What would you like to see in BibleWorks 10?

[benelchi]

1) I would love to be able to type complex searches in the command line in Hebrew and Greek while using the Native Hebrew and Greek keyboards. In version 9 most of the Hebrew entry bugs were fixed but I am still unable to @* etc... while using a Hebrew keyboard. After entering the . or ' the Hebrew characters work, but the special code characters cannot be typed. This is a very old but that I hope will someday be come a priority to fix.

2) I would love to see an OT manuscript addition similar to the NT addition that came out in version 9.

3) I would love to see Hebrew versions of Jewish writings (like the Mishah) in the databases.

[doslidnyk]

What about the ability of grouping Bible versions in the Browse Window? For example, one group would be the Original Languages, another one - English translations, still another one - Vernacular translations (Polish, Russian, German etc.). Then the group could either be expanded/collapsed with a click or one would pick a desired group from a dropdown menu. Might be quicker to navigate, rather than scrolling through dozens of translations. Thanks for considering.

[DavidR]

I like that idea. And how about this as an expansion of it: hover the mouse pointer over a collapsed group, and the translations in that group appear in a popup window for a quick view of them.

[Mark Eddy]

What about the ability of grouping Bible versions in the Browse Window? For example, one group would be the Original Languages, another one - English translations, still another one - Vernacular translations (Polish, Russian, German etc.). Then the group could either be expanded/collapsed with a click or one would pick a desired group from a dropdown menu. Might be quicker to navigate, rather than scrolling through dozens of translations. Thanks for considering.

Some of us have been doing this very thing for years (BW8, if not BW7). Just use the tabs. One tab for your Greek NT versions, another for the Hebrew OT, another for English translations, and you have 9 more tabs for other combinations. In BW9 you can label the tabs, so you don't forget which is which. And if you should run out of tabs, you can always set up some "Favorites" in the BW Options Window, and you can switch between favorites in the same tab in just a couple clicks, and stay in the same Bible verse. Mark Eddy P.S. is anyone else having a problem using the "Enter" key to start a new paragraph here? I can't get it to work, as you can see from this post, which should be 3 separate paragraphs.

[Donald Cobb]

Things I would like to see improved in the presentation (some of these have already been mentioned by others):

- I can't comment on how BW9 looks in Windows 7 or 8, but in XP (especially under Parallels in Mac), the Greek font is very thin and not very enjoyable for reading. With the Mac Crossover version, it doesn't come across well either. Of the different fonts, bwgkl is the best, but it still could be improved. I would love to see a font that is better adapted for reading long passages. If it is acceptable as is in Windows 7 and 8, then at least a better font for Mac users would be appreciated!

- As I've already mentioned, with a reading mode that puts verses into paragraphs would be very appreciated. Along with that suggestion, I would suggest adding a space separating paragraphs as well. The current paragraph marker is helpful when working with texts, but not really when just reading.

- Again, when in browse mode, the text in BGT, etc. is very tight from one line to the next. If there were a way of setting it up (only in browse mode!) to make a larger line space, that would be helpful.

- In the verse list, I like the feature of being able to see the entire verse, and not just one line of it ("show entire verse"); however, there is currently no spacing between the references, so they look like they run together. It would nice to have each verse separated by a space.

All these comments are connected, I think, with the fact that other Bible programs (Logos, Accordance) have gotten on board with the idea that a Bible program is no longer just for researching words or verses; it's also for actual reading. BW is not geared toward that use, at least for the moment, but it would be helpful for it to do so!

BTW, I second DNS's suggestion of having an easier way of finding notes.

Don Cobb
Aix-en-Provence, France

[DavidR]

Some of us have been doing this very thing for years (BW8, if not BW7). Just use the tabs. One tab for your Greek NT versions, another for the Hebrew OT, another for English translations, and you have 9 more tabs for other combinations. In BW9 you can label the tabs, so you don't forget which is which. And if you should run out of tabs, you can always set up some "Favorites" in the BW Options Window, and you can switch between favorites in the same tab in just a couple clicks, and stay in the same Bible verse.

I do use tabs, for instance, when writing a sermon based on the week's lectionary texts, I have a tab for searching, and one tab each for the OT text, Psalm, Epistle, and Gospel. But in each of those tabs I have multiple versions in multiple languages (my most commonly used Favorite has NRS, NIV, WTT, BGT, VUL, PEH, not all of which, of course, appear in every context). Being able to have the English or other versions grouped so as to collapse and expand them would still be useful.

[Dale A. Brueggemann]

What about the ability of grouping Bible versions in the Browse Window?

I like this idea of grouping the the versions in the browse window.