Author Aid

Author Aid provides very basic grammar and formatting suggestions to authors as it periodically reviews their draft content.

It intends to assist authors by highlighting common grammar and formatting errors. Double-spaces between words, for example, is the type of thing writers may miss as they type, which Author Aid will catch.

Authors may choose to ignore the suggestions, or dismiss the Author Aid entirely.

Using Author Aid

Authors can open the Author Aid panel from the formatting toolbar.

Supported languages

Author Aid currently supports the following languages:

1. English UK
2. English US

How it works?

Author Aid periodically reviews content as authors type (just like the auto-save feature), and renders a list of warnings which highlight potential issues. The rules defined in Author Aid are aligned to the primary language selected in the author's browser settings.

Important!

Spowtr is all about authentic authorship, therefore, Author Aid is NOT powered by artificial intelligence, nor does it send the content to a third-party for review. Furthermore, Author Aid doesn't offer specific suggestions to replace the writer's content with an alternative.

What is it checking?

Author Aid will render the following warnings.

Punctuation

1. Punctuation: Renders if a paragraph isn't closed off with one of the following characters; full-stop, comma, double-quote, single-quote, exclamation mark, question mark, colon, or semi-colon.
2. Repeated punctuation: Renders if punctuation marks are repeated excessively (e.g. “!!” or “??") with exceptions for correct use, such as ellipses.
3. Punctuation space: Renders when there is no space after a punctuation mark at the beginning of a sentence (e.g. “.New sentence"), or when a space proceeds a punctuation mark (e.g. “before , comma"). This rule will cater to various common exceptions.
4. Full Stop / Mark: Renders if a (semi-)colon is followed by a full-stop, or other sentencing ending mark.
5. Oxford comma: Renders if a comma separated list, for example, should be closed off with a comma preceding ‘and’.

Spelling/Phrasing

1. Repeated word: Renders if two words are repeated sequentially in a sentence.
2. American / British Spelling: Depending on the form of English being reviewed, the warning will render for common misuse of certain characters across US and UK English, such as:
3. ‘z’ instead of ‘s’, or vice-versa (e.g. “oragnize” vs. “organize").
4. ‘o’ instead of ‘ou’, or vice-versa (e.g. “color” vs. “colour").
5. ‘led’ instead of ‘lled’, or vice-versa (e.g. “travelled” vs. “travelling").
6. ‘ling’ instead of ‘lling’, or vice-versa (e.g. travelling vs. travelling).
7. Subject-verb agreement: Renders if the subject and verb don't match. When, “he go” is used, for instance, instead of “he goes”.
8. “A” vs “an”: Renders when a copy incorrectly uses a, or an (e.g. “a element”, or “an tiger.")
9. Passive voice: Will render if the structure of a phrase suggests that the object is being acted upon by the subject. “The cake was baked by her”, for example, instead of, “She baked the cake.”

Formatting

1. Heading order: Renders if a, Header type 3, is used without a preceding, Header type 2.
2. Double spaces: Renders if two spaces have been entered (sequential) between characters.

Accessibility

1. Image alt tag: Renders if an image doesn't include a description to assist users who leverage screen readers to digest articles.