Text Markup
It would be AMAZING if we could get some limited text markup features within the desktop and mobile versions of Logos.
I understand that this is a daunting task but I think it could be feasible if a more limited set of markup features were available. Such as:
1. The ability to connect two words together using a line.
2. The ability to place a few different shapes over/on/around a word (e.g., a circle, square, etc). Of course, this can be done via highlighting but
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Amen Jeremy, I would to see improved ability to mark up text within Logos. It's a skill that my college leans pretty hard into for Greek as a way to off load some of our parsing etc instead of trying to hold it all in our head.
Couple of thoughts. To begin with, there are already several methods that I am aware of which we can use (indirectly) to mark up text. The first and most permanent is via the Canvas tool, which I can use to import a specific text and then add various shapes etc to it. That's tedious at the moment, and I have faster results simply by using the drawing mode while in Canvas and marking up the text there (see below for example). This can then be saved and referred back to at a later date.
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Next, one can enter drawing mode while in logos by hitting F8, which allows you to do some limited drawing using the mouse or touch input. I think its mostly used for someone who wants to highlight or underline something while presenting a class, but it can be used for markup. See below. Downside to this is, as far as I can tell, no way to change the colour, size, etc of the drawing tool. And it's not permanent. See below.
The next method is as you alluded to, using the highlighting tool. I am currently working on a visual filter that uses the highlighting tool to mark up text according to it's morphological tagging (and using my colleges' system). The specific marking up is not universal, but you can start to see the potential. The major limitation at the moment is not being able to extend mark up across multiple words, for example I would normally put brackets around an entire prepositional phrase. But because the mark up is tied to the morphology of individual words, it's only bracketing the prepositional word, not the phrase. See below.
Additionally, the benefit of this style of mark-up is limited. It is a helpful visual filter and allows for quick checking of morphology/grammar etc but doesn't help the individual to learn/parse/markup themselves - which should be the goal.
Lastly, Mobile does have a draw on screen function now which can then be saved either a photo or a note. It's good for what it is, but I don't expect much more on such a platform.
So far none of these features comes even close to what you can do quickly and easily in MS Word, OneNote or PowerPoint. Simply copy your text from Logos into that application, enter drawing mode, and away you go.
My ideal (after about 5min thought, treat it like the ugly duckling it is) would be some combination of a visual filter and drawing tool. When entering this filter, drawing resources and mark-up tools are enabled allowing for connections between words to be made, shapes placed etc, with various different colours and styles etc. Additionally, the text spacing would increase. All this would allow the user to mark up the text using their own system, hand drawn, or using pre made symbols etc. Once the filter is deselected, everything reverts back to how it was before. The filter is key, and is what allows for the mark-up to persist despite entering/exiting the mode, able to be printed etc, in contrast to the drawing mode right now which wipes every time you exit.
Those are my thoughts, what do others think? I would love to see something like this given some attention by Logos - marking up text is an excellent tool for people who are learning languages and doing exegesis, and is given considerable attention at the college/seminary level. The potential is there to provide a tool which would be warmly welcomed by many.
Current MDiv student at Trinity Theological College - Perth, Western Australia
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The functionality demand in Logos, isn't that significant. At heart the text display is a graphics layer (going back to L4 development). I suspect, they won't go down this road, to maintain platform compatability (Logos vs the web).
In my own Bible software, I've had it for years ... lines markup as allowing overdrawing the text display, and saved automatically with the text-positioning. The primary use (for me), is to 'draw' visually the argument flow (logic, across paras/verse/chapters). I use customizable lines; I suppose I could add circles and boxes, but never needed more than line/color-types.
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While neither completely meet the need, have you tried:
- F8 that provides a drawing mode useful during presentations
- Canvas which has been extensively illustrated above
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."
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I've used both the canvas on drawing functions. Both of these are great and definitely meet a need (particularly when teaching).
The functionality I'm more interested in is probably more associated with "active reading" of the text versus presentation. There is a certain value in reading with a pen in hand and the ability to draw visual attention to particularities of a text for one's own personal reference, both in the moment and for future reference.
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