Questions and comments from a newb

Zak Metz
Zak Metz Member Posts: 111 ✭✭
edited November 2024 in English Forum

I've used Logos for many years but only recently upgraded to Gold and starting doing some serious study. Here are my notes as a somewhat fresh user.

I'm stunned that generation 6 of a multi-thousand dollar application doesn't have the ability to change colors or have a night mode. Negligent!

If I have TSK and Text Comparison open, scrolling other resources is impeded by those trying to refresh. Can't it wait until I stop scrolling for a millisecond before updating them?

I have LEB and FSB open and linked. I click a verse in LEB. The search box updates. FSB doesn't move. Other linked resources don't update, such as text comparison.

If knowing resource abbreviation names, like LEB and FSB are really helpful, I'd like a better way to learn them. Show them to me anytime you're showing the book title so I can learn them. They don't even show up in the Library.

Snapping to particular widths when I'm arranging panels is so irritating. I'm opening Logos across four monitors and snapping makes it really hard to align borders between monitors. It's like someone went out of their way to irritate me.

I highlight a lot. Whenever something is showing text from the Bible, like text comparison, or search results, I want it to show my highlights. And I want to be able to highlight it from there, too.

When a commentary says, see note on v.12, show me the note, not the verse, when I hover.

In LEB, what do those right angle brackets mean? And why can't I make them disappear? They're
distracting.

If I sound irritated, I'm half joking. I love Logos. Faithlife has brought Bible study to a whole new level.

Zak

Comments

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 55,167

    Welcome to the forums and thanks for the honest feedback.

    One minor correction - the application is free not a "multi-thousand dollar app"

    You are correct that a click does not change focus .... scroll or use the arrow keys

    I believe the abbreviations show in the library ... and on the tabs when the width is right.

    You are correct that the Faithlife designers went out of their way to irritate you. But you are in good company, they tried to irritate all users by an equal amount ... but with different features. This is called design compromise. Fortunately it comes with a feedback loop and a user insurrection platform (letters to Bob, Uservoice and forums).

    Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

  • Dave Hooton
    Dave Hooton MVP Posts: 36,221

    Zak Metz said:

    Here are my notes as a somewhat fresh user.

    If any of those are serious in the day mode[:)] then please start a new thread with full details.

    Dave
    ===

    Windows 11 & Android 13

  • Zak Metz
    Zak Metz Member Posts: 111 ✭✭

    Thanks gal and guy. I appreciate the feedback. My attempt at sarcastic humor probably didn't come across so well. These are real concerns of mine, and although it might be working as designed, as a user I don't think these things work right.

    MJ, we both know there's no such thing as a free lunch. How do I see the abbrevations in the library? Is that the Abbreviated Title column, because if so then there aren't short ones for all the books. Some are actually quite long. So maybe my expectations don't meet reality there.

    Dave, I'd love to hear any tips you have on the items I mentioned.

    Thanks again! [Y]

  • Doc B
    Doc B Member Posts: 3,678 ✭✭✭

    MJ. Smith said:

    One minor correction - the application is free not a "multi-thousand dollar app"

    MJ, you should know better than that. [:(] You know exactly what he means.

    That kind of correction is insulting to a user who is frustrated with her software. I know because I've been there. Ask Alabama how well I took it when he did it to me. It's like saying the new car is free, but the keys will cost you fifty grand.

    It is a senseless explanation of a meaningless fact.

    Eating a steady diet of government cheese, and living in a van down by the river.

  • Doc B
    Doc B Member Posts: 3,678 ✭✭✭

    Zak Metz said:

    Here are my notes as a somewhat fresh user.

    Welcome to the forums, Zak.

    Each of your points has merit, but FL can (will) only fix a few things at a time. I suggest, as Dave implied, you break these up into individual suggestion posts, question posts, etc. You'll get more response from a limited post than a general post like this, though it does make a good roadmap.

    Some of your issues may already have fixes...I'm not an expert and don't try to help with any but the most menial issues...but folks like Dave and MJ are experts and can help with specifics, along with a good number of other folks on the forums. Some of them may seem like fanboys at times, but they are still very helpful and worth the listen. They even eventually learn to tolerate the more "critical" users like me.

    Logos can be a frustrating experience, so don't be shy about asking for help. Regardless of the fact that the app is free, it cost both of us thousands of dollars and FL owes us a duty both morally and under the law. Like me, don't hesitate to continue to push for it.

    Eating a steady diet of government cheese, and living in a van down by the river.

  • Matthew C Jones
    Matthew C Jones Member Posts: 10,295 ✭✭✭

    Doc B said:

    It's like saying the new car is free, but the keys will cost you fifty grand.

    My keys cost me more.

    Logos 7 Collectors Edition

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 55,167

    Doc B said:

    MJ. Smith said:

    One minor correction - the application is free not a "multi-thousand dollar app"

    MJ, you should know better than that. Sad You know exactly what he means.

    ...

    It is a senseless explanation of a meaningless fact.

    Hmmm ... when users may have spent as little as $30 of the materials for a class to twice as much as they paid for their house, it is meaningless to use any number as the cost of the software. It is therefore meaningless to assume the presence or absence of anything but the most basic of features based on that "cost". What buys are resources that enable features to work in a useful way. It is important to keep the distinction so that new issuers with minimal resources can understand what is necessary in order to upgrade their feature set.

    However, given the tone of the original post, I assumed the OP would recognize a tongue-in-check touch.

    Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 55,167

    Zak Metz said:

    ...  These are real concerns of mine, and although it might be working as designed, as a user I don't think these things work right.

    ... How do I see the abbrevations in the library? Is that the Abbreviated Title column, because if so then there aren't short ones for all the books. Some are actually quite long. So maybe my expectations don't meet reality there.

    I too your concerns seriously. When things do not work as you wish, for example change of focus on click, it is not necessarily a bug. But it is a design decision which we can influence by feedback to Faithlife - letters, uservoice and forums.

    Not all resources have abbreviations. Generally if there is a commonly used short abbreviation it is in the Abbreviations column. However, as users we can create abbreviations that are useful to us. Click on "short title" to update to an abbreviation of your choice.

    Like other programs, if no abbreviation is provide the system has rules by which is shortens the titles - sometimes successfully, sometimes with less than ideal results.

    Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

  • Dave Hooton
    Dave Hooton MVP Posts: 36,221

    Zak Metz said:

    Dave, I'd love to hear any tips you have on the items I mentioned.

    I suggested you start a new thread for each issue because we need more details (including screen shots) to properly evaluate what you describe. Otherwise this thread becomes very congested

    Dave
    ===

    Windows 11 & Android 13

  • Zak Metz
    Zak Metz Member Posts: 111 ✭✭

    Ok, I thought maybe someone would say, yes we know about this one and this one, so that's why I didn't separate them. I understand the reasoning for doing so. Thanks!

  • Zak Metz
    Zak Metz Member Posts: 111 ✭✭

    Thanks MJ! Setting the Short Title in the Library was EXACTLY what I needed!