Various Improvements

Alan Palmer (Logos)
Alan Palmer (Logos) Member, Logos Employee Posts: 1,080
edited November 21 in English Forum

In the past several weeks, we've made a large number of improvements to the web app. I will try to highlight several that I think are more relevant (sorry if I missed your favorite, feel free to mention it if I did):

  • Restyled the app's toolbars and "chrome" to better utilize screen space for panel content.
  • Add Visual Copy support to right click context menu.
  • Create an intro video to help new users understand the various features in the web app.
  • Added new home page cards as well as added content to existing ones.
  • Add filtering by name to the Atlas tool to help find the map you're looking for.
  • Performance improvements to several popular interactive resources including Psalms Explorer, Before and After, and more.
  • Updated the editor for Sermon Documents to match Logos Desktop's latest.
  • Update the Media Tool to match Logos Desktop.
  • Add tool tips for resource panel buttons.
  • Fix for Hebrew diacritic rendering on high dpi displays.

I hope you are all enjoying the new experiences offered by the web app. We greatly value your continued feedback here as well as through the in-app feedback feature.

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Comments

  • TCBlack
    TCBlack Member Posts: 10,978

    In the past several weeks, we've made a large number of improvements to the web app. 

    As one who looks to use the app more and more, especially once I get my new chromebook - I'm very pleased with the progress. I am so grateful that development continues.  The fact that it increasingly ties in with my current desktop setting is a major plus, including all of the shortcuts I have on my toolbar being copied on the web app.  So thank you from the very beginning here!

    The toolbars and menus largely copy the look of the desktop, and that makes everything feel familiar.  I find that if I use F11 to maximize the screen, it almost feels like I'm working locally. FWIW I actually prefer the home screen on the web app to that of the desktop.  The many different panels offering shortcuts to start a study or look at something the app does is exactly what I hoped for in the first appearance of the home page. 

    Also, the introductory video is very good. It very helpfully shows of features as well as methods.

    Hmm Sarcasm is my love language. Obviously I love you. 

  • Adam Olean
    Adam Olean Member Posts: 449

    Thanks, Alan. All of these updates are great. Probably the biggest thing that's missing for me right now is a way to get instant access to Greek and Hebrew definitions and senses by a single left-click (e.g., through a Bible-Lexicon Link Set or having more information presented by the Information Tool, which is pretty sparse at the moment). The Bible Word Study tool is excellent for many purposes but not so much for continuous reading.

    Keep up the great work!

  • Adam Olean
    Adam Olean Member Posts: 449

    Thanks, Alan. All of these updates are great. Probably the biggest thing that's missing for me right now is a way to get instant access to Greek and Hebrew definitions and senses by a single left-click (e.g., through a Bible-Lexicon Link Set or having more information presented by the Information Tool, which is pretty sparse at the moment). The Bible Word Study tool is excellent for many purposes but not so much for continuous reading.

    Keep up the great work!

    By the way, I just recently placed some of my Hebrew, Greek, and other lexicons in several custom-made series on the desktop application and it works great (HALOT-BDAG; BDB-LSJ; DBL Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek; etc.). Why didn't I do that before (as with my Hebrew and Greek bibles)? It's small things like this that make working with Logos such a pleasure. Not only does Logos open to the corresponding page and lexical entry for the word that I click on in my Greek New Testament, for example, but it'll immediately replace one book or volume with another if I switch to the Tanakh! Anyway, the web app is getting awfully close to where I could use it more regularly for reading and other study.

  • Alan Palmer (Logos)
    Alan Palmer (Logos) Member, Logos Employee Posts: 1,080

    Bible-Lexicon Link Set

    Adam, if I didn't know better I'd think you had some kind of spying device in our planning meetings because this feature was just recently scheduled to be worked on in the next two weeks!

  • Adam Olean
    Adam Olean Member Posts: 449

    Bible-Lexicon Link Set

    Adam, if I didn't know better I'd think you had some kind of spying device in our planning meetings because this feature was just recently scheduled to be worked on in the next two weeks!

    [:#] Sorry, Alan, I can't comment there—ya know, that just goes with the terrain of spying on top-secret, Bible software planning meetings in Bellingham, WA! This is good news, nonetheless!

