Backup Non-Indexed Search Functionality

Dr. Nathan Parker

I've emailed Bob and messaged Phil concerning this, but I also wanted to post something publicly offering a solution to the complaints I sent to Bob and Phil.

For a while now, I have ongoing issues with the reliability of the Logos Search Index and the Logos Indexer. This has happened on both a Windows PC and Mac, on Logos 6 and 7.

There are two times when the Logos Indexer and Logos Search Index decides to "go on vacation":

1. With point X releases of Logos (6.3, 6.4, etc.), especially on my Mac, the Logos Indexer would "stall" at 99% when indexing resource updates installed around the time of the point X release. I would then relaunch Logos, and the Logos Indexer would "stall" at 0%, and the only solution was performing a "Rebuild Index" and re-index my entire library to resolve the issue.

2. If I purchased a single book from Logos or Vyrso, or received a single free book from Logos or Vyrso, or a single book update was sent to my system, the Logos Indexer would also "stall" on 99%, and restarting Logos would then cause it to "stall" at 0%. The only solution was again another "Rebuild Index" and undergoing an re-index of my entire library.

The issue happened again to me tonight, and after multiple calls into Customer Service and Tech Support, it seems that the Logos Index is corrupting each time these scenarios occur. "Rebuild Index" even stalled tonight and didn't kick in for a while, but finally kicked in, and we're running it in Logging Mode so we can see what is going on with the indexing process.

My issue is tonight, I need to complete some research for school for a paper due next week, and now with the Logos index "on vacation", there's absolutely no way for me to complete my research, and I'm going to have to push myself to the core to get my research and writing done on time for this paper. My searches are too complex to run at Biblia.com. I may try the Logos Web App and see if I can perform any of my searches in them.

All of this is to say one thing. I cannot put my faith and trust in my Logos Library Index to reliably perform searches for me when I need mission critical searches. I love the fact that when the Logos Library Index is functioning, I can perform blazing fast searches. When it decides to "go on vacation" at mission critical times, I need rock solid reliability beyond what the Logos Library Index can provide me. I need a backup.

Here's what I need:

I need to be able to flip a switch in settings that says "Use Search Index" to "Off/No". With the flip of a switch, all of my searches in Logos, guides, etc., all continue to function exactly as if they would with the search index, but they're running in "manual" mode and taking longer to run. It make take 5, 10, or 15 minutes to run some searches (like the old Libronix days), but I could patiently wait for the searches to run and have them reliably run when the Logos Library Index decides to go "on vacation". When the index is OK, great, I'll enjoy the lightning fast searches. When it's not running properly, I can flip a switch and take a little longer to get my searches done, but have the confidence it'd work.

How hard would it be for Faithlife/Logos to implement such a feature in a future Logos release?

Thanks!

Dr. Nathan Parker

One More Thing: The reason I went to Bob and Phil about the issue was not so much the issue itself, but it was due to the level of service and support I received with Faithlife. When on the phone with Faithlife Customer Service and Support, I felt rushed each time I was on the phone with a rep and in essence, my issue was bothering them. The first time I was emailed a support article (that did not resolve my issue) and briefly sent off the phone. The second time I called in this evening when my issue was still not resolved, after the rep attempted a few things with my system, he assumed my issue was resolved and briefly sent me off the phone when again, it wasn't. Even Technical Support didn't hang on the phone enough to see if the Rebuild Index was actually taking or not (which it took a while before it finally took).

What has disappointed me more than the issue itself is the fact I feel that as a long time and loyal Faithlife customer with over 9,000 books and thousands of dollars in an investment plus multiple Faithlife subscriptions, that Logos Customer Service and Technical Support doesn't care about their customers. We're to jump on, get half-answered support, and jump off without truly ensuring our issues are resolved. This is not the kind of service and support I expect from a company such as Faithlife, and not from someone with my level of investment in the platform.