If you want to type in Persian text to supplement your work on this website, you will need to set up your computer for multiple languages.

On MAC OS X:
Go to System Preferences, then to International.  Then go to Input Menu tab.  From there, select the “Persian” checkbox, and “Allow a different input source for each document” then “Show input menu in menu bar.”  Then, you will be able to select English or Persian to type in and switch back and forth easily.

On Windows XP:
Choose Control Panel and then Regional and Languages Options.  Click on the Languages tab.  Check Install files for Persian.  Click Apply, and the files will install.  In the Input Language menu choose Persian.  In the Keyboard layout menu choose the keyboard you want to use (note:  there are Persian keyboards available, or also, stickers that can be placed over an English language keyboard to make it Persian from commercial providers).  Click on the Language Bar button.  If the Language Bar button is grayed out, click on Key Settings.  Check Show language bar on desktop.  Click OK and Apply whenever you are prompted, and restart the computer.

Here is a sample keyboard for typing in Persian:

Then, you will be able to select English or Persian to type in and switch back and forth easily.

We also recommend that you use a basic text editor, such as the default programs that come with your operating system (TextEdit, WordPad, Notepad, etc.), not Microsoft Word, for writing and reading Persian on your personal computer.  While Microsoft Word works well in Persian with PC systems, it does not transfer nor work on a MAC platform, meaning that documents that you create on a PC in Word are not easily portable to other systems.  For most situations, use the Times New Roman font.  While the Tahoma font will also display the characters, it is not optimal for capturing the exact details and script-like flow of Persian text.  If you are able to manually choose character encoding, either in e-mail or in your word processing programs  UNICODE – 8 or UTF-8 is the best choice for Persian.  The free, online Google Docs service appears to support and share Persian and other right-to-left languages relatively well, but can be slow for actual document creation.  It might be best to create documents in a text file and then upload them for editing, formatting, and sharing.  You need to establish a personal account with Google to use it – use it at your own risk.