Simplifying Audacity

This page is intended for teachers and people who want to create an easier version of Audacity for other people to use.

The Problem

Audacity has many features, but it can be intimidating for new users. We've had many requests for a simplifed version of Audacity that is easier to use. One problem is that different people have different ideas of what is 'simple'.

A second problem is that many settings are most useful when getting Audacity set up - settings for recording and playback, to get the MP3 library installed, settings for latency, quality and directories. These settings need to be available during setting Audacity up. They are probably best hidden from users who want to use an already set up version of Audacity.

The Solution

Audacity already contains a flexible system for changing the text in Audacity. This is used for translating Audacity into different languages. When you select a different langauge in the Interface Preferences Audacity will use text from the file you specify in place of the text that it has built in. The language files end with the suffix '.mo'.

• We have added a small addition to this feature. If the translation of an item in a menu starts with an '!', Audacity will leave that menu item out when using that language. This allows us to radically cut down the menu.

We've created a 'langauge file' which reduces the menus in a way which we think is helpful.

Currently we only have a simplifed 'langauge file' for English. We may release simplified language files in other languages, if there is demand for them.

We'll explain where to get this language file from here

We suggest:

• You set up Audacity normally and confirm that recording, playback and MP3 exporting work fine. The default Audio rate is 44100. You may want to set a lower audio rate if the quality is not that important.
• You can hide the Mixer Toolbar now, using the View Menu.
• Select the Multi-Tool as the tool mode to be used.
• You can now hide the Tools Toolbar.
• If you want to hide the Transcription Toolbar and the Selection Toolbar you can do so too.
• Now go into the Interface Preferences and select 'Simplified' as the language. When you exit the preferences dialog, you should find that the menus have been 'locked down'.

If you look in the View Menu you will see that there is a new item, 'Simplified' and that it has a check mark beside it.

Many of the options in the menus will have gone. One of these is the 'Preferences' menu item at the foot of the Edit Menu. If you need to access preferences you can enable the full mode of Audacity again by unchecking 'Simplifed' in the View Menu, make the changes and then click 'Simplifed' again.

In simplified mode the option to show or hide toolbars is removed from the menus, which is why we suggest you choose which toolbars to show before enabling the Simplified interface.

If you use this feature and find it is not helpful to you and want to remove it entirely, you can switch back to english as the language, or remove the special language file, and you will be back to using Audacity normally

Advanced

This is for people who have already got the existing 'Simplified' language file and the steps above working, and now want to go further.

• You may want to remove some keyboard shortcuts such as CTRL-P which give a direct way to get to the Preferences without unchecking the 'Simplified' option. You can do this when the preferences are still available.
• If you want to customise what menu items are made available and what items are not, it is quite a lot more complex. If you ask on the Audacity forum, there may be someone willing to create a custom 'simplified' language file for you.
• If you want to create a new 'simplifed' language file yourself, it's best to get in touch with the Audacity developer list [email protected] This is a new feature, and customising it is not yet as easy as we would like it to be. People who have used the tools for translating Audacity will be familiar with the steps:
  • Get hold of poEdit, a tool for editing language files.
  • Get hold of the .po file for your version of Audacity.
  • Load the .po file into Audacity.
  • Add '!' marks beside the translations of menu items you want to hide.
  • Important: If you want to be able to switch simplified mode on and off from the menus, then the translation of '!Simplified Interface' must NOT start with an '!'.
  • Save the translation file as a .mo file. poEdit will warn you that some strings are not translated, but that is not a problem. You can still use the .mo file.