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This post is a follow-up to my previous post titled How to blog in your mother tongue. Since that time, a number of advancements have been made in this field. Typing in your own mother tongue has become even easier. Literally hundreds of tools are now available on the Internet that enable us to communicate in our own language. Further, there are now tools that enable the use of Indic scripts directly on your websites by the visitors. Below are some of the most popular tools :

1. Google Indic Transliteration :
   This is a transliteration tool from the search engine giant Google. Since the day this tool was released, Google has enable support for Indian languages across most of its web properties like Gmail and Blogger enabling users to type emails and blog posts in Indian Languages.Further, if you head over to the homepage of Google Indic Transliteration, Google gives you an easy tool to type in Hindi and other popular languages. You type what you want in English and it gets converted to Hindi. You are also given suitable suggestions. You are also provided an option of adding a Bookmarklet to your browser that will enable the user to type in Indian languages on any website!
2. Lipikaar :
   Next in line is Lipikaar. This is an extremely robust tool that supports over 17 languages! Lipikaar is like the Swiss Army Knife of transliteration tools and comes in three different avatars. The first is the Lipikaar Desktop Software which is available for all flavours of Microsoft Windows. It allows for the usage of Indic scripts offline in all programs, such as Office, on your PC. The second is the Lipikaar FireFox Extension. Since, it is a FireFox add-on, it is cross-platform and can be used on Windows, Linux, OSX etc. and whichever operating system that supports FireFox. It is enabled from within FireFox and allows the user to type in the language of their choice on the websites that they visit. This is probably the easiest way to get started! The last is the Lipikaar Website Enabler. It makes your website / blog transliteration enabled. Your users may interact with you and others on your website in Indian languages.
3. Quillpad :
   Quillpad is a free, famous online Hindi typing tool. Apart from Hindi, it supports 9 other Indian languages. It also offers a Free API that enables the use of Quillpad on your websites. Whatever you type is converted automatically to Devanagari etc.
4. Webdunia Editor :
   The Webdunia Editor is another robust online tool that not only allows for easy typing in Hindi but also converts what you write in English to the best possible match in Hindi while giving you suggestions along with that.
5. HindiKalam :
   HindiKalam is another web-based Hindi editor. What you type in Hindi using the English alphabets is automatically converted to Devanagari. It is similar to some of the previously mentioned tools.
6. Hinkhoj :
   Hinkhoj is basically a Hindi language search engine. But similar to Quillpad and Lipikaar, it provides for an API that allows developers to enable Indian Language content on their websites.

   SOFTWARE SPECIFIC TOOLS
   

7. tinyMCE :
   TinyMCE is a platform independent web based Javascript HTML WYSIWYG editor control. This editor is used in a variety of software applications. An Indic plugin, akIndicPlugin has been created by Amit Kumar Singh which will enable the use on Indian languages in tinyMCE. There is another plugin by Vishal Monpara.
8. FCKEditor :
   Vishal Monpara has an Indian languages plugin for the widely used FCKEditor.
9. Drupal :
   Abhishek Nagar lists some excellent methods on his website for integrating Indic scripts within your Drupal installation. Check here and here. Gamabhana, is a set of tools that enable the use of Indic Scripts with a variety of CMS’s as well as on its own. Modules for Drupal are available on the Gamabhana website. Here is another Indic Script module for use with your Drupal installation.
10. WordPress :
    The simplicity of WordPress allows developers to create plugins for the platform. If you wish to blog in your mother tongue, you may use any of the previously mentioned resources or one of the below mentioned plugins. The Indic plugin is based on Gamabhana. MonuSoft also provides for a set of plugins to be used with WordPress enabling the use of WordPress in 8 different languages. Vishal Monpara also has an Indic IME plugin for WordPress on his website. WPGoogleLangTransliteration is a WordPress plugin based on Google Indic Transliteration.
11. Joomla :
    Amit Kumar Singh, the author of the previously mentioned akIndicPlugin has written a guide for the integration of his plugin with Joomla.

This is not the definitive guide to writing in Indic languages such as Hindi etc. A quick search on Google yields hundreds and hundreds of results. Use this guide that I’ve prepared as a reference but do a quick research yourself as well. The above list should enable you to type in Indian Languages on your computer. Now, freely type, post, chat, blog and communicate in your mother tongue!! The list of uses is infinite.

1. How to blog in your mother tongue : The answer is Unicode. I’ll leave you with two links which will help you setup your computer two browse and write in Hindi Why can’t I see the Hindi section? Cannot see Hindi Apna Blog Information Regrading Gurmukhi Unicode Fonts – Use some comon sense and the same information will help you with any language. Go through these pages and...
2. Facebook headed for Indian shores! : Yesterday, I voiced my concern regarding the website facebook.in which appeared a little suspicious to me. I contacted the folks over at Facebook and got a response from them today. Here’s what they had to say : Hi Rahul, We appreciate your concern. “http://www.facebook.in” is a secure Facebook login page. Please let us know if you have [...]...
3. Migrate/move your WordPress blog to a new domain/server : Well since I just finished migrating this blog over to this new domain, I thought I’d just describe how I actually did it. Firstly, login to your existing blog, Goto Settings, Permalinks and activate the default permalink structure. I recommend doing this because I’ve been locked out a dozen times while updating my blog [...]...
4. Defeating the block : I think most of you know about the Indian Govt.’s blog block. Blogspot, Typepad and Geocities have been totally blocked. Even I have been affected because the original Uthfull is hosted on Geocities. OK… I don’t visit or update that site anymore but still I don’t want it to be blocked because of the Indian Govt.’s [...]...
5. Free SMS to Indian Operators : Here’s something I recently came across… and it actually works!! Yes, you can send free SMS messages to Indian phones. And its not an Indian website!! Send it via a web browser, install the software on your PC or use it on your JAVA enabled mobile phone. Saves money!! The only catch – [...]...