdt configuration Wizard is designed to provide some explanations, quick tutorial and an interface to some essential options that allow you to quickly configure the editor to your standards (eg. your preferred method of wrapping, project management, etc...). It is strongly recommended that you make your initial preferences before you start using WinEdt for your work. WinEdt's Configuration Wizard can be started from the Options Menu:

The (main) Configuration Wizard also provides an interface to two other Configuration Wizards that deal with WinEdt's integration with your Windows and your TeX System. You should check these two Wizards if you are experiencing any problems or if you want to fine-tune certain aspects of WinEdt.

• Shell Configuration Wizard: helps you determine how WinEdt is integrated with your Windows: Icons, Links and Shortcuts, Filetype Associations, User Profiles (Network or Multi-user configurations), etc...
  
  
• TeX Configuration Wizard: should be used to make your choices pertaining to the TeX Execution Mode. TeX Configuration Wizard has been designed to help you resolve many problems with the integration of your TeX system with WinEdt. In most cases WinEdt will detect your TeX accessories from Windows Registry but for some non-standard installations a few changes might be required. TeX Wizard will make the suggestions and provide a valuable guidance...
  

WinEdt's Wizards have been designed so as to contain the necessary explanations in the RTF control aligned on the left of each Tab page. You should read this (compressed) information carefully in order to get the best out of a highly configurable WinEdt. Each Wizard also comes with its own Help further explaining its purpose.

WinEdt is more configurable than you may care to know at this point. The configuration utility is designed to explain a few basic concepts and help you set a few basic but nonetheless essential preferences, such as your preferred Wrapping and Backup Options.

For fine tuning of WinEdt's properties you'll have to consult the on-line help. It is recommended that you spend a few minutes going through WinEdt's (default) Menu and the dialogs in the Options menu. This will give you some idea of what commands are implemented by WinEdt and what options are available to further customize the program for your needs. The default settings should get you on the way; later you can return to the setup and take advantage of the many options and advanced features available.

WinEdt's Status Line (bottom of your WinEdt screen) responds actively to clicks on its panels, and some of the responses are user-definable. You should click on the left-most panel (displaying a question mark) to invoke the help which describes the meaning and functionality of the Status Line panels.

In WinEdt's Options| Appearance Dialog you can quickly customize the overall appearance of the program. For more advanced customizations (such as using your own bitmaps) you should consult WinEdt's Help where you'll find other important topics describing different aspects of the program.

WinEdt comes with an extensive on-line Help: check it out! Topics in the Help file also deal with some TeX-related issues, such as international characters or DVI Search, as well as offering advise on how to make the Scroll Wheel work with WinEdt. Help is also available in all Dialogs, and the Help| Keyword Search command allows you to find a particular topic from the Help Index. If you encounter problems it is certainly worth taking a look at this documentation before sending an e-mail to WinEdt's support. Note that this release of WinEdt has been beta tested by hundreds of users for months and it would be rather unlikely that you have immediately stumbled upon a bug in WinEdt. More likely, you are puzzled by some default setting which can probably be changed to your liking. In the process of doing so you'll get some valuable experience which may come in handy later. And please note that the default settings are a compromise: while some users find them insufficient there are also many who find WinEdt overloaded with commands, features and accessories that they are not planning to use (although no two would quite agree on what should be added and what should be removed from the default setup).

Shell Configuration Wizard

Shell Configuration Wizard is normally run after WinEdt has been installed. It allows you to place the links and shortcuts to WinEdt in common Windows paces (such as the Start Menu and Desktop). Depending on your privileges you may define the links on a global scheme or else only for the current user.

Similarly, you can assign special icons and associate WinEdt with certain (TeX) filetypes through the interface in the Shell Configuration Wizard. Administrative privileges are required if you want to make the changes on a global level (for all users). The Help in the Filetype Interface will guide you if required.

If your machine is configured for a single power user you don't have to worry about any User Profiles. However, Network or Multiple User installations of WinEdt require each user to create their own Application Data for WinEdt. Even if you are a single user but you prefer to login without administrative privileges you'll have to create a User Profile since otherwise WinEdt may fail to save your settings and project files in its Program Folder. Read the information in the User Profiles Tab Page of the Shell Configuration Wizard and proceed accordingly.

TeX Configuration Wizard

TeX Configuration Wizard should be used if you are experiencing any problems with TeX accessories as described in:

WinEdt and TeX

The TeX Configuration Wizard also allows you to customize the way TeX Executables are launched from WinEdt.

The Execution Modes can be customized on per-application basis. The following Interface appears when you press the "Customize the Execution Mode..." button the above dialog:

Make your selections and press OK. The text in the Wizard describes the available alternatives.

WinEdt's default settings have been carefully prepared and a great effort has been made to make WinEdt work with your TeX System without any modifications on your part. However, if this failed and some of your TeX accessories cannot be started from WinEdt this indicates that your Windows Registry does not contain the necessary information that would enable WinEdt to detect your accessories. This information can be lost during Windows Upgrades or bad system crashes and in some cases it was not initialized because you have installed software without administrative privileges thus preventing the installation setup programs from properly updating Windows Registry. However, do not worry, it is easy to manually correct WinEdt's configuration.

The TeX Configuration Wizard has been designed to diagnose your TeX System and suggest the solutions to any problems with the default accessories. Go to the "Diagnostic Frames" Tab Page. To produce a report press the button "Searching for Executables":

Read the report carefully (for your convenience the Wizard can be resized). If the suggested solutions don't help and you need more assistance you should include this report together with a detailed description of your problem. Most problems can be fixed by modifying the Startup Macro or TeX System macro and restarting WinEdt. You'll get the detailed instructions if you press the button "Fixing the Startup Macro".

Of course, you should exercise some judgement when you encounter a problem: is it a WinEdt-related issue or is your problem with your document, graphics or TeX configuration. WinEdt's Wizard can only assist you when it comes to WinEdt's ability to launch your TeX accessories. Should the result not be what you have anticipated this usually has nothing to do with WinEdt. For example, your previewer may not be handle postscript graphics, or your document is refereing to sty files that are missing or misplaced. WinEdt has nothing to do with such problems and WinEdt Team cannot and will not assist you in resolving them. You should seek help on the forum (Mailing List) dedicated to your TeX system or, when the problem is a pure TeX/LaTeX issue, on TeX's Newsgroup. You are more likely to get a useful answer if you mention relevant details and skip the rest...