How do you use it? Logos Layouts

Jason Stone (Logos) · 2025-03-18T15:14:19+00:00

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Organizing your study workspace is crucial. Logos’ ‘Layouts’ let you arrange your tools and resources efficiently, so everything you need is just a click away. How do you set up your layouts for optimal study and do you have any favorites that you'd like to share with the community?

P.S. Share a screenshot of your favorite layout to inspire others!

Learn more about Logos Layouts here →

Example panel showing tile arrangement.jpeg

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Comments

DMB

Well, layouts come up quite frequently. Just observing, it seems the key to layouts is flexibility. Each Logosian does his/her work as needed … the layout needs to respond appropriately. And Logos4 began that flexibility … great design.

I use Logos as my research assistant; it's not my main Bible study app. So, as a user, I want it to quickly display info I want, with no muss, no fuss. I use 6 windows; below is my 'Hebrew' window, for illustration.

Francis

I use saved layouts a lot to save different studies. Sometimes it is studies I am actively working on at the present. Other times, it is studies that I have to put on the backburner for now. Either case, I use saved layouts to keep the latest of the combination of resources I need, where I need them on the app desktop, with the sync sets I want and at the appropriate resource locations. I update each layout when I revisit and progress in the corresponding studies.

I also find convenient the standard tile layouts next to the search field in the layouts menu. It's a quick way to operate a change in tab placements or sizes if needed temporarily. I then use the layout history to revert to the previous arrangement (or the last saved update) when done.

Lastly, the layout history is useful for short-term recovery of a layout one has forgotten to save.

At present, I don't use really quickstart layouts. But perhaps I will someday if and when I have time to see if it would help my workflows to customize them. Not sure about that.

Lew Worthington

As @DMB mentioned, flexibility is key. I currently have 11 layouts. I always start Logos with no layout loaded. Of these 11 layouts, I have one all-purpose layout that I have pared down to 4 windows. (I used to have more.) The main window is divided into 4 sections, moving clockwise starting at the top left corner: English Bible versions; Original language versions; Text critical stuff; Lexicons. When employing various layouts, I almost always take advantage of multiple book display as I do here with the text critical quadrant.

The other 4 windows in this layout (I won't fill the page with them all) are: One with commentaries and monographs on one side and notes (I just started playing with this) on the other half; one with grammars and a few search templates ready to rock; and one with the library with no filters set.

I also have 10 other saved layouts, each of which is tailored to a specific purpose. Some represent specific topics I'm studying; some represent more advanced searching Logos offers that I don't seem to instinctively understand; some are focused on Homeric and Attic reading and other languages. Layouts is such a key feature for me that I cannot imagine studying without it.

DMB

I know Jason's just wanting layout use, but if I had a Libronix-wish, it would be to pop a layout panel out for examination, and pop right back into the layout. That's my only Logos4 disappointment. I do wonder who did the initial design … survived years of 'more stuff' quite well. Smart person.

Donovan R. Palmer

I use layouts to set out some key resources on my 'virtual desk'. It is kind of a foundation for studies. I use the resources on my virtual desk as launch points to pull other books off my bookshelf. I almost always open these launch points to resources with shift + click or use the keyboard shortcut command + option + F to float them and pop them out so that I can focus on that resource. Occasionally, I will dock the new resource as a tab if I want to go back to it, but most of the time, after I am done, I will either let it go to the background as a floating window or use the keyboard shortcut command + W to close it. (one must be careful not to use the keyboard shortcut command + Z, next to the W, or this closes Logos completely down! 😜)

I can thumb through many resources like this quickly, scanning for gold. The AI summaries in search panels are another amazing aid to speed up reading and curating my library. (anyone remember when we used to have to go to the card catalogue box in the library, go find the book, then pound your way through a massive stack of books to find what you wanted?!)

This is why I have always advocated for being able to open multiple layouts at once. I like to keep my workspace focused and tight - a launch point or foundation for studies. Cognitively, I do the same with my internet browser. Some of my friends will have Chrome open with so many tabs they have no clue what they have open anymore. For me, with how my brain is wired, it's a distraction from focus. A layout with 50 tabs is useless to me because I don't want to try remember where all my resources are. I don't need to. The software can pull up a resource in a split second using command + option + L (to type in the resource name in) or command + L (to pop out the library window) or even right arrow key to a parallel resource. The best friend to a layout is keyboard commands and I have a personal book that I have built to remind me what they are.

I also arrange resources in an order that creates a cycle of working from left to right, with a few books stacked under if I want to pull something up to the top. Searches can be inline, so that I can stay in the text as much as possible. The goal is for a smooth circular workflow with as little friction as possible, and I think very little about what Logos is doing.

If I hit the constraint of only being able to open one layout, I will use the web version of Logos to have a secondary layout in my workflow. So, I might start with a layout with an exegetical focus, but then, on the web, I might have some launch points to look at church commentary history and application. Attempting to cram all of this into one layout just creates more friction and mental processing of juggling my launch points. Loading and unloading layout is even more disruptive.

Below is my Greek Language Studies Layout. The driver of my workflow is the text. I will often pop out a copy of the text in a floating panel and strip out all formatting, just to engage it on its own. This begins my reading, meditation and prayers with God; and some devotional notes. Then, I might return to the foundation to explore different words and elements of the text, then taking some structured study notes. I would love it if we could have a more modern way of linking notes… maybe one day!

I have a Subject Matter Reading layout as well… a Patristic Studies layout, etc. I am constantly tweaking my workflows as new capabilities come to Logos Bible Software. I love the subscription model because this means I have new ways to explore resources all the time, rather than waiting a couple of years.

Anyhow, each to his / her own! I appreciate this thread started by @Jason Stone (Logos), because I am always curious how people set the software up for their use case and workflows.

NichtnurBibelleser

I work a lot with Dynamic Visual Filters. So when I read a book - here the main interest is the The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The New Testament's commentary on the Gospel of Mark - I have it in the middle and the non-biblical Filters bottom left, the biblical Filters bottom right in order to easy access them for adjustment.

Brian Davidson

I like simple layouts.

I have one for work (I'm a teacher). This is used to show students text. I zoom in and out frequently with this layout (command +).

I have one for reading Hebrew. This layout is used as a reference for reading with a print HB.

One for reading Greek. This layout is used as a reference for reading with a print GNT.

One for teaching Greek.

One for teaching Hebrew.

I frequently delete my saved layouts and then resave new ones that reflect my current workflow.