Am I missing something?

Michael Prenzler
Michael Prenzler Member Posts: 37
edited November 20 in English Forum

Hi All,

I am not going to whine about how Logos has broken Notes: things change and I can live with that Smile.

However, I am struggling to understand the new thought processes behind the new Notes, and would appreciate some education (I have looked at the videos, but I'm still not "getting" it).

My workflow (adapted from how I used L7) up until now has been as follows:

  • I have a "sermon prep template" Notebook which I duplicate on the "documents.logos.com" web page.
  • I then go to the Notes tool, search for the copied Notebook and rename it according to the sermon text (e.g. as below: 1 Cor 12:12-31).
  • The template consists of two Notes: Exegesis and Homiletical Meditation, which I populate as I do my sermon prep.
  • If I come across some useful information relating to the Biblical text I create a Note in the Notebook anchored to the text of the Bible (usually the ESV translation). I do this so that I have all my research in one place for easy reference in the future. The resulting Notebook typically looks like this:

So far so good. If I know what Notebook I stored the Notes in I can run a search and find it again as shown above.

My "problem" occurs if I want to access the Notebook from the ESV. As you can see from the image below, I have created 3 Notes, all stored in the sermon prep Notebook for 1 Cor 12:12-31.

When I click on the e.g. "division" note the Notes tool opens up and displays the note correctly. It even tells me that it belongs to the correct Notebook. However, it does not display all the related notes, which was the whole purpose (in my thinking) of linking the note to the Notebook in the first place. Instead, I get 8000 unrelated results! What am I missing?

The only way I can find to get back to my Notebook is to open the side bar, manually type in "1 Cor 12", and go from there. It's doable but inefficient.

The biggest benefit I have derived from past versions of Logos is being able to link related information so that, no matter the entry point, I can easily access it all again with a few clicks. So, during my seminary days I was able to e.g. link course notes (in a personal book) with the Biblical text with notes taken during lectures with quotes from other Logos books, all within an old "Notes" document. L8 also allows this linking, but following the links seems to be harder.

Any suggestions?

Many thanks,

Michael

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Comments

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith Member, MVP Posts: 53,039 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Does filtering by Notebook and Bible book get you closer to what you want rather than filtering just by Bible references?

    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."

  • Michael Prenzler
    Michael Prenzler Member Posts: 37

    Hi MJ,

    Thanks for your suggestion. If I have understood you correctly: no, filtering doesn't help. This appears to be because the my exegetical notes are not tagged/anchored to the Bible reference. I could do that from now on (and may), but it doesn't help me with my 8000 other notes which have been "linked" using the old notes system.

    What I really want is the simplicity of the old system which opened up the corresponding Notebook when clicking on a note. [:)]

    I notice that Logos is running a webinar on Notes next week. Hopefully that will help me get my head around their new design choices...

    Cheers, Michael

  • Graham Criddle
    Graham Criddle Member, MVP Posts: 32,427 ✭✭✭

    Hi Michael

    The new Notes Tool doesn't currently support what you are looking for.

    I think it is along the lines of what was discussed at https://community.logos.com/forums/t/178042.aspx - and I agree it would be helpful

    Graham

  • Phil Gons (Logos)
    Phil Gons (Logos) Member, Logos Employee Posts: 3,798

    Thanks for the great feedback. This was an oversight in our original design. We've identified it as a top usability priority and are working on some solutions to it. Thanks for your patience as we continue to make Notes a better tool for your Bible study needs.

  • Michael Prenzler
    Michael Prenzler Member Posts: 37

    The new Notes Tool doesn't currently support what you are looking for.

    Thanks Graham. Good to know I'm not totally incompetent [:)].

  • Michael Prenzler
    Michael Prenzler Member Posts: 37

    Thanks for the great feedback. This was an oversight in our original design. We've identified it as a top usability priority and are working on some solutions to it. Thanks for your patience as we continue to make Notes a better tool for your Bible study needs.

    Thanks Phil, good to hear you are working on it.

    While we are talking about usability, could you please consider how to make copying a workbook simpler?

    At the moment I have to (if there's a better way, please let me know):

    • Go to documents.logos.com.
    • Search for my "template" Notebook.
    • Duplicate it.
    • Wait for Logos on the desktop to sync (or force it).
    • Open the Notes tool and search/filter for the copied template.
    • Rename the template.
    • Search for the renamed file (because it disappears from the filtered list).

    Why can't we just right-click on a Workbook in Logos and choose a "copy" option which prompts for a new name and opens the Workbook after it's renamed?

    Thanks,

    Michael

  • Philana R. Crouch
    Philana R. Crouch Member, Logos Employee Posts: 4,597

    This has been improved in 8.4.

  • Michael Prenzler
    Michael Prenzler Member Posts: 37

    This has been improved in 8.4.

    Thanks Philana. After a quick glance 8.4 does seem to have addressed most of my concerns. I'll give you further feedback after I've used it for a while. Blessings for your celebration of Holy Week!

  • Michael Prenzler
    Michael Prenzler Member Posts: 37

    Just closing out this thread: the new Notes features are much improved. Many thanks.