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	Examples & Lesson Plans Videos Success Stories Awards Standards Matches Resources Inspired Learning Community™ Help Center Inspiration^® 8 Help Center System Requirements Upgrade Information Inspiration 8.0 b Updater - US Edition Quick Tour Quick Start Tutorial Contact Technical Support Frequently Asked Questions Inspired Tips Inspiration for Palm OS Help Center Inspiration for Pocket PC Help Center The current version is 8.0b. Inspiration 7 users, click here for Help Center. Inspiration 6 users, click here. Version 8.0b (released December 2006) Inspiration^® 8.0b runs in native mode on the new Intel Macs. Also, Inspiration 8.0b works well with only minor problems under Leopard, Apple's new OS, and is supported. System Requirements Windows^® Pentium 75 MHz or higher Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT 4.0, ME, XP (including Tablet PC Edition) or Vista 8 MB RAM 15 MB available hard drive 50 MB for full install Recommended: Internet connection* QuickTime^® Optional: Interactive electronic whiteboard Microphone Macintosh^® System 8.6, 9.x or OS X (10.1.5 or higher), Leopard compatible 5 MB available RAM 10 MB available hard drive (8.6 and 9.x) 65 MB for full install QuickTime Recommended: Internet connection* Optional: Interactive electronic whiteboard Microphone * For downloaded products, the computer on which the downloaded product is installed must be connected to the Internet for the product to be activated. Upgrade Information Learn what's new in Inspiration! If you are an Inspiration user, you will still be able to read your files and use your previously created templates and symbol libraries with Inspiration 8. One of the many great features of Inspriation 8 is that you can save your Inspiration 8 files as Inspiration 7 files, for exchanging with others who haven't yet upgraded. Single license upgrade Click here to purchase a single upgrade license for Inspiration 8. Serial number is required. Volume license upgrades For multiple license upgrades, please call 800-877-4292, ext. 2, email upgrades@inspiration.com or contact an Inspiration Certified Dealer. Inspiration 8.0b Updater Download the Inspiration 8.0b updater Note: This updater is for the US edition only. Windows Macintosh OS X This free update adds: A Universal update: The ability to run natively on Intel-based Macintosh computers. Click here for more information. Operational enhancements optimizing performance on Windows and Mac OS X. Users currently running Inspiration 8.0 will be updated to version 8.0b. Quick Tour See first hand how Inspiration helps students grade 6 to adult develop strong thinking skills! View the Inspiration Quick Tour, a comprehensive tutorial illustrating the key features of Inspiration 8. You'll see how easy it is for students to brainstorm, plan, organize, outline, diagram and write. Plus learn how Inspiration's integrated diagramming and outlining environments work together to help students comprehend concepts and information across the curriculum. In addition to the system requirements listed below, you will need a QuickTime^® player to view the Quick Tours. To get QuickTime, click here. Quick Tour System Requirements Macintosh Classic Power Macintosh G3 Mac OS 9.2 or later 300 MHz or faster 64 MB installed RAM Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.1 Macintosh OS X Power Macintosh G3 Mac OS X 10.1.5, 10.2.6, 10.3, 10.4 300 MHz or faster 128 MB installed RAM Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.2 or later Netscape 7.1 Safari Windows Win98 Pentium II 300 MHz or faster 64 MB installed RAM Win 2K Pentium III 300 MHz or faster 128 MB installed RAM Win XP Pentium III 300 MHz or faster 128 MB installed RAM Microsoft Internet Explorer 6sp1, 5.5sp2, 5.01sp2 Netscape 7.1 Quick Start Tutorial Download the Inspiration Quick Start tutorial To view this file you may need to install Adobe® Reader®. This tutorial is a great starting point for learning how to use Inspiration. You'll learn how Inspiration's integrated diagramming and outlining environments work together to help students comprehend concepts and information. The tutorial walks you through creating a common brainstorming and planning task. The small, manageable mini-lessons make it easy to learn the basics quickly. Before you know it, you'll be using Inspiration to develop your own great ideas! Use this tutorial when you download your trial version and when you begin using your own copy of Inspiration. Contact Technical Support If you don't find what you need here, please feel free to contact technical support. Frequently Asked Questions Installation/Startup Q:I've purchased Inspiration 8 as a download. Where do I go to download it? A: Visit the link below, then follow the instructions listed there. http://www.inspiration.com/inspirationdownload Q:I disabled QuickTime® and now Inspiration won't launch on my Mac. A: QuickTime must be installed and enabled for Inspiration to run on a Mac. Please check QuickTime status and enable it if required. Q:How should I install the 8.0a trial if I have Inspiration 8.0 already on my computer? A: When you run the trial installer, choose a destination directory other than the one that contains your existing version. For instance, if you previously installed Inspiration 8 to the folder "C:\Program Files\Inspiration 8"--the default location--then install the trial version someplace else. If you forget and overwrite your existing version, just reinstall your full version of Inspiration 8.0 to a different location. Q:I double-clicked on the zipped trial installer to unzip it, but got an error. What should I do? A: The problem is caused by a shortcut to explorer.exe (Windows file explorer) on the desktop. So, either delete that shortcut or create another folder on the desktop, move the