What's new in TaskMagic3 ?

16 item limit removed for match exercises
In previous versions of TaskMagic, the user has always been limited to 16 matching items for the match exercises. Sometimes this meant artificially shortening a list of matching items to make it fit within these limits. In TaskMagic3 the limit is removed, and you can now make exercises with up to 10,000 matching items! (Not that we expect many people to get anywhere near this limit...). So you can work on a much longer list of vocabulary within the same file.

Match exercises with fewer items fill the screen
With previous versions of TaskMagic, a file with 6 items filled about 1/3 of the screen in many of the match games, and sometimes the teacher felt the need to add extra items to fill up the exercise. In TaskMagic3 texts resize etc so that exercises with only 5 or 6 items look as good on the screen as those with 16 items. This makes TaskMagic much more useable with a younger audience, where fewer items are to be practised at a time. The same applies to Mix and Gap, Dialogues and Multi-Choice files.

Control over the number of items that appear on the screen
You can increase / decrease the number of items on the screen for many matching exercises. So for example, if you have a text match file with longer pieces of text, you can reduce the number of items on the screen so that the text size increases. Or if you want to make the exercise eaiser for a younger or less able class, you can reduce the number of items on the screen. Similarly, if you have a file with a lot of matching items, you can reduce the number of items to be used in the exercises.

Exercises available with fewer matching items
Exercises which previously only worked with high number of items, now work with far fewer. (e.g. Football, Tower Block, 3 in a Row)

Teacher control over available games and exercises
You can now decide which games will be available to students when you create your exercise. So if you want students to avoid a particular game, simply uncheck the check box to make it unavailable. (This is in addition to the facility to create individual game files.)

New, more easily transportable file formats
Files save as binary rather than text files. Images and sounds are embedded in the file rather than being kept in a separate folder. This makes it much easier to use all TaskMagic files over an internet connection, over a VLE etc, whatever the user’s browser. Files can also be transported, emailed etc without zipping, and you don't have to remember to always copy extra 'pics' or 'sounds' folders along with your exercise file.

Multiple line texts in Mix and Gap
Mix and Gap now accepts texts on multiple lines (e.g. separate paragraphs, lists, poetry, songs. etc). So it’s now easy to type in a poem or song and include a sound file so that students can listen to complete the exercises. Or texts with titles, or letters, postcards, etc.

Export as Mix and Gap file
Lists of Text Match items and Dialogue files can now be exported and saved as Mix and Gap files.

New quick input function in Text Match
The quick input function previously made available as the free Multiple TextMatch Maker download has now been incorporated into Text Match. This makes it really easy to import whole vocab lists from word docs / web pages. So you can create a 1000 entry Text Match file in a matter of minutes.

New game - Jump
Jump - a multi-layer multiple choice jumping game, available initially in Text Match and Picture Match (to be added to other exercise groups later along with other free updates). Jump is a one in four multiple choice activity with 5 levels.

All screens can be minimized
Unlike previous versions of TaskMagic, TaskMagic3 allows you to minimize any of the game or editor screens.

All screens can be resized without restarting the game.
In previous versions of TaskMagic, resizing the screen meant starting the game or activity again from the beginning. In Taskmagic3, you can switch between compact view (800x600) or full screen at any time without affecting the game or exercise you are on.

All screens centre horizontally when in full screen mode
TaskMagic1 did not have a full screen mode. TaskMagic2 aligned to the left in full screen mode, which did not look good on wide screens, laptop screens etc with anyhting other than a 4:3 screen ratio. TaskMagic3 aligns to the centre in full screen mode, which just looks a lot nicer...

Improvements to data input, ease of use etc.
Data can now be input anywhere on the edit screens. Any blank boxes etc are ignored. This makes it possible to create part exercises, save exercises with incomplete texts / images / sounds etc. This resolves the problem that used to exist in TaskMagic2, where if you started to make a Picture Match file, for example, and wanted to save the file after putting in the text (before inserting images), you could not save the file.

Improved exercise front pages
When a student opens a file in TaskMagic Play, only the available exercise thumbnails are shown, and these resize to fill the available space. So a file with only a few exercises available looks just as good as one with all exercises available. The teacher can preview this using the Preview button in TaskMagic Create.

Text preview option on front pages for Dialogues / Mix and Gap
The user can click a button to see the full text / dialogue etc in a scrolling text box which covers the available exercise thumbnails. Another click reduces the size of the text box and makes the exercise thumbnails visible again. This makes it much easier to share the whole text or dialogue with a class using the interactive whiteboard.

Improved text resizing on exercise screens
Where possible text now centres vertically within text boxes. Also, where appropriate, longer text items will run onto multiple lines, especially if the number of matching items is reduced.

Improved dragging and dropping
Most exercises involving dragging and dropping have been improved so that the text box itself moves across the screen, rather than a box outline. In TaskMagic2 there were issues with a delay / time lag moving this outline in Vista (when running aero) and in Windows7.

