The Journal

May 2010
Volume 11, Issue 5

INTRODUCTION

May always seems to be a busy month. Especially this year, as my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. We threw them "a bit of a do". Very fun, and great to see all the siblings and most of the grandkids and great-grandkids (my parents's grandkids and great-grandkids, I mean; I have neither; so far). I hope your May has been full of family and fun, as well. =)

I also released an update of The Journal 5.1 this month. See "The Journal News" below for more information.

We have a new set of writing exercises, and in the tips section I discuss the difference between "Save Journal" and "Backup The Journal" and "Save Entry As..."

Thank you for choosing The Journal!

Check to see if you have the most recent update of The Journal by clicking on the Help menu (in The Journal) and choosing Check for Update of The Journal.

Download the latest update of The Journal from here:

http://www.davidrm.com/download/jnl5setup.exe

Click here to see what's new in The Journal 5.

Click here for information about Upgrade Pricing.

Add-on Packages Available for The Journal

Devotional Prompts 1 & 2 - Keep a record of your reflections about God, yourself, and others!
Learn more about Devotional Prompts for The Journal.

Writing Prompts 1 - Improve your writing skills!
Learn more about Writing Prompts 1.

Writing Prompts 2 - Prose Challenges by Mike Hommel - Stretch your mind and your writing skills!!
Learn more about Writing Prompts 2.

MemoryGrabber - Start your autobiography or help your loved ones start theirs.
Learn more about MemoryGrabber for The Journal.

Steve Pavlina's Templates - 20 journaling exercises to help you discover your life purpose, assess your relationships, solve your problems, and more!
Learn more about Steve Pavlina's Templates for The Journal.

Extended Security - Do you need a higher level of security?
Learn more about Extended Security for The Journal.

To order the add-on packages for The Journal, or to order The Journal on CDROM:
1. Click on the Help menu in The Journal.
2. Choose "Upgrade The Journal".

TIPS & TRICKS

FAQ: What is the difference between "Save Journal" and "Backup The Journal"?

"Save Journal" (on the File menu; hot-key: Ctrl+S) saves all active changes to your open Journal Volume(s). This includes changes/additions to the active entry, as well as all changes to category properties, user preferences, and global options.

By default, The Journal automatically performs "Save Journal" every 15 minutes. You can adjust this interval in User Preferences (on the User menu). In addition, changes to your entries are automatically saved in the following circumstances:

• Every time you open an entry (old or new);
• Every time you bring up a different category tab; and
• Before most menu commands (Print, Category Properties, and so on).

"Backup The Journal" (on the File menu, Journal Volume sub-menu; hot-key: Ctrl+Shift+B) creates a snapshot of your Journal Volume(s) database. That is, it creates a copy of *everything* in The Journal. Creating a backup of The Journal helps to secure your categories and entries against system problems and hardware failures.

Tips for how to make copies of your backups are here:
The Journal Newsletter - November 2009

FAQ: What is the difference between "Save Journal" and "Save Entry As..."?

"Save Journal" is described above.

"Save Entry As..." (on the File menu; hot-key: F12) saves the currently active entry as a document file to your hard drive. An example of when this would be useful is: sending an entry as an attachment to an email.

You can choose to save the entry in a variety of document formats:

• Rich Text Format (.rtf) - All the text of the entry is saved, with full formatting (font, bold, etc). Inserted images and objects are saved into the file. Rich text files can be opened by MS Word, WordPerfect, and almost any other Windows word processor. This is the default format.
• Plain Text (.txt) - All the text of the entry is saved, but without formatting. Inserted images and objects are not saved.
• HTML (.html) - All the text of the entry is saved, with full formatting (font, bold, etc). Inserted images and objects are saved in separate files.

The default location for the saved document file is your "My Documents" folder.

NOTE: You do *not* need to use "Save Entry As..." to save your entries to your Journal Volume. That is handled for your automatically, as talked about above. Only use "Save Entry As..." to create a document file from your entry.

WRITING EXERCISES

Free Writing Prompt - Write for 20 minutes using the following as your starter: "Pancakes"

Journaling Prompt - What is the worst thing about your day? What are you doing to get rid of it?

Memoir Prompt - What is your favorite, "go to" cooking recipe? Is it from a cookbook? How has the recipe evolved over the years you've been using it?

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

If you would like to contribute to the "How I Use The Journal", "Writing Exercises", or "Tips & Tricks" sections, or would like to submit an article about journaling or another The Journal-related topic, we would love to hear from you.

Submissions for the newsletter should be sent to: davidrm@davidrm.com

If you are submitting for a particulare section, please indicate which one. Try to limit your submissions to 500-1000 words. Submissions may be edited for length and content.

If you prefer to remain anonymous, please state this in the email. Otherwise your name (but not your email) will be used in the article heading.

As always, if you have any suggestions for, or bug reports about, The Journal, please feel free to email them. Both are always welcome.

Editor: David Michael (davidrm@davidrm.com)
Copyright © 2010 by David Michael.