Insp8trial.exe file inside that folder and then double-click to extract. Q:I'm having difficulty installing my Inspiration 8.0a on Vista. What's happening? A: You may certainly install Inspiration 8 to Vista, however, you'll need to bypass Vista's new security environment to do so. To do this, right-click the Install.exe on our CD Choose Properties Now, click the Compatibility tab Here, select XP Compatibility Mode Now, select Run this program as an administrator, toward the bottom Click OK Q:Inspiration will not launch and I also have ZoomText, Dragon Naturally Speaking or Kurzweil on my Windows PC. What can I do? A: Create an empty text file called "nosound.txt" and save it to the folder in which Inspiration is installed. If you do this, you won't be able to play sounds in Inspiration, but it will resolve this rare conflict. Q:How do I enter text into the symbol palette search field from the ACTIVboard®? A: Turn on handwriting in the ACTIVboard floating palette. Right-click on the symbol palette search field to position the cursor, then begin entering text. Q:How do I enter text into the Edit Symbol Libraries search and label fields from the ACTIVboard? A: In the empty workspace, enter or select the text you want, then copy it. Open the Edit Symbol Libraries dialog, select the search or label field, right click and choose paste from the menu that displays. Audio/Video Q:After I insert a sound, then change the symbol to a video symbol, the audio Quick Control is not visible in the outline view. A: Reattach the sound file. Q:The graphic for my video displays all-white in my diagram. A: This can result from how the video was encoded, i.e., the codec used. To choose a different poster image, as it's called, play the video in question, then pause it when the frame you'd like to use as the symbol graphic is displayed. Then click the Use This Frame for Graphic menu item on the Tools menu. Q:Inspiration's training videos don't play on my computer. A: In the QuickTime player, a separate application, check the preference settings and make sure streaming transport is set to HTTP. Q:I have Windows 9x and cannot select the Use This Frame for Graphic menu item from the Tools menu. A: Due to limitations with Windows 9x operating systems, this menu item is disabled. Q:The Insert Video and Insert Sound File menu items are disabled. A: If QuickTime version on your computer does not meet the minimum requirement for use with Inspiration, these items will be unavailable. The minimum QuickTime requirements are: 5.0.2 for Win95 6.1 for Windows NT 6.5.2 for all other versions of Windows 6.0.3 for Classic Mac 6.3.1 for OS 10.1.5 6.5.2 for OS 10.2-10.3.8 7 for OS 10.3.9 or later Drag-and-Drop Q:How do I add an image to the symbol palette if drag-and-drop doesn't seem to work? A: Drag-and-drop the image into a blank area of your diagram. Right-click that image and choose Add Symbol to Library. Q:How do I drag a hyperlink from Internet Explorer into Inspiration so that the link is preserved? A: Click and drag the link into Inspiration as opposed to highlighting it first, then dragging it. Q:How do I copy text from Inspiration to another application? A: For technical reasons, Inspiration doesn't support drag-and-drop of text from Inspiration to another Inspiration document or separate application. Use copy-and-paste instead. Q:Drag-and-drop has a few restrictions in the Classic Mac environment. A: An object cannot be dragged-and-dropped outside its source document. A graphic in a note cannot be dragged-and-dropped outside the note. Q:When QuickTime is not installed on Windows, you cannot drag and drop images files into an outline A: To fix this, install QuickTime; to work around it, use the Edit/Insert Graphic menu command instead of drag-and-drop. Curriculum Packets Q:A hyperlink in a Curriculum Packet I downloaded stopped working. Why? A: One possible explanation is that the file the link is pointing to, or the folder that contains it, has been moved or renamed. Either restore the original name and location, or edit the hyperlink so that it points to the correct filename and location. To edit a hyperlink, right click on the symbol or topic and choose Edit Hyperlink from the menu that displays. In the dialog that displays, re-select the file with the new name or location. Miscellaneous Q:How can I get the Inspiration starter screen to show as an available window in Expose on the Mac? A: Open a new or existing Inspiration document before activating Expose. Q:How do I paste text into the search field of the symbol palette? A: Use the keyboard shortcuts instead of the menu items. In Windows, Control + V is the shortcut for paste; on the Mac, it's Command + V. Q:What's the best way to use the Help system on a Classic Mac? A: Navigate using the index, then click on the link for a specific topic. Q:I've got an Intel-based Mac on which I've installed Inspiration 8.0a, but it's not working with my Palm device. A: Re-install Inspiration for Palm and sync your handheld to the computer in question. Q:How can I insert a Windows metafile (.wmf) into an outline? A: Use Edit/ Insert Graphic to insert files in the wmf format into the outline Convertible Trial Q:I've purchased Inspiration 8 as a download. Where do I go to download it? A: Visit the link below, then follow the instructions listed there. http://www.inspiration.com/inspirationdownload Q:Are there any circumstances in which I can't convert the Inspiration 8.0a trial to a full, licensed version? A: If your computer lacks a network card, or if you've previously installed the 8.0 trial (the version released right before 8.0a), then we request that you purchase a single boxed unit instead. Q:Can I reinstall if I need to? A: Yes. Q:If I get a new computer, what steps should I take to install a converted 8.0a trial on it? A: Please call