f4 Online Manual

1 User interface

1.1 Two working modes: transcription and analysis

At the top right you will find the toggle switch, which you can use to switch between analysis and transcription mode. Depending on the mode, different functions are available to you.

1.2 Three columns

f4 is divided into three columns:

  1. Left: the list of all texts. Here you can add new texts or have speech recognition automatically convert them into text.
  2. Center: The text area with comment field and playback bar. You can type and correct in transcription mode, code in analysis mode and view the material in different analysis views.
  3. Right: Here you will find text modules and automatic transcription functions in transcription mode. The code system is in analysis mode here.

Note: You can hide or show the right and left columns of f4. To do this, move the mouse to the right or left edge and click on the narrow bar that then appears.

1.3 Toolbar

There are 9 symbols with the following functions:

  1. Options menu: Software settings, backup copies and hotkeys can be called up and changed via the menu icon.
  2. Project management: You can open an existing project or use the “Merge projects” option to merge a second project with the one already open.
  3. Save project: f4 saves all texts, codes and comments in a project file with the file extension .project (a backup copy is also created every 10 minutes).
  4. Export options: There are a variety of export options to Word, Excel, HTML
  5. Undo: All steps of the current session can be undone.
  6. Repeat: The last undone step can be carried out again.
  7. Show/hide memos globally: All memos in the texts can be shown or hidden with one click. When hidden, only a small memo symbol is visible to the right of the text; when shown, the entire memo content is displayed indented within the respective text.
  8. Search in current view: This opens a search option at the bottom of the screen. This helps you to search for terms in the current view. You can find a more comprehensive search across all texts and with automatic coding via the “Search” tab.
  9. Pinboard: Here you can pin comments and quotes like on a pinboard while working, e.g. frequently used code definitions, so that they are always visible on a second screen.