I could use some help with Notes please

Maybe my problem is the lines are actually blurry between visual filters and highlights!  Thoughts?

Here's how I conceive of these tools...maybe it will help you-

Highlights (HL) and Visual Filters (VF) are both simply highlights.

HL are made by you, manually. VF are made by the machine according to a rule. You might write the rule, or a command you execute in Logos might write the rule. But once the rule runs, it simply makes highlights. And when you highlight something yourself, you can only highlight what you see.  But a VF can highlight something according to what is hidden (called 'metadata').

(This is conceptual and not intended to describe how Logos handles the data in VF).

If this isn't helpful, just move along.

Actually, that IS helpful!

Thanks all, this thread has been immensely helpful in figuring out the new notes system. One thing I'm thinking through is how I might handle organizing a larger research project. Let's say I am doing a study on a broad topic such as sanctification. I imagine I would have at least one related passage list, lots of clippings and perhaps some documents I create as well (as other file types I haven't worked with enough to grasp their value!). What would be a good strategy for bringing this all together? Would I create a notebook to store all these files and results? Would I just use tagging for the project name? Looking for some basic usage ideas on getting the most from the new system.

This is a FANTASTIC question and really--now that I've muddled through the above--my very next question.  As a college student, I run into this all the time.  I thought that notebooks, based off the title, was exactly that:  a place where I would take all my work and put it in my notebook, just like a student would take all their notes, clippings, research notes, post-its (which appears to be likened to anchors for me), handouts, etc.  I think sometimes part of the problem with Logos is they don't think about what a common item is used for and thus how a title to a tool would be perceived.  That then throws in the curve ball for someone like me who tends to be a visual black-and-white type of person. Then I find out that highlights are notes which, when placed in a notebook, automatically create visual filters that act as visual filters but are not REALLY visual filters!  REEEAAALLLLLY?

So, I would love it if someone could answer danwdoo's (and my) question.  How would you put something like that in motion?

Okay, this is still a little fuzzy for me, from what I can tell, Notebooks serve two purposes: To create visual filters and to organize notes. 

They are used to organise notes and can be used as visual filters - I wouldn't actually say they "create" visual filters (but that may be a distinction without a difference!).

I'm a little bit confused here because I think that was what David said above.  I could have misunderstood him.  Can you explain the distinction for me?

Maybe I am being a bit too pedantic - and maybe I am wrong as well!

But what I was trying to say is that a Notebook is a Notebook and not a Visual Filter. But it does show up in the Visual Filter menu as a selectable item so functions as a Visual Filter. 

I think what is confusing is this.  When you first open the notes tool, whether you want to write a note or search a note, the notes are mixed in with the highlights, so if you don't realize that highlights is PART OF the notes tool, (which I didn't), then you don't realize how important it is to make sure to choose whether you are searching a highlight or a note.  For someone like me, who has all her inductive Bible study icons and highlights there, I couldn't understand what all my "filters" were doing there.  I thought notes was notes...PERIOD.  It confused me that highlights were there, so when searching for a note, it really is best to choose NOTES right off the bat.  That way, when I get down to my notebooks (which have all my inductive Bible study visual filters there...and there are a lot!), all those icon filters are gone and I'm simply searching or viewing my notes.  Clear as mud, right?!

That makes total sense and is a great way of achieving this particular use case. 

There are other scenarios where filtering just to Notes straight away wouldn't work - for example if I want to look at the combination of notes and highlights in a resource - where immediately just focusing on Notes wouldn't be a good thing to do. That was all I was suggesting.

Graham:  Thanks so much.  I fully understand what you're saying now.  I even understand why I may not want to filter away my highlights.  For me, personally, I see notes still needing some work.  As I mentioned above, notebooks should NOT be called notebooks when the notebooks contain highlights that function as visual filters.  Logos needs to consider what it titles a tool, because with that title comes an assumption on the part of the user that it will do what it does in real life. It leads to confusion and frustration when the user doesn't realize that the title of the tool doesn't necessarily mean that its computer function mimics its real life function.

