Keep in touch with all your friends and family using Pidgin, the free multi-protocol instant messaging program. Tutorial 2 - Installing Aspell

In order to install spell-checking support for Pidgin we must install both GNU Aspell and at least one dictionary (If you don't need spell-checking support, click here to skip directly to tutorial 3).

In this example, we will install just the English dictionary. When you choose to install spell-check support for Pidgin, the Pidgin installer will automatically download and start the Aspell installer. When this happens, you will see the following window appear:-

Click "Next >". The following window will then appear:-

Scroll down to review the licence agreement. If you agree, click on "Next >" to move to the window shown below:-

Here you can choose where on your computer you want to install Aspell. The default location is correct for most users, so simply click on "Next >". The following window will then appear:-

You can optionally create a Start Menu shortcut for the software here. If you don't intend to use Aspell for anything other than Pidgin, you can tick the box labelled "Don't create a Start Menu folder". When you have made your decision, click "Next >". The following window will then be displayed:-

Here you can choose to create some additional shortcuts for the spell-checker. This is entirely up to you, none of these short-cuts are required to use Aspell in Pidgin. When you have made up your mind, click "Next >" to move to the window shown below:-

Click on "Install" to start the installation process. When the files are installed, the following window will be displayed:-

Note that this window instructs you to download a dictionary, but there is no need for that as the Pidgin installer is going to take care of that for us, so simply click "Next >". The following window will then appear:-

Aspell is now set up, all that remains is to install the dictionary. Un-tick the box labelled "View manual.html" as this will open up a browser window and get in the way of your installation efforts. When you have done this, click "Finish".

There will be a short pause while the Pidgin installer downloads the dictionary. When the download is complete, the following window will be displayed:-

Click "Next >". The following window will then be displayed:-

Scroll down to review the licence agreement. If you agree, click on "Next >" to move to the window shown below:-

Here you can choose where on your computer you want to install the dictionary. The default location is correct for most users, so simply click on "Next >". The following window will then appear:-

You can optionally create a Start Menu shortcut for the dictionary here. If you don't intend to use the spell checker for anything other than Pidgin, you can tick the box labelled "Don't create a Start Menu folder". When you have made your decision, click "Next >". The following window will then be displayed:-

Click on "Install" to start the installation process. When the files are installed, the following window will be displayed:-

Phew, almost there now. click "Finish". This completes the setup of the spell-checker. The following window will then appear:-

Click "Next >" to move to the window shown below:-

Congratulations, you have now installed Pidgin with full spell-checking support. Click on Finish to exit the installer and the software is now ready for use.