Alice Writes is an online editor that allows you to write, edit, and save text and HTML files. It also has features for translating text, and uploading and saving files to Google Drive. The program is at https://alicereads.org.
Simple Instructions:
Click on READ or STORY to read a story. It will start automatically. You can use STOP to stop reading and START to resume.
Some of the stories are in wav format. They use the MeloTTS AI voice. For these, use Pause/Resume instead to pause and resume a story.
If you create your own story in HTML mode, the default, you can convert it to JSON by clicking on the "Convert" button further down the page. It shows the mode for Window 1 and Window 2. Don't worry about WIndow 2 as it will always be HTML.
Window 1: HTML Convert
Then it will say:
Window 1: JSON Convert
This is how you can tell which mode you are in. If you load a story you will be in JSON mode automatically.
The easiest way to start you own JSON story is to click on:
In JSON mode the screen will show something like "Page 1 of 30." In HTML mode it will show "Page 0 of 0." In JSON mode you can do all the things on top of the Window and also use the search box.
Translating:
To translate the text on any screen to another language click on the blue "Option" menu and pick something like "Trans=>Spanish." If the text is already in a different language pick "Translate/Read" of "Translate/Read-by-Line."
The translation will appear in "Window 2" below. Pinyin will appear in "Window 3" if you are translating Chinese.
If you see Chinese text on the screen in WIndow 1, you can press the "Add Pinyin" button (below the window) and it will add the pinyin to the same window. Then you can see both at the same time on the screen.The program does not read the pinyin when you press the "Read" button. It only reads the Chinese characters. This is intentional because pinyin is just a romanization of Chinese character pronunciation.
There is also a link button for translating to Chinese. in the line:
TransChinese AddPinyin Read (TTS)
In this case, it ads the Chinese characters to the end of the line in WIndow 1.
You can add pinyin pronunciation if you like.
Press the Read button to hear it. It will use the British or American voice on the English text as long as there is a period following the Chinese characters. The period is used as a separator for reading the various languages automatically.
Inputting Chinese text:
If you want to input Chinese characters into the window, it is easiest to use your smart phone in Chinese input mode and then speak the Chinese words. They will automatically be recognized by Google-speech to-text and deposited on the screen in character form. Then you can press the "Read" button to hear them. To verify what you said, you can use the translate button to see what you really said.This is a good way to practice your Chinese speaking.
To save your file use:
KEEP: Download to Phone or Computer
To load your JSON file:
To load an HTML file use the FILE menu button and then Open File.
Changing Colors:
If you want to change the color of the text, scroll down to colors and double click a color. The program will say the color. Then select some text and click on "Change-Selection-Color."
If you double-click on any word in the text, the program will read the word aloud and change its color to purple.
Changing Backgrounds:
You can also add background to the text window by click on "New Background." To clear the background, click "Clear Background."
Changing Voices:
You can also switch the reading voice by clicking on "US-Voice" or "UK-voice." You can also toggle through some voices by clicking on "Voice."
Editing:
You can add bold, italic, or underline in the EDIT menu. Font and point size are in the Style menu. If you have unruly HTML, just click the 'Clear Style" button in the blue Style menu. There are other features there you can play with.
Saving Files:
If you are writing a story on your phone, you can press the blue "Keep" button to save your work periodically. Note the file name in the box. That is what it will be saved to.
If you want to play your story as a JSON, click the "Convert" button. Then it will save as a JSON file when you press "Keep" again. You can save it as each type, HTML and JSON. If you want to load your saved JSON file, remember to "Load JSON Story" in the blue file menu.
You can't just use "Open File" if it is a JSON. If it is a JSON, you have to use "Load JSON Story." If you open JSON with "OpenFIle," it will show you all the JSON formatting. Then you would be opening it as an HTML file, which would not do you any good (unless you really want to see the formatting).
Speed Reading:
There is also a "SpeedRead" button that plays the JSON story with each page displayed for one second. The time can be increased by pressing the " + " button and decreased by the " - " button.This speed reader only works if you have loaded a JSON story. I use this to check the story content quickly, hence: "Speed Read."
This is most of it. Enjoy your writing and reading aloud!
