The Basics: Fast Navigating in Kepler & Sirius

Every program has one or two things you need to know. For example, a word processing program may seem simple but you do need to know that you type in stuff, change fonts, save your file, etc. and when home computers first became available, it was a big deal for many people to learn these basics. So here are some basics about Kepler and Sirius that we have found some people don't notice right away:

1. Color Coded icons: Use the green icons to make new charts (natal, progressed, returns, etc.). Use the yellow icons to save to send the report somewhere: Save to File, Print, or E-mail. There is also a yellow icon to resize the window. Use the green icons for reports, i.e. all of the information, interprtations, etc. and the purple icons for other stuff like interactive features, Help, settings, etc.

2. Chart entries: All the charts you select are listed in the upper right corner. The current chart you are looking at is also given above this list. Suppose you have a few natal charts and progressed charts. You can jump to any chart with one mouse click. Fast and easy!

3. As you select reports (listings, interpretations, AstroMaps, etc.) Kepler and Sirius "remember" this and list them in the lower right corner of the screen. So you are thinking, "let's see I need to look at Sally's AstroMap again . . .". You click on Sally's name in the upper right corner, and then her AstroMap in the lower right corner and almost as fast as you can think it, you are looking at it! Super fast and easy! No hunting around . . . just move very quickly to the information you are working with.

4. Need to customize something or change the settings. Just RIGHT-CLICK anywhere on the report (wheel, listing, interpretation or whatever you are currently looking at). "RIGHT-CLICK" is the mantra to remember. In Windows the mouse right-click often shows your settings. For example, you are looking at a wheel and want to add Chiron. What to do? Remember the mantra: right-click. This brings up your settings. Now a skinny window is displayed on the right side. You can change wheel styles and you see it as you click - it is interactive! - how cool is that. Select the Customize button for more settings. There is a tab for planets. click Chiron and there it is in the wheel. Totally interactive, i.e. you see results as you do this. You can use these settings to pop things (like Chiron, etc.) in and out of the wheel. Select the "OK (Save)" button to save the changes or select the Cancel button if you were just looking at things temporarily and want to revert to the original settings.

With Kepler and Sirius you are not hunting and pecking all over the place, wandering around on the task bar at the bottom of the screen, or re-selecting most of the things you were just looking at. You work intuitively and easily. Don't forget the ability to right-click because it is much faster than going to the icons or pull-down menus at the top to make selections.

5. A little trick: select same printouts for this person: Suppose I am looking at Joe's chart and I am looking at his Vocation and Career map for a city he is thinking of moving to and it looks great. Now we need to check out if this place is good for his wife as well. Select the "Multi-Select" button in the lower right corner, select the "Select Current Printouts for Other Entries" menu item and check his wife's name and click OK. Now when you view the wife's chart (by clicking on her name in the upper right corner) she has the same reports selected as her husband! Click on the AstroMap report and now you see the same AstroMap for her. Now you are wondering if they will have friends in this area so you want to change to a different AstroMap. What to do now? Remember the mantra: right-click on the AstroMap for its settings change to Friendship and Family Map and click OK. Note that in Sirius 1.1 there is also a "Settings" button on the left side of the AstroMap which you can also select instead of right-clicking.

6. Use the Help feature: The Help feature in Kepler and Sirius is wonderful. You may be surprised to see how much information there is. Use either the feature to search for a topic or use the links. I will discuss some of the Help features and the AstroEncyclopedia in future articles, but for now I just want to mention that if we were to print all this out, it would be thousands of pages and most of the Help information is well-organized and clearly explains how to use the various features of the software.

Now you can work very quickly using the color-coded icons at the top, right-clicking to change settings and then look for a Customize button for additional settings, jump between different charts you are working with and selecting reports you are looking at. It's incredibly fast and easy. Now you are an expert in using Kepler and Sirius! :-) In the future I will share some more advanced tips and tricks but I want to make sure you have not overlooked some of the basics.

Again, thanks for purchasing Kepler or Sirius. It helps us be able to keep working on the program. If you have not purchased Kepler or Sirius, and you are seriously interested in astrology, I suggest talking to other astrologers who use Kepler or Sirius and you will almost certainly get a good recommendation.