SIL Transciber 2 is a web app and will work on most modern computers with a web browser. It has been tested with Chrome and Firefox. The SIL Transcriber product includes an optional Desktop Extension which installs on Windows 10 or Linux (with a Debian or Snap package).

The setup for the organizations and projects is done online using the administration functions of the web app. To set up a project, the Administrator will sign up with Auth0 as all web app users will need to do. If any user plans to synchronize at some point to Paratext, it is best to sign up with the Paratext button which allows Paratext to request the credentials and creates an account for the user that is linked to their Paratext account. On subsequent uses, the user can use a google sign in that is linked to the same email address if desired or a user name and password that uses the same email address.

SIL Transcriber allows projects to be created as personal projects (only one user is working on transcribing and reviewing) or team projects (many users can collaborate on transcribing and reviewing). Projects can be created by just uploading a media file and beginning the transcription, or if many media files are involved and each needs to be linked to a particular reference in Paratext, then a spreadsheet type tool can be used to describe the project. The sheet can be populated by copying content from Excel and pasting it in or it can be entered into the program directly. If the file names have been created using a pattern that includes the book code, chapter, starting verse and ending verse, a tool is available to automatically associate the passages with the media files. If a collaborative team will be working offline, then it is recommended that the sections be assigned to different users so when they work on transcriptions, they will know which transcriptions are being done by others.

If there are users who will work in an area without an Internet connection, once the setup has been done in the web app, the project can be exported using a Portable Transcriber Format file (PTF). After the Desktop Extension is installed in a computer that will work online, the PTF file can be imported and work can begin immediately. Once the work is completed, the Desktop Extension can export an Incremental Transcriber Format file for uploading the resulting work to the web or the transcriptions can be synchronized to Paratext locally.

If the user is not working with Paratext, SIL Transcriber allows the transcriptions to be copied and pasted into another application or they can be exported as ELAN files for further processing with that tool. It is recommended that synchronization be done regularly and that the user keep regular backups although on the Internet, all the data is backed up both locally and remotely.

SIL Transcriber Desktop Extension has been built for MAC. It would need to be signed for distribution. Let the development team know if that interests you. The web app has been tested with Chrome on the MACbook Pro (macOS Mojave).

There are more instructions on the initial setup and connecting the foot pedal and other setup related issues in the downloadable documentation on the downloads page.