Plover software
This page is about the software. For the stenographic theory, see Plover theory.
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Plover is an open-source stenography engine that receives steno chords from an input device and translates them into English based on dictionaries and orthography rules.
Plover is a cross-platform desktop application written in Python and is currently supported on Windows, MacOS, and Linux.
Plover is not considered a CAT (computer-aided transcription) software, as compared to other stenography software such as CaseCAT, Eclipse, and more, since it does not feature a transcript formatter and editor. However, the plugin plover2CAT does supply some CAT features.
History
- See also: Open Steno Project timeline
Plover began development in 2009 and has had many contributors over the years. As of May 2025, Plover has released up to v4.0.1.
Notable contributors
- Joshua Lifton
- Hesky Fisher
- Mike Neale
- Thea Morin
Installation
- Main article: Installation guide
Stable releases and installers can be downloaded from the Plover GitHub repository. The Installation guide provides tutorials on how to install Plover per operating system.
Default Features
- Main article: Built-in tools
Plover ships with many default tools such as a dictionary editor, lookup, paper tape, and more.
Dictionary Format
- Main article: Dictionary format
Plover reads dictionary files in .json format. With the plugin plover-python-dictionary, Plover also supports programmatic dictionaries in .py format.