SUGGESTION: Attention Eli - is the left side of the Context Menu becoming unhinged?

MJ. Smith

Until quite recently, I have had no problem identifying the organizing principles used on the left hand side ... but I'm starting to find some oddities that leave me utterly confused and having to scroll through everything to see it something is somewhere in the list.

In this example:

• Why are the 3 "Guide" options separated by a dividing line and the Perseus Web link? I would expect "My Bible Word Study", "Alphabetic Bible Word Guide" and "Bible Word Study" to be together in one section.
• Question: Why, if I have a saved BWS on the lemma, is there no indication in the Context Menu that the function could bring up a saved version?
• I would expect the option to add to a Word List to be similar and thus grouped with the other documents - Notes and Clippings ... I certainly would expect to find it with Pronounce and Power Lookup tools ...
• Question: Why, if I am offered the opportunity to add to the last opened Word List from a Lemma aren't I given the analogous option to add a reference to the last opened Passage List?
• I realize that Show Information is anchored at the bottom of the left column. But I'd still like to see Pronounce and Power Lookup tied either to the Lookup function or the Show Information function.

Right side questions

• For a while, semantic roles appeared on the right side of the Context Menu ... when they disappeared I could not find out if it was intentional and , if it was intentional, where we were to access the semantic role information.
• Labels, manuscript text, preaching theme, cultural concepts, ... all are grouped and can be expanded/contracted; why are <datatypes> simply mixed in rather than being at least grouped together in a predictable sequence?

Eli Evans (Logos)

Why are the 3 "Guide" options separated by a dividing line and the Perseus Web link? I would expect "My Bible Word Study", "Alphabetic Bible Word Guide" and "Bible Word Study" to be together in one section

It's not up to spec is why. All the program features should be listed together in the second section. The organizing principle is supposed to be:

1. Promoted/priority commands, as determined by us, and probably not right for every user.
2. Cross-references to other panels in the software. This section has grown the most egregiously since L4.
3. Search. This section has grown considerably as well.
4. Keylink destinations (ie, Lexicons).
5. "Always-on" commands, pinned to the bottom of the list outside the scrolling area (eg, Add a note).

In L4/5 the always-on commands were on the right, just because there was room to put them there, not because it was coherent. With L6, we moved them to the left side so the right side is now always a command category (basically, a bit of data that you can do something with) and the left side is always a list of commands that apply to it. (With some minor allowances for the always-on commands, eg, "Show Information" always works on the current selection by definition.)

Question: Why, if I have a saved BWS on the lemma, is there no indication in the Context Menu that the function could bring up a saved version?

It never occurred to me that the distinction matters enough that it has to be indicated here. Saved guide instances seems to be a confusing idea in the first place for most users. (We don't have to go over that topic again; I know you use them extensively.)

I would expect the option to add to a Word List to be similar and thus grouped with the other documents - Notes and Clippings ... I certainly would expect to find it with Pronounce and Power Lookup tools ...

Adding to a word list is under category #2 by my ontology above. Add to Passage List is also in this category when you have a reference milestone selected on the right side. Neither is as common/important as Notes.

Question: Why, if I am offered the opportunity to add to the last opened Word List from a Lemma aren't I given the analogous option to add a reference to the last opened Passage List?

You would be if you had selected "Acts 9:19" from the right side. But you can't add a lemma to a Passage List, so it doesn't appear here. (You also can't run an Exegetical Guide on a lemma, etc.)

I realize that Show Information is anchored at the bottom of the left column. But I'd still like to see Pronounce and Power Lookup tied either to the Lookup function or the Show Information function.

Depends on the user's interests, I imagine. We know Information is truly a global appeal function. Pronounce and Power Lookup are much further down the usage stats. (One may argue that the stats would be higher if we made it easier to get to in the context menu, but I tend to think that's a kind of special pleading I call the "Time Traveler fallacy," that is, that if we traveled back in time and changed the software in the way the arguer is proposing, the data supporting the conclusion would necessarily have appeared in our time. There may be a better name for that, and if anyone knows it, I bet it's you.)

For a while, semantic roles appeared on the right side of the Context Menu ... when they disappeared I could not find out if it was intentional and , if it was intentional, where we were to access the semantic role information.

I don't remember that. It may have been added by accident to a beta. Semantic Roles are exposed in Clause Search and in the Clause Participants section of the BWS and to a much lesser degree in Factbook. Exposing them in the resource isn't a terrible idea, although recursion/clause-embedding may tend to give multiple roles for some words.

Labels, manuscript text, preaching theme, cultural concepts, ... all are grouped and can be expanded/contracted; why are <datatypes> simply mixed in rather than being at least grouped together in a predictable sequence?

The categorization on the right side is:

1. Selection/s & milestone references.
2. Word data, so the expander you see on the manuscript form governs all the lemma/morph/etc that go on that word.
3. Other

The current plan is to someday replicate the expanding sections you see in the refitted Information tool here on the right side of the context menu. So then you'd see them grouped in that predictable sequence instead of the grab-bag that is the "Other" category now.