BibleWorks Features

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

BibleWorks users who have crossgraded to Accordance: What are some of the main features that you used (or are still using) in BibleWorks that you would like to see in a future version of Accordance?

[mgvh]

Since you asked... I've updated a doc and bolded in red all the features that BibleWorks had that I wish Accordance would have.
Click to open the doc:

Things I am hoping to see in the next Accordance version.docx

 

Edited June 18, 2023 by mgvh

[Kristin]

Hi @Nathan Parker

Likewise to mgvh, since you asked... No more highlight corruption and no more note corruption. I never had either in BibleWorks.

[Michel Gilbert]

A user lexicon as easy to use as the one in BW - the word database is already set up, so you just have to click on a word and type a gloss, definition, semantic range, or whatever you want, in Unicode in whatever language you want.

[ReformedDoc]

1 hour ago, Michel Gilbert said:

A user lexicon as easy to use as the one in BW - the word database is already set up, so you just have to click on a word and type a gloss, definition, semantic range, or whatever you want, in Unicode in whatever language you want.

So. if it were could build a lexicon using all our available lexicons for Hebrew & Greek words, would/could you add verse reference something like the BDAG?

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Thanks for the feedback! 

[accord]

For suggestions: mgvh's feature doc, plus add the preference for globally setting different text size for English, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, etc. texts within Accordance.

 

And, as has been brought up in the past on this forum, BibleWorks export features.

[accord]

1 hour ago, accord said:

For suggestions: mgvh's feature doc, plus add the preference for globally setting different text size for English, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, etc. texts within Accordance.

 

And, as has been brought up in the past on this forum, BibleWorks export features.

 

The global setting should also include line spacing.

[Donald Cobb]

MGVH's excellent list echoes my main wishes in this area. Specifically (more or less in order of priority):

- The Word list Manager and the verse list manager

- Improved hits and analysis graphs

- Option to overlay separate search results

- Option for precomposed unicode characters

- The KWIC function

 

Mark didn't mention this one, but it's been requested a ton of times: greater flexibility for the way text references are exported (and language-specific biblical names). BW was an absolute winner on this one and for those working with different numbering systems it makes a huge difference in ease and time. Just for a couple of examples:

- Mark 1:4

- Mk. 1.4

- Mc 1,4

- Mc 1, 4

- Mc 1.4

 

This all gets frustrating when writing different things for different audiences.

 

[Mark Allison]

No offense, but shouldn't Accordance be focusing on releasing the features promised in version 14 before asking what we'd like to see in version 15? 

 

[Donald Cobb]

18 minutes ago, Mark Allison said:

No offense, but shouldn't Accordance be focusing on releasing the features promised in version 14 before asking what we'd like to see in version 15? 

 

 

That's actually. . . a good point ! 😀

[Michel Gilbert]

23 hours ago, ReformedDoc said:

So. if it were could build a lexicon using all our available lexicons for Hebrew & Greek words, would/could you add verse reference something like the BDAG?

 

I'm not sure if you're asking me or Nathan/Accordance about this. In case it's me:

 

In BW10 you could type and/or copy and paste whatever and as much as you wanted, including verse references or the verses themselves in whatever language. I never had any problems with word limit; some of my lexical notes are quite extensive. The User Lexicon used the same edit toolbar as the Editor and Notes.

 

I know Accordance recently implemented some sort of user lexicon tool, but compared to the BW, it is much more complicated (e.g., see here). In BW, the words are already in the database, so you click, write/copy paste, and just keep going; everything is saved automatically. If Accordance did it this way, it would be nice to have verse references hyperlink automatically.

 

I have 4,827 user lexicon entries in BW, 4,066 for the HB and 761 for the NT. I wish I could import them into Accordance like I did my 500 or so notes files.

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by Michel Gilbert
Corrected URL

[miketisdell]

1) Tagged manuscripts! I still use Bibleworks when I would like to view the tagged manuscripts. 

2) The ability to build a custom lexicon i.e. to build a lexicon only for a book (or chapter) of the bible; pulling the entries from a named lexicon (BDB, HALOT) to use for the definitions. 

 

 

[A. Smith]

1) fully functioning v14 with all the features already promised. 

2) see no 1

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

We're still actively working on resolving the bugs in Accordance 14. I also have a document where I'm trying to track features that Wordsearch and BibleWorks had that Accordance doesn't have to make it easier for those who crossgraded to Accordance to potentially enjoy some of those features in the future.

[Mark Allison]

This was my #2 suggestion when we were planning features for version 14 (My #1 suggestion was Word Study and, as always, Roy Brown did a brilliant job designing and implementing that feature): scrap everything Accordance does related to user generated content: User Notes, User Tools, Papers, etc. and replace them all with a simple word processor similar to what both BibleWorks and WordSearch had. Give us the familiar word processing tools we all know and love and allow us to import and export them in a standard format. 