(There is quite a lot of technology in this little program. The purpose of the program is to write stories that can be played back using some interesting TTS methods. It tries to make listening to TTS not so boring! You can use TTS to read more stories.)
AI voice. Use:
AI Reading (page only) Play wav again. Save wav.
if you want to make a MelloTTS wav file of Window 1. It only does English. You can save your wav file and use it anywhere.
Adding Drawings.
Click on Draw a picture link. Save you picture and open it up. Copy the image and paste it into WIndow 1.
Alice's Audio Editor Draw A Picture
There is also an audio editor if you want to make londer wav files and combine them together. It is a separate program. Some of the messages in Alice Writes are made using this editor.
Other undocumented features.
You can copy and paste any long text into WIndow 1 from the web and read it with the Read link button. You can stop the reading by double-clinking any word.
Double clicking any word turns it purple and pronounces it.
If you want to read just one paragraph, you can click on an article, such as "the, in, or to." This way you do not need to scroll up to the menu on your phone to control the reading. It also avoids reading most HTML tags because the text is usually within one span.
If Alice reads unwanted formatting characters, such as HTML tags, use the Clear Style in the Style menu. Then it will all be just plain text. This will be clean for all sites as they have other characters embedded in their text.
There is nothing special about Alice Writes in cleaning up web text. The best way is to paste your website text into MS Windows Notepad first and then doing a CTRL-C again and then pasting it into Alice Writes to read it aloud. This way, you can be selective about what you want to read. Just select part of the text and then paste it into Alice Writes to read it aloud. Notepad does an excellent job of turning most web content into plain text.
Starting and Stopping using Double-click.
If you are reading a long HTML document, it is not very convenient to look for buttons. No worries. You can start reading from anywhere by double-clicking the same word twice. Alice will actually start reading from the first place the word you double-clicked on twice is found in the document. So you may have to choose your words wisely.
To stop reading, just double-click any word. When you double-click a word, the reading cancels and Alice reads just that word. Easy right?
Using these undocumented features, you can start and stop long documents without any menus or control keys. Alice does not use control keys because Alice is mobile friendly.
You can enjoy Alice Writes in reading any HTML document, including anything you paste from the web. One advantage of this is that you do not need to listen to annoying ads.
To copy text from anywhere, do CTRL-A and CTRL-C. This puts everything in the system buffer. Then click on CTRL-V in Window 1 of Alice Writes. This copies everything into the window.
To read just one paragraph aloud within the the document, just double-click an article in it, such as in "to," "and," or "the." You can also do this by clicking on pronouns and prepositions, but not conjunctions. (This will not read any HTML tags because it will read inside the current HTML span.) It will also turn the text green or other color you have selected. (See Color Fun Help.)
You can get many good older books to read in HTML using the Gutenberg.org library. You can paste the text in to Alice Writes and then convert it to a JSON file. This allows you to read it easier, in smaller pages, using the menu buttons. You can save the JSON file and load it again later.
Bookmarks.
There are also buttons for saving your place and uploading it again.
Key Features:
Read and edit HTML code.
Write your own text and save it to a file.
Apply bold, underline, and italics formatting.
Choose a font style and point size.
Paste a picture into a window.
Switch between two windows.
Edit or create new text styling.
Translate text from one language to another.
Upload and save files from Google Drive.
Change voices between British and American accents.
Receive audio feedback of actions.
Enable autosave.
Change the autosave file name and location.
Recover work if the browser is closed before saving.
Change fonts.
Available Fonts
Arial: A sans-serif font that is popular for body text.
Verdana: Another sans-serif font that is similar to Arial.
Times New Roman: A serif font that is popular for documents and books.
Courier New: A monospaced font that is popular for code and programming.
Georgia: A serif font that is similar to Times New Roman, but has a more elegant look.
Tahoma: A sans-serif font that is similar to Arial, but has a slightly narrower width.
Impact: A display font that is designed for large headlines and posters.
Garamond: A serif font that is popular for books and high-end publications.
Trebuchet MS: A sans-serif font that is similar to Arial, but has a more playful look.
Font Size
The default font size is 14 pnt. You can change the font size to any value you like.
Th above is a summary by Bard. Below is my original help text.
Welcome to Alice writes. .. Access Alice writes at: Alice Writes online editor
Key Features.