Worksheet improvements
Improvements to worksheet printing, including:
Optional worksheet headers, allowing you to include your own title, or a space for students to write their name / class / the date etc.
Choice of no. of matching items to print. You can specify how many of the matching items in the file you want to include in your worksheet.
Print dialogue box - allows you to select from available printers.
Choice of no. of dominoes / pelmanism cards per page, so that you can increase / decrease the size of the cards
Solution printout for snake worksheets.
Improved resizing of texts and images to fit the available space, so that worksheets with few items still fill the page.

Improvements to functionality of many screens.
The way many of the games and exercises work has been improved. e.g. Gap Dialogue; Show pairs function on Pelmanism – hold mouse down to see the matching item; Jumbled words shows partially correct answers; Mix & Gap gap-fill reformatted to allow gapped text to scroll; Speed control for True or False. etc. etc.

Find it! exercise no longer limited to 16 items.
The 16 item limit in TaskMagic2 was linked to the 16 item limit for Text Match files. This limit has now been removed.

Improvements to visuals, images etc on many screens.

Compatible with Windows 7

TaskMagic3 file converter
It's quick and easy to convert TaskMagic1 and 2 files to TaskMagic3 files. When you click on a folder containing TM1 or TM2 files (without TM3 equivalents) in the TaskMagic file viewer, a button appears which allows you to create a copy of all the TM1 and TM2 files in the new TM3 format.

Multiple-word gaps in Mix & Gap: Gap-Fill (new in version 3.0.9)
Now you can connect up to 3 gapped words together as one gap. Particularly useful for verb forms etc. where gaps can now be eg. [vais] or [suis allé] or [me suis levé]. (Applies to interactive exercises and worksheets.)

Try TaskMagic3 for 30 days FREE.

Current Version 3.0.9
Click here to download the latest TaskMagic3 exe files as a zip file.
You can use these in a couple of ways:
(i) Replace the existing files on your server (or computers) with the exe files in the zip file.
(ii) Copy the MSI folder from the TaskMagic3 installation CD to your computer. Replace the exe files in the \program files\TaskMagic3\ directory in the MSI folder with the new exe files from the zip. Install TaskMagic3 using the modified MSI. If you already have TaskMagic3 installed, you should uninstall / remove it and then re-install it.
Please contact us if you have any questions regarding the update.

TaskMagic2 Update History

2.1.6 - September 2009
Fixes for the following issues:
• Attempting to save the associated Text Match file from the Find It! screen in Dialogues and Mix&Gap generates a runtime error and causes the program to close.
• File name limit in the Rename option of TaskMagic File Viewer too low (was 30 characters, now increased to 50).

2.1.5 - September 2009
TaskMagic2 made compatible with Internet Explorer 8 for downloading files with images / sounds attached over the internet.
Fixes for the following issues:
• Problem with text/screen resizing in Mix Single.
• Clicking Help button in Next Letter 1 and Next Letter 2 generates an error and causes the program to close.
• Save errors in Grid Match.

2.1.3 - February 2009
Minor adjustments and improvements.

2.1.2 - December 2008
New Browse facility in TaskMagicCreate: On the TaskMagicCreate front page there is a new button which launches a TaskMagic file browser. You can quickly see the contents of all of your TaskMagic files, print a copy of the contents for your records, rename files, or open the file directly so that you can edit it or try out the games and exercises.
New Blank Grid Worksheet in Grid Match: Print out a blank grid with row and column headers, and use it for listening, reading, writing, battleships, 3 in a row etc.
Grid Match answers are no longer case-sensitive, so missing an initial capital letter no longer scores as an incorrect answer.
New Right/Wrong Answer Feature in Flashcards: For those occasions when students are reviewing the vocabulary in order to test themselves, there are now 'right answer' and 'wrong answer' buttons. Students look at the first half of the pair, see if they know the answer, then click the next button. If they got the answer right they click on the tick button, and if they got it wrong they click on the cross button. Wrong answers are repeated again at the end of the sequence.
Space Bar / Return Key to move on in Flashcards so that you don't have to click on the button.
Accent screen stays on top once you've opened it, so you don't have to click the Accents button each time you want to add an accent.
Resolution of the following issues in the previous version:
• Pelmanism & Dominoes worksheets printed on two pages on some printers.
• Drag & Match exercise not available in Text Match files with sound attached.
• Screen resizing / display problems on notebook computers with 1024x600 screen resolution.
• Text items not visible on Grid Match front page after resizing.

