ExamWritePad

[whartomt01]

https://support.texthelp.com/help/how-can-i-add-more-uk-voices-to-the-list-on-the-narrator-and-pdf-reader-dropdown-lists

[bknaggs]

Just looking at the purchase page - https://examwritepad.com/purchase/ - and there is now only a one year option priced at £499 + VAT

[synaesthesia]

Looks like we'll be sticking with the old version I'd put forward a business case, accepted for the cheaper price but as it stands, it won't go through (and without some clarification on it's future, not sure I'd want to)

[thimon]

I believe they have been bought out. @ass17 hasn’t replied here for a while so I don’t know if they’re involved anymore. Luckily I bought the perpetual licence for £800!

[thimon]

On another note. The letter J doesn’t work anymore within ExamWritePad. Anyone had this?

[jamesrhart]

This is the response I had:

 

Yes, EWP recently became part of the Texthelp group. Please see more info on this below:

 

Texthelp Group Changes

ExamWritePad was recently acquired by Texthelp. A company who shares our belief that everyone has the right to understand and be understood.

 

What is changing?

We’re changing our operations to allow us to simplify areas such as ordering and payments. Your End User Licence Agreements will remain exactly the same and not impact your experience. You will still be able to buy and use the same product. You will also be able to continue to benefit from Customer Success and Technical Support that you have been receiving to this point from ExamWritePad.

 

When did these changes come into effect?

These changes came into effect on 27th September 2024. If you have any questions, please get in touch with us at [email protected].

Edited October 17, 2024 by jamesrhart

[ass17]

On another note. The letter J doesn’t work anymore within ExamWritePad. Anyone had this?

 

Fixed in the September version as a re-release.

[thimon]

Fixed in the September version as a re-release.

 

Thank you. I found an uninstall and reinstall fixed it.

[drh92]

would be a real shame if someone could PM me v23.12.10.1200 or newer for evaluatory purposes:o

[dapaulio]

I’ve been using this for years and never had the need to upgrade it in those years.

What’s the benefit of upgrading it now? Other than it now costs to use it.

 

Can I still use the old versions I have

Edited November 10, 2024 by dapaulio

[thimon]

If you have an old free installer then that will still work. Various bugs fixes and new features are helpful. Support if anything goes wrong.

[geohanson]

So we've just gone ahead and paid for the license for the latest version.

How do people usually deploy the config file for this? We use PDQ Deploy, so installing and copying over the license file is easy.

 

If I copy the config file to each machine and need to make a change, then I have to redeploy it to every machine, which is a bit of a pain...

If I put it on a network share and add the parameters to a shortcut, then changes to the config file are easy, however, EWP can ONLY be opened using that shortcut or it ignores the config file - EG you can't just open a saved document, you have to open EWP then open the document.

 

Neither is perfect unless I'm missing something obvious....

 

Edit:

I've also just found the MSI options to specify the license key and settings JSON during install, but it doesnt appear to work...

https://support.texthelp.com/help/command-line-usage-pre-install

Edited January 10, 2025 by geohanson

[thimon]

Have a PDQ package just for the config file. Have a PDQ group setup with the exam computers. When you update the file, update the PDQ package and deploy to the group. We use PDQ Connect, but Deploy works in pretty much the same way.

[geohanson]

This was going to be my next step (and the way I set it up originally), it's just a pain trying to get every machine updated with a new config file every time I need to change something.

Our exams team often timetable exams in completely random rooms, so we deploy EWP to every PC now (about 500...)

I could set it up to work on a heartbeat checkin in PDQ so it deploys the config file when the PC comes online, it just looked like the new MSI command would solve all issues!

 

I've emailed EWP support so we'll see if they have a solution for why that doesn't work, if not, then I'll go back to deploying to each PC with PDQ.

