It is not the aim or intention of this program to teach typing on a typewriter. Therefore, returns are only used to mark the ends of paragraphs as all computer automatically wrap type from line to line. To use returns for every line on a computer is to constrain your ability to easily format your text later. The delete key is allowed and even encouraged to some extent. Although it is optionional to disallow it in the Preferences and User options
Master Key does not constrain your learning to a linear path. Enough statistics are given to allow you to make choices as to what you need to work on and you make the initiative to set the goals and take the drills you think will benefit you.
That said, there are Drills which start with the very basic keys and introduce new keys incrementally in both the Learning QWERTY and Learning Dvorak Units. A beginner will want to start with the first numbered Drill in one of these Units and progress through the Drills by number. Not all Drills are available before Master Key is registered and the registration code is entered. See 11. Master Key is Shareware for more details.
Master Key also allows for any plain text file to be used as a Drill. Just save the file as a plain text file from any word processor or SimpleText and drop it in the Drills folder or one of the Unit folders in the Drill folder. You may also create your own Unit folders in the Drill folder to keep your own drills separate from those that ship with Master Key. Larger text files will bring up a window for you to choose a page of that document to use as a drill.
Achieving Mastery for a Drill
Mastery is the goal for which you set the speed goal and Master Key asks you to accomplish a 98% accuracy and 5% or less error rate for 10 minutes. It is primarily a goal set by the user for which the user can choose to utilize or not. It may not be helpful or necessary for all users to accomplish Mastery on every Drill they take.
In order to achieve Mastery for a particular Drill you must accumulate 10 Mastery Minutes. In order to receive Mastery Minutes, you must fulfill four qualifiers for that number of minutes on the same drill.
1. You must match or exceed your speed goal set in the Main Window
2. You must match or exceed 98% accuracy. Accuracy in Master Key is defined as the final resultant accuracy of your text after corrections.
3. You must stay under or meet a 5% error rate
4. You must accomplish the above three inside of 20 minutes on that named drill
The Mastery pane tells exactly what is needed to accomplish Mastery as you progress.
There are different sounds for when you achieve Mastery Minutes or Mastery of a drill. The blue text at the bottom of the History Window will tell you in addition to the Mastery pane in the History window.
Once Mastery is achieved, the Print Certificate… button will become active and a certificate can be printed. This button will always be dimmed prior to Mastery of a Drill.