Mike’s Doc Blog

It comes as no surprise to UOP students that weekly papers make up much of the course content and assessment tools. It has gotten to the point where I can write about 1000-1500 words in only a few hours provided my thoughts are clear, resources handy, and tools working the right way.

When I switched to my MacBook for school and personal work, leaving behind my PC for just the paying job, I was hesitant about leaving my favorite writing tool, PERRLA, behind. The PERRLA team just did not have a Mac application ready yet and they’ve been great about coming by the Doc Blog and ommenting about the lack of Mac software and the intention of getting the Mac users into the fold with PERRLA.

Alas, progress waits for no one and I needed to find a new tool, StyleEase. I even wrote:

At first glance. StyleEase has PERRLA beat in terms of formatting options and a database option.

That was first glance and 2 full classes ago. Now that I have written a host papers with StyleEase and even updated my PERRLA program on my PC for comparison’s sake, I am ready to declare a winner. PERRLA is the clear winner. StyleEase is a loser.

PERRLA did all the things, save have a Mac version and Zotero interface, that I wanted to see:

• More reference/citation formatting options
• Stick with your interface

What prompted this post? Well, I was writing my paper using my MacBook and StyleEase and I simply was getting frustrated with the tool. I can’t copy and paste anything into the StyleEase tool. This means I need to retype article titles and this leads to spelling errors and delays in completing the projects. StyleEase has so many options it is confusing to decide which is needed. Within each citation/reference generator there are suboptions that are either mandatory, optional, really optional, or rare exceptions. So I go merry along typing, formatting, and generating the citations and references I need completely frustrated with the time and tasks required until finally an error sent me for a loop. It is an error that comes up often when I can’t go back through the generation process and it kicks me out of the program and I need to restart MS Word to get it back.

I’ll be upfront here. I don’t have the time to continue monkeying with this software when I need to concentrate and get my papers out weekly or otherwise. Further, I am trying to write my dissertation using the software and getting to the point where I am behind thanks to the constant repeating steps, lack of clean user options, and complex system involved with StyleEase. Summing up…StyleEase is a loser.

What happened next? I fired up my work laptop and PERRLA and wrote my paper in only a few hours. PERRLA made it a snap and I didn’t need to worry about the program’s ineffective techniques, tools, or errors. It reminded me of why I chose the program in the beginning.

I don’t like using my work laptop for school or personal work, especially writing. Everything I have is stored on my MacBook. Alas, I can’t even think to use StyleEase unless they make some improvements. Of course if PERRLA sends me an advance copy of the Mac version to play with, I will be happy to give it an honest review her at the Doc Blog.

So, to StyleEase, I say this: fix your program and make it work for serious writers who don’t have time to fuss with your numerous trinkets and processes.

To PERRLA, I say this: please hurry, I’m still a huge fan, I just want to use my two favorite things, my Mac and my PERRLA.

To anyone considering an APA formatting tool: choose PERRLA over StyleEase.

Image Source: PERRLA (I hope you don’t mind)

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