WinTD allows you to customize various aspects of the program's appearance and operation. You can save your settings in special files called "preference sets" for later use. For instance, you can create preference sets for different types of tournaments that you direct, such as scholastic tournaments which may need extra information (team ID's, prize groups) that could be skipped in an open tournament.
Preference sets preserve the following information:
- The current settings of the Preferences dialog box.
- The styles available in the Change Layout dialog boxes for Player, Games and Team windows.
- The current USCF (see USCF database) and FIDE directories.
- The default directory for user data (i.e. for tournament files, master player files, etc.)
- Tie break order (see Edit Tournament Info).
- Current weighting values for board-weighted tournaments (see Edit Tournament Info).
- The current font settings (typeface and size).
Working with Preference Sets
When you start the program, WinTD automatically loads a set of preferences from a "preference file". When you first install the program, WinTD will load the preferences stored on a file called WINTD.PRF.
You can use the Manage Preference Sets... operation (on the File menu under Windows or the WinTDOSX menu on the Mac) to load preferences from a different file, to change the settings stored on a preference file, or to tell WinTD to use a different file as the default preference set. You can also use the Manage Preference Sets... dialog box to access the Preferences dialog box, as well as the Change Layout dialog boxes for Player, Game, and Team windows
We recommend that you use the extension .PRF for preference set files.
Loading Preference Sets
To load a preference set from disk, choose Manage Preference Sets..., click on the "Get From File..." button, and select the preference file you want to open. The various program settings will immediately change to reflect those saved in the file. Note, however, that the changes may not be immediately obvious. For example, loading a preference set will not change the appearance of any open Player windows and Master Player windows. It will simply define a new set of styles which will be available when you use the Change Layout Dialog Box.
Saving Preference Sets
To save your current settings to a Preference file, choose Manage Preference Sets... and click on the "Save To File..." button. You can save your settings to an existing file (replacing the old contents of that file), or to a new file.
Default Start Up Settings
As noted above, WinTD will automatically loads a preference file each time you start the program. By default, WinTD loads the file WINTD.PRF, which is shipped with the program.
If you want to change the default settings that are loaded, you can either:
- Change the desired preferences, and then use the "Save to File..." button to replace the contents of WINTD.PRF file with the new settings, or
- Tell WinTD to use a different preference file as the default. To do this, open the desired preference file using the "Get From File..." button (or save your current preferences to a new or existing file using the "Save To File..."). Then, click the "Make This Default Set" button. This tells WinTD to use the currently loaded preference file as the default file the next time you start the program.