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by Mark Allison

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Good feedback!

[Donald Cobb]

8 hours ago, Mark Allison said:

This was my #2 suggestion when we were planning features for version 14 (My #1 suggestion was Word Study and, as always, Roy Brown did a brilliant job designing and implementing that feature): scrap everything Accordance does related to user generated content: User Notes, User Tools, Papers, etc. and replace them all with a simple word processor similar to what both BibleWorks and WordSearch had. Give us the familiar word processing tools we all know and love and allow us to import and export them in a standard format. 

 

 

Agreed on the need for a more robust note-taking option. That being said, Mark, I appreciate Papers and have used it on numerous occasions. Same goes for Stacks. So I would regret seeing them disappear.

[Mark Allison]

4 hours ago, Donald Cobb said:

 

Agreed on the need for a more robust note-taking option. That being said, Mark, I appreciate Papers and have used it on numerous occasions. Same goes for Stacks. So I would regret seeing them disappear.

You're not the only one who appreciates Papers. Not many on the team agreed with me that we needed a more comfortable editing experience. 🙂

Edited June 20, 2023 by Mark Allison

[jlm]

On 6/19/2023 at 3:20 AM, Donald Cobb said:

Mark didn't mention this one, but it's been requested a ton of times: greater flexibility for the way text references are exported (and language-specific biblical names). BW was an absolute winner on this one and for those working with different numbering systems it makes a huge difference in ease and time. Just for a couple of examples:

- Mark 1:4

- Mk. 1.4

- Mc 1,4

- Mc 1, 4

- Mc 1.4

 

This all gets frustrating when writing different things for different audiences.

 

This is something I've wanted for a long time. Partly I attribute the lack of this feature to the fact that BibleWorks used lots of plain text configuration files, which isn't Mac style. Also, since Accordance runs on mobile devices, custom abbreviations files would have to be synchronized.

 

The ability to edit verse mapping files is another thing that I miss. There are broken verse mappings that I'd like to just fix for myself, and it would be nice to be able to create verse mappings for User Bibles that don't match a standard mapping, or to import non-Biblical texts with new "canons" (i.e., that don't correspond to an existing Text). These were also plain text files (with a minimal GUI) in BibleWorks.

[jlm]

23 hours ago, Michel Gilbert said:

 

I'm not sure if you're asking me or Nathan/Accordance about this. In case it's me:

 

In BW10 you could type and/or copy and paste whatever and as much as you wanted, including verse references or the verses themselves in whatever language. I never had any problems with word limit; some of my lexical notes are quite extensive. The User Lexicon used the same edit toolbar as the Editor and Notes.

 

I know Accordance recently implemented some sort of user lexicon tool, but compared to the BW, it is much more complicated (e.g., see here). In BW, the words are already in the database, so you click, write/copy paste, and just keep going; everything is saved automatically. If Accordance did it this way, it would be nice to have verse references hyperlink automatically.

 

I have 4,827 user lexicon entries in BW, 4,066 for the HB and 761 for the NT. I wish I could import them into Accordance like I did my 500 or so notes files.

 

In theory, I think it's possible to import them, with the aid of an external tool. I never used the user lexicon feature and no longer have BibleWorks installed, but if the entries are RTF files (.bww) like the notes, then it would be possible to write a script that converts them to two HTML files (one for Greek and one for Hebrew) for import as a Lexicon User Tool. Then, if everything functions as advertised, these could be converted to regular tools and used like any other lexicon.

 

However, this is definitely less convenient than the BibleWorks user lexicons were. BibleWorks would let you basically take notes on a Greek or Hebrew term, and didn't require any conversion process. Accordance deletes the User Tool when it converts it to a regular Tool (presumably to prevent confusion about which to use).

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Great feedback!

[Steven MacDonald]

I would still like to see the extensive and flexible export options available for copying things out of BibleWorks.  It comes in handy when writing external documents.

 

Also, the ability to merge multiple versions into one window that has the option to highlight differences.  It is easier to do this when the verses are right on top of one another.

 

I am thankful for all of the latest improvements already made as well.

[Mark Allison]

4 minutes ago, Steven MacDonald said:

Also, the ability to merge multiple versions into one window that has the option to highlight differences.  It is easier to do this when the verses are right on top of one another.

In Accordance you can merge multiple versions into one window and highlight the differences. 

[Steven MacDonald]

2 minutes ago, Mark Allison said:

In Accordance you can merge multiple versions into one window and highlight the differences. 

Thanks for the reminder!