or email Inspiration tech support for assistance. Inspired Tips Create a Timeline While Inspiration is usually used for mapping ideas that have no precise chronology, some customers have discovered another type of diagram to create in Inspiration - a timeline. Timelines can be useful for history or social studies units, as well as keeping track of specific steps in a project. There are two types of timelines that can be created with Inspiration: basic and traditional. To create a basic timeline, which is well-suited to project tracking, begin with a new document, with the "Main Idea" selected. Using the Create tool, which is in the Diagram toolbar, create as many symbols as you need to cover the many points in the timeline. Each will be linked to the one before it, showing a logical sequence of events. Simply enter the events or tasks into the symbols and you have a basic timeline--customize as desired. If this is to be used as a project timeline, you may find checkboxes useful in marking when tasks have been completed. To show checkboxes on each symbol, choose "Show Checklist" from the Tools menu. To create a traditional timeline, more visibly similar to the standard timelines of historical events, begin with a new document. There are some cosmetic changes you may wish to make at this point to make the timeline look exactly as you wish. If you wish to change your symbols so that they are borderless text boxes, change a symbol to the symbol that looks like a rectangle with a dashed outline and an 'A' inside it. Choose the "Set Default" item in the Edit menu to set this selected symbol as the default for this diagram. If you wish to change your links so that they are 90-degree angles, rather than diagonal lines, select a link, then click on the Link menu and choose "Auto-90." If you wish to have arrow-less links, choose "None" from the "Arrow Head Ending Point" section of the Link menu. Once you've made your changes to the selected link, use the "Set Default" item in the Edit menu to set this link's attributes as the default for the whole diagram. Once your cosmetic changes are set, begin by changing the "Main Idea" text into the topic of your timeline. Use the Create tool, which is in the Diagram toolbar, to create your first date/event, linked to the Main Idea. Next, create your end date/event. Space them a suitable distance apart. Now, click on the point above or below the line and begin typing your next date/event. This should create a symbol for this date/event. Link from the first date/event to this one. Repeat this process for subsequent dates/events. Before long, your timeline will be complete. Edit or Create Libraries in a Lab Inspiration allows users to create personal templates and libraries, as distinct from the standard templates and libraries that are found in the Inspiration application folder. User-created Inspiration templates can be saved to any location to which the users have write access. Note: this generally excludes the "Inspiration Templates" folder in the Inspiration folder on the server. Users can also create their own symbol libraries even when Inspiration is installed on a server. In this case, though, the user-created libraries will be personal libraries. They will be stored in the Inspiration Data folder, which is typically found in the Documents folder (Macintosh) or the My Documents folder (Windows) on the workstation of the person who created them. Either of these types of files can be added to the centralized templates and libraries on the server by copying them from their original location to the Templates or Libraries folder on that server. If Inspiration is installed on multiple workstations instead of a server, simply copy the custom templates or libraries to the other workstations. Network Installation/Setup In a computer lab setting with a network server available, it's often much easier to install Inspiration on the network server instead of on each individual computer. Installing on the server saves time and ensures that all students are accessing the same resources. To install Inspiration on your server, begin by logging in as network administrator from a workstation. Admin-level access is required for the install to work properly. Next, run the installer program on the Inspiration CD-ROM. When the installer gets to the section where it asks you to "Choose Destination Location," click on the "Browse" button. Browse to your network server and choose it as the installation destination. It's strongly recommended that you install Inspiration to its own folder so that setting permissions will be easier. Finish the installation process, at which point Inspiration will start. Enter your name, organization and serial number in the dialog that displays to complete the install. Once you've finished installing, you will need to change the security permissions for the Inspiration folder and all items inside it to make it possible for more than one person to use Inspiration at the same time. Using your network software's standard procedure, change the permissions on the Inspiration folder for both users and groups to either Read & Execute, Read & Filescan or Read Only (depending on the server software you use.) Make sure they don't have write access to the Inspiration folder. After setting these permissions, create a shortcut or alias for the Inspiration application and place this shortcut/alias on each workstation. To test, log in to one workstation as a member of one of the groups to which you gave Read, Read & Execute, or Read & Filescan permissions. On another workstation, log in as a different member of one of those groups. Start Inspiration on each workstation. If all is set up correctly, Inspiration should start on both. For a platform-specific, more technically-worded version of these instructions, please click here.