Bibleworks vs. Logos vs. Accordance Interface

[Don Johnson]

This was quite a few versions ago! I saw BW on a friends computer and thought it looked quite unwieldy. Then I got my own copy (I think I started with version 3???).

Yes, there is a bit of a learning curve, but one feature I really appreciate with BW is the tutorial videos. They really helped me get going on the areas that were important to me.

So I would recommend spending time as needed with the videos. They will answer a lot of questions and you should be enjoying BW pretty quickly.

And I echo everything the others have said in this thread.

Of course, there are folks who might prefer the others, and you would find them championing their software on the other fora, but as a user of BW and Logos, I have to say I much prefer BW, although Logos is OK as a library program.

[calvary]

Well, I reckon enough's been said; but I'm going to put my two cents in anyhow.

Having owned and used all three products for years (though not currently using Accordance), I believe that BW is very user friendly. Yes, there is a ton under the hood. I'm constantly finding new features and am always pleasantly surprised when I do. But as Scott said, the BW user face is very intuitive. I'm not trying to put down Logos or Accordance, but for straight forward exegesis of the text, I find myself hardly ever using anything but BW these days. And for the money, BW's value is unsurpassed.

Blessings to you as you decide,

Dave

[MGVH]

Ingo provided a good list of top five keyboard shortcuts. Let me add a couple others:

Esc Esc >> brings you to the command line and clears it

(with mouse clicked anywhere in Browse [center] pane) CTRL-SHFT down-arrow >> toggles through browse options; look at bottom left of window; most helpful is "Scroll mode is in Sync Mode" > now when your mouse is clicked anywhere in the Browse pane, the up/down arrow keys move you previous/next verse

in Browse pane, double-click on any version indicator (ie, BGT or NET or NRS ...) to make it the focus version

(with mouse clicked anywhere in Browse [center] pane) hit "b" to toggle browse mode on/off

For help setting up your system, I have some suggestions I provide for my students HERE.

[MBushell]

People feel passionately about user interfaces and it can get to be a touchy subject. Our approach may not be the best for all people but I think it is a good approach for many people. As I have told many people, when BibleWorks was started many years ago, it was done for me, to work they way I wanted to work. I like to have as much information on the screen at one time as I can. It helps me think. I also like to be able to do as much as possible with a minimum of keystrokes and mouse movement. Those two things drive the interface. It can make it look a little busy. And it is probably not the best interface for a new user. But for those who use the program on a daily basis, most appreciate the density of information. If you are a new user, give yourself a little time to adjust. And don't be afraid to ask questions. There are lots of helpful and friendly users here.
Mike

[Adelphos]

As I have told many people, when BibleWorks was started many years ago, it was done for me, to work they way I wanted to work....

When did you first make BibleWorks available publicly, and was it at that time a commercial product?

[jdarlack]

I've put together a bare-minimum tutorial for folks just starting to use BibleWorks on our seminary computers.

LINK

One of the biggest things I stress to beginners is that it's worth learning the command line shortcuts and 'control characters' right off the bat. Hence, in the tutorial, I introduce commands like bgm <enter> d c bgt lxe nrs <enter>, and I highlight the necessary and powerful period ( . ), apostrophe ( ' ) and forward slash ( / ).

*Unfortunately, we've not been able to upgrade to version 8 yet, so the tutorial is specifically geared to version 7, but all of the info, as far as I can tell, is still valid even if the screenshots don't reflect the latest version.
*The tutorial is very 'dense' because it's intended to be printed on a single double-sided sheet of paper.

[MBushell]

When did you first make BibleWorks available publicly, and was it at that time a commercial product?

Scott, that was almost two decades ago! The first version was somnething that I wrote for my own use because I was unhappy with what was available for Bible Study on PCs. It was written for the first non-Dos operating system from Microsoft - Windows 3.0. I bought some raw data disks from a company in Montana to incorporate into the program and the guy I bought them from wanted to market the program, so I said OK. That was a long time ago.
Mike

[Adelphos]

Scott, that was almost two decades ago! The first version was somnething that I wrote for my own use because I was unhappy with what was available for Bible Study on PCs. It was written for the first non-Dos operating system from Microsoft - Windows 3.0. I bought some raw data disks from a company in Montana to incorporate into the program and the guy I bought them from wanted to market the program, so I said OK. That was a long time ago.
Mike

Sounds quite providential to me.

[ccozier]

Scott, that was almost two decades ago! The first version was somnething that I wrote for my own use because I was unhappy with what was available for Bible Study on PCs. It was written for the first non-Dos operating system from Microsoft - Windows 3.0. I bought some raw data disks from a company in Montana to incorporate into the program and the guy I bought them from wanted to market the program, so I said OK. That was a long time ago.
Mike

Mike,

Did the company from whom you purchased the data disks market a DOS bible study product? I remember using LBase (the precursor to Bible Windows / Bibloi) in conjunction with a DOS text based bible study tool. I always thought that DOS tool was the precursor to BibleWorks, but now I'm not so sure. I do remember when your product first came to the market....those of us who had coded queries into LBase and Gramcord ( or lived in the text screen world of DOS) were blown away.

[SkipB]

My first commercial software for Bible study was the ccat texts available with my word processor (Nota Bene). At Temple, I had access to Ibycus and we wrote pascal routines to search beta code. I first read about BibleWorks in the old Bits & Bytes Review newsletter. I think my first purchase was version 3 and I have been hooked ever since. BibleWorks saved me literally thousands of hours in researching my dissertation.
I am always amazed at how much it has grown and how refined the UI has become. And it has been a privilege to correspond with other users and the BibleWorks team over the years. This may sound pathetic, but BibleWorks has become part of my life. I could not imagine my academic work or pastoral work without it.