Translator installed: first hour checklist

You just installed a translator client. The next hour is for proving the overlay, not for collecting every plugin. Pot should open, accept a service, and answer a selection hotkey before you touch advanced OCR paths.

1. Confirm the binary you meant to install

Check that the filename still matches GitHub Releases for pot-app/pot-desktop. Windows desks should see a pot_*_x64-setup style install. macOS desks should see the matching dmg. Linux desks should know whether they used deb or AppImage.

2. Launch Pot once

Open the app and leave it running. If the window never appears on Windows, read the WebView2 note on the Windows install guide before you download a second mirror.

3. Add one translation service

Open Preferences → Service Settings and enable a single engine you already understand. Cloud engines need keys. Local engines such as Ollama need a reachable endpoint. Do not enable five services on the first pass.

4. Bind a selection hotkey

Choose a shortcut that does not collide with your editor. Highlight a short sentence elsewhere, fire the hotkey, and confirm the translator panel returns text.

5. Decide on clipboard listening

Clipboard listening is optional. Turn it on only if you want copy-driven bursts during a dedicated sprint. Turn it off before ordinary desktop copying becomes noisy.

6. Try screenshot OCR once

After selection works, run screenshot OCR or screenshot translation on a small region. This proves image text has a door without making OCR your default for every paragraph.

7. Record plugins and keys

Write down enabled services, API key locations, and any .potext plugins. Store keys in your password tool. Keep plugin files beside the ticket.

8. Keep one update door

Return to the same Releases filename for the next bump. Avoid Softonic-style translator wrappers. Update notes: update and uninstall.

OS-specific reminders

Windows: prefer the plain x64 setup; use the fix_webview2_runtime bundle only when WebView2 is missing. macOS: match aarch64 vs x64 dmgs. Linux: do not leave both deb and AppImage updated on different calendars.

Teaching the habit

Spend three short documents using only the selection hotkey. Keep a browser translator tab as fallback for the first week, then remove shady mirror bookmarks. More detail: first run, hotkeys, this computer.

When something fails

No panel usually means a hotkey conflict or a stopped process. Empty replies usually mean the service is misconfigured. Wrong language pairs are a service setting, not an installer failure. Safety background: is it safe.

Glyph Quill keeps this checklist aligned with the Releases assets documented on releases. Upstream product pages remain at pot-app.com and the GitHub repo.

Shared desk rules

On shared desks, appoint one update owner for the translator client. That person watches GitHub Releases, updates the ticket, and re-proves selection after every bump. Everyone else uses the documented hotkey and leaves package experiments to a lab image.

Contractors who only need a day of language help can keep a browser tab. Permanent staff should keep Pot and delete shady mirror bookmarks during the first week. Classroom images should pin the exact filename beside the OS version before students arrive.

Plugin patience

Plugins are optional power. They should not delay the first selection proof. After the overlay works, add one .potext at a time from trusted upstream links, then write the filename on the ticket. If a plugin breaks OCR, remove it before you blame the base translator install.

Service failures versus install failures

Empty replies usually mean the service key or endpoint is wrong. That is not an installer failure. Fix Preferences first. If the panel never opens, check whether Pot is running and whether another overlay owns the hotkey. Only after those checks should you re-download from GitHub Releases.

Language-pair mistakes are also service settings. Confirm source and target languages before you decide the translator client is broken. OCR that returns gibberish may need a different engine or a tighter capture region rather than a new setup file.

Travel laptop kit

Travel laptops should carry the Releases URL, the exact filename, and a short note about WebView2 or Wayland quirks for that machine. Offline-friendly engines should be listed explicitly so airport Wi-Fi outages do not surprise you mid-document.

When you return home, bump to the current release only after you read the tag asset list. Filenames can shift even when the product name stays Pot. Re-prove selection after the bump, then update the ticket line.