Digital Urdu Ghazal ReaderHomeContentsInfoHelp

SettingsSettings

  • Current Settings:
    • Urdu
      • Font: Loading...
      • Size: Loading...
    • Transliteration
      • Font: Loading...
      • Size: Loading...
  • New Settings:
    • Urdu
      • Font:
      • Size:
    • Transliteration
      • Font:
      • Size:
  • Fonts Detected: 0
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Help with Settings

The Settings page allows you to configure the font and font size for the text in Urdu and in Transliteration in the Reader. All of the text used on these pages is in a format called Unicode, which is the international, cross-browser, and cross-platform standard for encoding all of the languages of the world. By using this standard, the pages on this site can potentially be viewed on any platform (Windows, Apple, Linux, etc.). However, the pages do require a contemporary platform and browser. While the encodings for the characters of Urdu and for Transliteration have been standardized, the characters themselves are not in every font. Therefore, this settings page is designed to help you pick a font that will work for you. If you do not have a font on your computer that displays all of the Urdu/transliteration characters on this website, you will have to download and install one. A list of suggested fonts follows below.

You can see this help document by clicking "help with settings" (at the bottom of the left side of the settings page).

On the left side of the screen, the "Current Settings" show your current font choices, which will be the default values for your operating system if you haven't changed them. You can test the current settings by clicking "Test Current Settings." A window will appear on the right side of the screen that shows the required characters in the current font. If you see boxes, the current font does not work. Often contemporary browsers will fill in characters that are missing from a font using the characters of another font. So if the characters look mismatched, you should try to change to another font.

On loading, the settings page will try to run a Sun Java applet to determine which fonts are available to you. If it is successful, then the number of fonts available on your computer will be displayed to the left. If you do not have a Sun Java plugin (v 1.4 or greater) or it is not enabled, you will see "Fonts Detected: 0" at the bottom of the left menu. You can download a Java plugin at http://www.java.com. You do not need a Sun Java plugin to change the font settings, but it does make things easier.

The "New Settings" options lets you choose new fonts and font sizes for the Urdu and Transliteration text. Next to "Font:" there is a list of choices. If the applet runs correctly, this list will be filled with your available fonts.

If the applet does not work, you can manually append a font name to the list by selecting "Add font name...". Spelling matters here, so make sure it is accurate. If you would like to reload the font list using the Java applet, click "Reload Fonts." To load the default font settings for all of the scripts, click "Use Defaults." (These defaults may or may not work for you.)

The "Size" option lets you choose in what size you would like the fonts to display. The other factor to keep in mind here is that you can adjust the size of text using your browser. In Firefox, for example, it is under "View" then "Text Size."

Font Recommendations:

Transliteration: We are currently recommending the Gentium font for all operating systems (Apple, Windows, Linux). It is freely available from this [site].

Urdu: The best nastaliq font for Urdu is "Nafees Nastaleeq." It can be downloaded from here: [site]. It will only work under Windows XP. The next best choice is "Nafees Web Naskh." It is a naskh font, but will work on Linux, Windows, and Apple. It can be downloaded here: [site].

The default fonts for all operating systems are "Gentium" for transliteration and "Nafees Web Naskh" for Urdu.

For more information on fonts and how to install them, see the SALRC font website: [site].

Test Current Settings

Urdu Font

(Font: xxx;  Size: xxx)

Sample:

ڈیجیٹل اردو غزل ریڈر

Transliteration Font

(Font: xxx;  Size: xxx)

Sample:

a ā â b p t ṡ ṡ j ch ḥ ḳh d ḍ ż r ṛ z zh s sh ṣ ẓ t̤ z̤ ʿ ġh f q k g l m n ñ ū o au v ī y e ai ʾ ñ

Test New Settings

Urdu Font

Font: xxx;  (Size: xxx)

Sample:

ڈیجیٹل اردو غزل ریڈر

Transliteration Font

(Font: xxx;  Size: xxx)

Sample:

a ā â b p t ṡ ṡ j ch ḥ ḳh d ḍ ż r ṛ z zh s sh ṣ ẓ t̤ z̤ ʿ ġh f q k g l m n ñ ū o au v ī y e ai ʾñ