2.1.1 - October 2008
New exercise type in Mix & Gap and Dialogues: Find it! - allows the teacher to select pieces of text from the original text to use as the basis for a "Find the French for.." exercise (or Spanish, German, Italian or whatever!). Or you could ask questions about the text, as long as the answer can be lifted directly from the text.
New Find it! worksheet in Mix&Gap and Dialogues.
If you create a Find it! exercise, you can click on a link to automatically create a Text Match exercise based on your prompts and selected text items. This means that if you are working on a text and you want to practise vocab from a text, you can do it all at the same time. You type or paste in your text in Mix&Gap, the program creates up to 18 exercises based on the text including the Find it! exercise. You click the Tools button to create the Text Match file and you have access to up to 21 more exercises practising the vocab you have selected from the text.
New Dominoes worksheet in Text Match, Picture Match and Grid Match.
Mix&Gap will now accept texts of over 250 words (there is a limit of 500, but the text can get pretty small with some of the exercise types if you go as high as 500 words).
Quick Input option in TextMatch and Dialogues in TaskMagicCreate, making it easier to type or paste in a whole list of vocab or a whole dialogue.
New voice record / playback facility for some exercises with sound. This can be found on the TMPlay front pages for Sound Match, Pic-Sound, Mix&Gap (when there's a sound file), Dialogues (when there's a sound file), Multi-Choice (when there's a sound file), and also on the Flashcards page in Sound Match and Pic-Sound. You can hold down the rec button to record to the computer, release to stop recording, and click the play button to play back the sound you have recorded. This allows you to listen to a sound file, record your own voice and compare your recorded version with the original. The sound level depends on the audio settings on your computer.
In Mix&Gap Gap-fill, you can now opt not to make the list of missing words available. Particularly useful if you've included a sound file.

2.0.1 - September 2007
Improved screen resizing.
Improved text formatting for worksheets.
Resolution of the following incompatibility issues relating to Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Vista:
• Space character was not visible for some gap-filling exercises.
• Problems with sound playback.
• Problems recording the length of sound files.
• Problems opening files directly by double-clicking or by hyperlink.
• Problems opening files with pictures and sounds attached over an internet connection.

2.0.0 - January 2007 (launch of TaskMagic2)
6 new screens in Text Match: Flashcards; Hangman; Doors; Snake; Invaders II; Maze II
7 new screens in Picture Match: Flashcards; Hangman; Doors; Snake; Invaders II; Maze II; Pic Reveal
6 new screens in Sound Match: Flashcards; Hangman; Doors; Snake; Invaders II; Maze II
5 new screens in Pic-Sound: Maze; Invaders; Spin; Flashcards; Doors
5 new screens in Mix & Gap: Click & Fill; Word Guess; Anagrams; Snake; Invaders II
4 new screens in Dialogues: Space; Click & Fill; Word Guess; Anagrams
New exercise group called Grid Match: this allows teachers to create games and exercises based on information typed into a grid - ideal for verb conjugation.
All game screens now automatically fill the screen at any resolution (with a minimum of 800x600), whereas previous versions only displayed 800x600 pixels. This makes TaskMagic2 much more useable with an interactive whiteboard.
More user-friendly tools in the editing screens for the match exercises, meaning that items can now be moved around, deleted, columns switched etc with ease.
Data Import: On the edit screens for match exercises it is now possible to import data, so that, for example, a group of pictures used for a particular pic-match exercise can be imported easily to a pic-sound exercise. Likewise with soundfiles and text items.
Individual game files: As well as saving the main TaskMagic file for a particular exercise, within most exercise groups it is now possible to save individual game files. Teachers / webmasters can then create links to individual games rather than to the exercise front page.
Files open over internet: It is now possible to save htm files for TaskMagic exercises containing images or sounds, so that these can be opened directly over an internet connection. So you are no longer limited to making text-only files available to download.

If you have a version of TaskMagic2 which is older than 2.1.6 and you would like to update to the last version of TaskMagic2, please read the instructions below.

Download TM2Update.zip

• Once this is downloaded, unzip it. This will unpack the 2 files: TaskMagicCreate.exe and TaskMagicPlay.exe
• Copy these files and paste them into your TaskMagic2 directory, replacing the existing versions. The TaskMagic2 directory should be C:\Program Files\TaskMagic2\

If you would prefer to be sent a new licensed TaskMagic2 CD, we will be happy to provide one at a cost of £30 + VAT. Simply email us your school details, or send a school order requesting a replacement TaskMagic2 CD.

If you have a version of TaskMagic1 issued before June 2005 and you would like to update to the last version of TaskMagic1, please read the instructions below.

Download TMUpdate.zip

• Once this is downloaded, unzip it. This will unpack the 2 files: TaskMagicCreate.exe and TaskMagicPlay.exe
• Copy these files and paste them into your TaskMagic directory, replacing the existing versions. The TaskMagic directory should be C:\Program Files\TaskMagic\

If you would prefer to be sent a new licensed TaskMagic1 CD, we will be happy to provide one at a cost of £30 + VAT. Simply email us your school details, or send a school order requesting a replacement TaskMagic1 CD.