Please help!

Thanks for your regular help on the forums Mark! The problem is that no matter what I do now, it's going to be a significant amount of time wasted and loss of productivity. If I go back to 7 I've likely got hours of time in it, and if I stick with 8 I either have to figure out workarounds and/or go without features I used every day. Neither is good. I've been using Logos since Bible college in 1995-96, and when they get it right they're the best Bible software in the world. But their communication (or better lack thereof) is systemically flawed and I can't imagine releasing a new version that doesn't do everything the previous version did. They're supposed to add functionality, not lose it. It really is a love/hate relationship at this point.

2. You can no longer click on a reading plan from the home page and have it open to your existing layout. Instead, it closes your layout and opens a layout that FL has decided upon. Definitely not the layout I'm going to use for my daily reading.

Matthew,

If you modify the layout the way that you want, and then click in the layouts menu, under the Home Page layouts section click on the arrow next to the Bible Reading Plan layout, and select "Replace with the current layout". Then is should use what you've updated it to. I hope this helps.

Hi Philana,

I very much appreciate you trying to help. Unfortunately, this doesn't quite work. I did what you said and clicked on a reading plan and I got the spinning wheel of death and had to force quit (Mac). I restarted and tried again. This time it did load the proper starting verse from my reading plan, but it stayed on the Bible that was saved in my current layout instead of switching to the Bible specified in the reading plan (my default layout has several Bibles open including all of the ones I use for my various daily reading plans). So I tried it again using a different plan and it locked up and I had to force quit and restart. I tried again and got the same results--it opened to the correct passage but did not change to the correct Bible. So I have to either remember which Bible to manually switch to or open up the reading plan from docs and go to each reading plan from there. Maybe they can tweak your way so that it does what it did in 7, but what it's doing in 8 is not the same, it doesn't open to the Bible that is specified in the reading plan.

Thanks for trying,

Matthew

Matthew,

Did you click on "Replace with current layout" when you made your changes? It needs to be the Bible Reading Plan layout under Home Page the Home Page layouts section of the layouts menu. When you return to the layouts menu it should say "custom" next to it.

Yes, I did everything you said. But it will only work if your current layout happens to be using the same Bible as the reading plan you launch. My layout has nine different Bibles opened. I have three daily reading plans that use different Bibles. So if my default layout is saved with the LEB as the currently visible Bible (although there are eight other Bible tabs in my default layout) and I click on a reading plan whose Bible is the ESV, it will open to the passage from the reading plan, but it will stay in the LEB even though the ESV is the tab right next to it.

I think it was called "Corresponding Highlights." If you made a highlight in one Bible, you could see the same highlight in any other Bible so long as they all were Bibles that Logos had made into reverse interlinears e.g. ESV, NIV, NASB, LEB.

Yes, that's missing but 'planned' (I edited by reply after you must have seen it).

Matthew, I'm not trying to make little of something that means a lot to you, but the list you gave seems fairly minor. To revert to L7 is going to take quite a bit of time. Then you'll lose the functions in L8 that might be helpful to your studies (Theology Guide, some of the workflows, search templates, Canvas, for example). 

I wonder if what you've highlighted is 'mission critical' enough to be worth the time and potential loss?

Again, please take that as a gentle question. I know what is important to you may not be important to me, but it doesn't seem what you are talking about is critical to the real purpose for which you own Logos Bible software.

Thanks Mark. I'm sure you're right, I'm just frustrated. I don't understand the decision to release a "new" version of the software that doesn't do all that the previous version did. We want new features, better search options, faster loading, etc. Who wants to have things that weren't broken and that we used every day removed? I use my multiple reading plans every day and was perfectly fine with the homepage and my ability to customize it. Why would you do away with corresponding highlights? It was a wonderful feature. I may have made highlights 5 years ago in a Bible and now I prefer another Bible and am making highlights in it. No problem in 7. It's the same as if suddenly notes made in one Bible are no longer attached to other Bibles. But that still works in 8 as far as I can see. It just don't understand the reasoning at all.

I'm just frustrated

Understood.

Why would you do away with corresponding highlights?

Implementation of the new Notes tool has been in beta for quite some time. I really think what FL is trying to do is a good thing. Apparently it is complicated enough that they could not deliver all the former capabilities on time.

You can revert to the old Notes system. I'm not sure, but I believe that will restore corresponding highlights. Check here. That's easier than reverting back to L7.

I followed Levi's link to the notes FAQ and see the corresponding highlights is twelfth on the list of priorities. Who knows how long that will take? I guess what I just don't get is why release Logos 8 until it's ready? Why go through the customer frustration and disappointment that sours what should be a joyous release campaign? Why not wait another six months if that's what it takes to get it right and roll it out with pride? I suspect it's a matter of wanting/needing the Christmas purchase revenue that a Fall release will generate. FL really is an odd mix of brilliance and things that make you scratch your head. I appreciate all your help and advice on this and the countless times I've read your comments and posts! Thanks for giving of your time and knowledge Mark.

Why not wait another six months if that's what it takes to get it right and roll it out with pride?

The way FL has explained it is that their release dates get set a long time in advance. All sorts of things, including staffing, budgets, vacation time, other marketing plans, and so on (virtually most of the life of the company) gets pinned to that release date. If something gets delayed they cannot just slip the release date (especially six months). I get that. You cannot run a business as big as Faithlife's from month-to-month.

The result is what we always see with a new major number release: not everything is as ready as FL (and we) would like it to be. It is stable (for the most part), so people aren't dealing with what beta testers have to deal with. But it is likely incomplete.

The only thing FL could do is better communicate what doesn't work in the new release, esp. when it takes users backwards.

Makes sense Mark. Given how long they've been doing this, though, you'd think they set dates with a whole lot more margin for exactly this reason. But the biggest area in which they can and need to improve is DEFINITELY communicating with their customers on numerous issues, including this. They really need to make it someone's job to improve how they communicate and interact with customers. They bring unnecessary grief and ill will upon themselves. As you know, this is not a new issue. Thanks again Mark!

Yes, I did everything you said. But it will only work if your current layout happens to be using the same Bible as the reading plan you launch. My layout has nine different Bibles opened. I have three daily reading plans that use different Bibles. So if my default layout is saved with the LEB as the currently visible Bible (although there are eight other Bible tabs in my default layout) and I click on a reading plan whose Bible is the ESV, it will open to the passage from the reading plan, but it will stay in the LEB even though the ESV is the tab right next to it.

Hi Matthew,

I created a case for this.

Thanks Philana!