  • John Fidel
    John Fidel MVP Posts: 3,376

    Alan,

    I noticed duplicate entries for the ESV and BKC in my desktop library prioritization. I am pretty certain my using the web app has added these. Can you run a test and see and determine if that is the desired result?

    Sorry should have posted this separately. Feel free to move it.

    Thanks

  • Alan Palmer (Logos)
    Alan Palmer (Logos) Member, Logos Employee Posts: 1,080

    There used to be a bug with how we were selecting the user's selected bible+commentary on the web app home page. It was placing the selected resource as your highest prioritized resource. This was resolved but if you used that functionality prior to the fix your selected commentary could have been prioritized higher than you wanted on desktop. Embarrassed

    If this doesn't explain the issue you're seeing, I'd love to hear more about it.

  • mike
    mike Member Posts: 2,097 ✭✭✭

    Alan..

    By any chance you're working on matching the layouts from desktop? We need that badly.. It would saves tons of time & serious study.

  • André Kamphuis
    André Kamphuis Member Posts: 230 ✭✭

    mike said:

    By any chance you're working on matching the layouts from desktop? We need that badly.. It would saves tons of time & serious study.

    Agreed 100%!

  • Sean
    Sean Member Posts: 1,771 ✭✭✭

    I'm happy to see all the improvements, however, there are a few very basic features still lacking or not fully implemented:

    1. Inline page numbers like what's available on the desktop as a visual filter. These are needed for taking notes and making citations.
    2. The reference box still does not work for many resources such as commentaries. (Actually, this feature seems to have been depreciated; it's now not working in dictionaries that were working a few weeks ago.)
    3. Reading plans don't seem to work at all. I can open the RP document but clicking on the link for a day's reading does nothing.

    (Right now I'm using the web app on a Win10 tablet with Chrome 58.0.3029.110. Having these features functional would enable me to dump my jerry-rigged SD-card installation of L7 on said device.)

    Really features like these are far more important to me than being able to use interactives and fancy features like visual copy. (Access to saved desktop layouts would also be nice, but I can see how that might be difficult to implement.)

    EDIT: #2 seems to have been called by my somehow getting into "compatibility mode."

  • John Fidel
    John Fidel MVP Posts: 3,376

    Thanks for the reply Alan. BTW great work on  the app.

  • Myke Harbuck
    Myke Harbuck Member Posts: 1,646

    Thanks for the update Alan. I find myself checking this app everyday looking for updates! I am very excited about the future of Logos and Bible study given this innovated and exciting resource. 

    Can I ask..Could you PLEASE consider regular updates, perhaps weekly or bi-weekly, that include (1) what's been released, and (2) what's in the short pipeline, and (3) what, strategically speaking, is in the long pipeline. 

    I realize that there may not be much of an update sometimes as it relates to new feature releases, but it would just be nice to get updates that are regular and consistent. I also realize that Faithlife might be hesitant to discuss upcoming releases because people are not so understanding at times if anticipated launch dates are missed. But you could discuss timing of future releases in very broad terms...weeks...months,...soon..etc. 

    The web app is the primary reason I am a Logos Now member. I'm very excited about this resource and would love to know more about what's coming in the short-term and long-term. And would just like to hear, in general, more communication related to this exciting product.

    Thanks! 

    Myke Harbuck
    Lead Pastor, www.ByronCity.Church
    Adjunct Professor, Georgia Military College

  • Alan Palmer (Logos)
    Alan Palmer (Logos) Member, Logos Employee Posts: 1,080

    Myke, I will see what we can do about more regular updates on the forums. Thanks for that feedback.

  • Thomas Zimmermann
    Thomas Zimmermann Member Posts: 76

    Alan,

    I second Myke's request. Having at least a little more idea of where we are heading with the web app would be great!

    Thanks for an amazing job so far,

    Thomas

    user since Logos 4

  • Chris Faulkner
    Chris Faulkner Member Posts: 2

    The new web app is greatly appreciated. It is my favorite app now that I no longer have access to the desktop version.

    One addition I would request: some kind of notice about the changes that were made, even if they are just security updates, when the web app asks to refresh the page for a new version.

    Thank you,

    Chris F.