Google Chrome Spell and Grammar Checker

Activate the Proofreader

To activate the proofreader: click  in a text area or press Ctrl+Shift+S while focused in a text input box. After the Deadline works fine with most text boxes on the web. If the button is not present in a text box, then you can’t use the proofreading feature there.

Interact with Errors

The proofreading feature checks spelling, misused words, grammar, and style.

You can tell the type of error by its color.

• Misused words and spelling errors are red
• Grammar mistakes are green
• Style suggestions are blue

Click an error to see a menu with suggestions. Many errors have an Explain option that provides more information.

You may select Ignore suggestion to ignore a phrase once. Select Ignore always to have this extension permanently ignore and unmark a phrase.

Proofreading Options

You can configure this proofreading extension by clicking the After the Deadline button in the Google Chrome address bar and selecting View Options.

From the options page, you can edit the phrase ignore list and enable extra options in this proofreading extension.

Change the Activation Keystroke

You can change the activation keystroke (also called the shortcut) by clicking the round grey box and pressing the desired keystroke. Shortcuts must include Control, Shift, Alt, or the Meta key. Remember this keystroke only works in text boxes with the icon in the lower right corner. If the page you’re on defines the same shortcut, the page’s functionality will likely execute instead of AtD.

Automatically Proofread Content

You can tell AtD to run the proofreader automatically before submitting a form. Select Check form contents before submission to enable this feature. This feature will ask if you really want to submit a form when errors are present in the text. This feature is not available on the Stable channel (4.x.x) of Google Chrome.

Disable the Button in the Address Bar

You may disable the After the Deadline button address bar button by unchecking Show AtD status button in address bar.

English Proofreading Options

The proofreader applies many of its grammar rules by default. These extra options find patterns of poor writing style:

• Biased language may offend or alienate different groups of readers.
• Clichés are overused phrases with little reader impact.
• Complex phrases are words or phrases with simpler every-day alternatives.
• Diacritical marks are accents and marks attached to letters in some nouns and words borrowed from other languages. This option helps restore these marks in your writing.
• A double negative is one negative phrase followed by another. The negatives cancel each other out, making the meaning hard to understand.
• A hidden verb is a verb made into a noun. These often need extra verbs to make sense.
• Jargon phrases are foreign words and phrases that only make sense to certain people.
• Passive voice obscures or omits the sentence subject. Frequent use of passive voice makes your writing hard to understand.
• Phrases to avoid are wishy-washy or indecisive phrases.
• Redundant phrases can be shortened by removing an unneeded word.

Language

You have the option of checking French, German, Portuguese, or Spanish text with After the Deadline. You can set your proofreading language here.

If you write in many languages, select Detect language when proofreading to have After the Deadline detect your language and apply the correct proofreader to it.

Ignored Phrases

You may add a phrase to the ignore list by typing it into the text field and clicking Add. Click to remove a phrase from the ignore list. A phrase is one or more words and the ignore list is case-sensitive.

Disable After the Deadline on Certain Sites

You have the option to disable this proofreading add-on on certain sites. You can add sites (e.g., http://twitter.com) here or select the After the Deadline toolbar button and click Disable on this site. Disabled sites will have a subdued AtD button in the address bar.

Uninstall After the Deadline for Google Chrome

To uninstall After the Deadline for Google Chrome, visit chrome://extensions and select Uninstall under After the Deadline.