Can cut and past HTML code into the top window and read it. To avoid reading extraneous HTML tags choose Clear Style in the Style menu. This turns the Window contents into plain text. Try to avoid loading documents that are too long.
Write your own text and save it to a file. You can use bold, underline and italics as well as choose point size and font style. Select the text you want to change and click on the relevant button or menu item. Can also past a picture into a window. There are two windows top and bottom. When you save, both windows are saved together in one document. You can also switch windows with the Switch button.
Can edit or create new text styling. It is useful to clear the text style first and then add new styling. There is also code view and preview, using the two windows, as well as markdown. You can paste a picture or image into either windows. This program is designed mostly for HTML files.
Translate from one language to another in the Option menu. This feature requires to run the editor.html file form the local hard drive, for now. To do this, click on the Download Program button in the file menu. It will automatically download 4 files for you. Then click on the editor.html file. You can run both local and web versions of the editor at the same time.
Can also save as a PDF.
Can upload and save text or HTML files form your Google drive using a phone. To save files to your phone, use Save to Phone in the File menu. Can also do this using the same Save to Phone option on a laptop or desktop.
Can change voices between British and American accents on the main screen.
Gives audio feedback of things it is doing, when different buttons are clicked. This is for educational value and to let you know what it is doing.
Has an autosave option that is off by default.
To turn on Autosave for your work, click on the option in the File menu.
To change the Autosave file name and location, click on Auto File. This will automatically save any file you choose.
The keep you work, click on Keep and pick the file to save. You can also save in the File menu button.
If you close your browser before saving your work, you can use the Recover button to reload what was last saved automatically, if you had the Autosave on.
You can change fonts in the Style Menu. Here are the fonts available.
Arial: A sans-serif font that is popular for body text. It is easy to read and has a modern look.
Verdana: Another sans-serif font that is similar to Arial. It is slightly wider and has more open letters, which makes it easier to read on screens.
Times New Roman: A serif font that is popular for documents and books. It has a classic look and is easy to read.
Courier New: A monospaced font that is popular for code and programming. Each character takes up the same amount of space, which makes it easy to line up code.
Georgia: A serif font that is similar to Times New Roman, but has a more elegant look. It is often used for magazines and newspapers.
Tahoma: A sans-serif font that is similar to Arial, but has a slightly narrower width. It is often used for web pages and user interfaces.
Impact: A display font that is designed for large headlines and posters. It has a bold, eye-catching look.
Garamond: A serif font that is popular for books and high-end publications. It has a classic, old-fashioned look.
Trebuchet MS: A sans-serif font that is similar to Arial, but has a more playful look. It is often used for children's books and websites.
Font Size
You can change point size. The normal size is 14 pnt.
Recording Audio:
You can record a story being read to an mp3 audio file. Load a JSON story or write some text in the top window and goto the Options Menu. Click on Record Speech => mp3. Follow alert prompts.
Special Note for Chromebook an d Android
On Chromebooks, you will need to give your application permission to share system audio. You can do this by clicking the Extensions icon in the top right corner of the browser window, then clicking Manage extensions. Find your application in the list of extensions and click Details. Under Permissions, click the Toggle switch next to Share system audio.
Chromebook Extensions page
On Android devices, you will need to give your application permission to record audio. You can do this by going to Settings > Apps & notifications > Advanced > App permissions > Microphone. Find your application in the list of applications and toggle the switch next to Microphone to the On position.
Android Apps & notifications settings page
Once you have given your application the necessary permissions, you should be able to record system audio on both Chromebooks and Android devices.
Here are some additional tips for recording system audio on Chromebooks and Android devices:
Make sure that the volume of your device is turned up.
If you are recording system audio on a Chromebook, you may want to close any other applications that are running. This will help to reduce background noise.
If you are recording system audio on an Android device, you may want to use a headset or microphone to improve the quality of the recording.
What to do with creating mp3 files from text:
Here are some ideas for what you can do with the MP3 creating capability:
Create audiobooks or podcasts.
Record lectures or presentations.
Create sound effects or music for videos or games.
Create personalized messages for friends and family.
Transcribe interviews or conversations.
Create language learning materials.
Create marketing or promotional materials.
Create educational materials.
Create research materials.
Create creative content.
The possibilities are endless!