[thimon]

Just re reading your post. What’s your environment? If Group Policy, you can deploy the config file from a network share via GPO, set it to replace, so anytime you change the config file on the network share, it will quickly be updated on the computer. We haven’t moved over to InTune yet, so I’m not familiar with its file replacement process.

[ovenchips]

Seconding the GPO method, we ended up biting the bullet and purchasing the new version recently, and just dumping the config in netlogon and setting an update GPO for the settings file has worked perfectly across our computer rooms & exam laptops.

 

On a side note, the call with the texthelp reps was amusing - discussing the product and pricing, they asked if we were interested in the new voice to text feature - I said yes only for them to then tell me they'd removed it and that we'd need to purchase Read & Write on the side to get it back - so we're paying double the price for less features? What a sell!

[Olliedawg]

We're still running the last free version of ExamWritePad, in conjunction with Read&Write for additional features. Works well for us.

[BarraHeist]

Hey

Looking for some advice

I have th software setup to auto save to a network drive which is fine but if a kid is doing two papers and they go through the process of clicking New, Use Credentials, Modify then maybe change the paper number from 1 to 2

The new session doesnt seem to always save to the same location and defaults to the C drive which causes issues

Any suggestions on why this might happen?

Thank you

[ass17]

Hey

Looking for some advice

I have th software setup to auto save to a network drive which is fine but if a kid is doing two papers and they go through the process of clicking New, Use Credentials, Modify then maybe change the paper number from 1 to 2

The new session doesnt seem to always save to the same location and defaults to the C drive which causes issues

Any suggestions on why this might happen?

Thank you

 

Turning on the debug log file will give you an insight into why the save path changes.

https://support.texthelp.com/help/how-do-i-generate-a-debug-log-file

[Fawthrop]

We're still running the last free version of ExamWritePad, in conjunction with Read&Write for additional features. Works well for us.

 

 

Could you possibly DM me a link to this? We're looking into it but would love to give the exam's team a chance to play with the software before they book a meeting with TextHelp

[CHiLL]

We're still running the last free version of ExamWritePad, in conjunction with Read&Write for additional features. Works well for us.

 

Could you possibly DM me a link to this? We're looking into it but would love to give the exam's team a chance to play with the software before they book a meeting with TextHelp

If you are willing to share this, would I be able to get a DM too? We're running a version from 2022 and it's been good so far, but would like the latest free available if possible.

[Warwick_Tech]

We are running 23.2.4.2338 without issue, I think this is the latest (?)

[StephenPink]

So...late to the game, and now trying to push this out in a bit of a rush! Few questions;

- anyone willing to share a GPO for the whole setup of user/computer running EWP?

- I've tried to push custom json settings during the install, but it doesn't seem to work? that's the msiexec with SETTINGSFILE switch - they're just not applied. Have I misunderstood?

 

Any other tips/tricks to get this up and running quickly would be much appreciated! Please PM if easier.

 

Thank you

[Olliedawg]

So...late to the game, and now trying to push this out in a bit of a rush! Few questions;

- anyone willing to share a GPO for the whole setup of user/computer running EWP?

- I've tried to push custom json settings during the install, but it doesn't seem to work? that's the msiexec with SETTINGSFILE switch - they're just not applied. Have I misunderstood?

 

Any other tips/tricks to get this up and running quickly would be much appreciated! Please PM if easier.

 

Thank you

 

This is what i do in a nutshell, has worked well for the past 2 years.

 

 

• On a test machine, install EWP & use the config editor GUI.exe to adjust settings as required.
  
• Deploy EWP to required machines
  
• Deploy the "ExamWritePadSettings.json" file via GPO to the exam machines EWP directory " C:\Program Files\ExamWritePad ". I set this to run on every login of our exam user accounts to ensure any changes are always applied to the end user machines.
  

 

As for other GPO settings, i just set "run only specified applications" & set this to examwritepad.exe & any other required software. Access to settings etc all restricted.. the usual stuff.

[mhigg]

Does anyone know what the last free version number was before it went to a paid platform?