Automattic Open Sources Natural Language Spell-Checker After the Deadline
Matt Mullenweg has just annouced on his blog that WordPress parent company Automattic is open sourcing After the Deadline, a natural-language spell-checking plugin for WordPress and TinyMCE that was only recently ushered into the Automattic fold.
Scarcely seven weeks after its acquisition was announced, After the Deadline's core technology is being released under the GPL. Moreover, writes Mullenweg, "There's also a new jQuery API that makes it easy to integrate with any text area."
AtD founder, former military researcher, and Y-Combinator reject Rafael Mudge noted at the acquisition that he intended to continue his natural language processing research and expand support to other languages. He wrote, "We hope to see others build on the service... We're planning to open source the After the Deadline engine and the rule-sets that go with it. This will be the most comprehensive proofreading suite available under an open source license."
The related API is the same one that powers a plugin from another Automattic property, Intense Debate. Mudge told Ostatic, "I'd like to see AtD spread as far and wide as possible. I'm an inventor first and have this desire to see my inventions help people."
Interested parties can check out this demo or read the tech overview and grab the source code here.
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> "will open source After the Deadline"
The code is available for download now!
I know, I linked to it myself... Thanks for catching my mistake, Lloyd! =)
After the Deadline seems to be a good idea for CMS providers, but since at least Chrome and Firefox have in-built spell checkers, is there a big market or a need for such a service?
I think that there is room for a service like AtD, because it is more than a spell checker. It is also a grammar and style checker with explanations. The application is installed on WordPress.com and evolves with use. It can definitely make most people better writers - at least it helps me.
@Simon I'm the developer behind AtD. When I started work on it, I heard your question many times. I don't see AtD as just a spell checker.
It checks spelling, it does it better, but I learned long ago that most people consider this a solved problem. AtD looks at context which gives it a big advantage when deciding which word is the right one to present to you.
When describing AtD I describe it in terms of the other features. It checks grammar, style, and misused words. I see AtD as a technology that can help CMS and web applications close the gap with the word processor. This is useful even though the browser has built-in checking. I wouldn't expect the browser spellcheck to be good enough to help Google Docs or Zoho replace Microsoft Office in this area.
Of course there is the argument: "this belongs in the browser... do it now!!!" AtD gets the results it gets because it works with context and keeps so much in memory at once. As a software service this isn't a problem. I don't think a client application can spare 4GB of memory for better writing tools. This is the reason AtD is SaaS and not a client-side addon.