As always, you rock, and I thank you for all your help!!!!

Let's say I am doing a study on a broad topic such as sanctification. I imagine I would have at least one related passage list, lots of clippings and perhaps some documents I create as well (as other file types I haven't worked with enough to grasp their value!). What would be a good strategy for bringing this all together? Would I create a notebook to store all these files and results?

From this description I would probably start with creating a Favorites folder on the topic and then dragging clippings, passage list, documents, etc to it to keep all your research material in one place. And if you also create a Notes Notebook with relevant notes then dragging the Notes Tool to this Favorites folder when you have the Notebook selected means that when you click it in the Favorites folder it will open an instance of the Notes Tool with that notebook already selected.

If you aren't familiar with Favorites - you can find out about them at https://wiki.logos.com/Favorites 

Thank Graham:  This helps immensely.  I'm thinking maybe Logos would want to incorporate something like this into Notes or make something like this more obvious. (or maybe they have and I don't know how.)

The reason I say that is because whether someone uses Logos as a pastor, a college student, or a student of the Word, having all their notes, clippings, etc., on a particular topic or passage that they gather for a sermon, a paper, or a study all in one place (i.e., what I thought was the point of notebook),  seems so logical.  As it is now, my clippings,(including notes on those clippings), documents, passage lists, etc., are in one place and my notes (including highlights on those notes) are in another.  Now I have to take those and put them all in another place outside of the documents and outside of the notes, which means I'll need to remember to drag them all over to the favorites folder whenever I update them if I want to keep the folder up to date.  That's fine, but it would be more helpful if I could somehow have a shortcut key or an icon in the notes folder (and in a perfect world, within my document I've created), that allows me to link (or maybe the word is save) the note or clipping or passage list over to the particular favorites folder.  Is that option available?

Edited to add:  Upon reading the article in the above link, Logos starts by saying that "Favorites in Logos are like favorites that you add in Internet Explorer or other browser programs. It allows you to store locations to resources. As with favorites in your browser you can create Folders and organize your favorites."  Keeping with my assertion that Logos needs to think about what they title things, I would agree that to be the idea I would get in my head as to the function of "Favorites."  Logos then goes on and says, "You can save Bible study resources, clippings, layout and such for a particular Bible study in a named folder."  I would expect THAT function in Notebook (as clearly did danwdoo in the post above). I'm just saying that what Logos titles something gives a picture in the mind of the user and more often than not, I'm discovering that it doesn't mimic the actual item.

[ Upon reading the article in the above link, Logos starts by saying that "Favorites in Logos are like favorites that you add in Internet Explorer or other browser programs. It allows you to store locations to resources. As with favorites in your browser you can create Folders and organize your favorites."  Keeping with my assertion that Logos needs to think about what they title things, I would agree that to be the idea I would get in my head as to the function of "Favorites."  Logos then goes on and says, "You can save Bible study resources, clippings, layout and such for a particular Bible study in a named folder."  I would expect THAT function in Notebook (as clearly did danwdoo in the post above). I'm just saying that what Logos titles something gives a picture in the mind of the user and more often than not, I'm discovering that it doesn't mimic the actual item.

As I mentioned above, notebooks should NOT be called notebooks when the notebooks contain highlights that function as visual filters.  Logos needs to consider what it titles a tool, because with that title comes an assumption on the part of the user that it will do what it does in real life. It leads to confusion and frustration when the user doesn't realize that the title of the tool doesn't necessarily mean that its computer function mimics its real life function.

I will have to say though that 'favorites' is probably about the worst name possible that could have been chosen for the Logos 'favorites' feature as the function of this bears little resemblance to what favorites features do in about every other program out there. A name such as binder, organizer, or even document library makes far more sense to me. I would have never looked at this feature in relation to what I will soon be doing with it based on the name.

Danwdoo:  I would have to say that I couldn't agree with you more.  I like your suggestion of BINDER a lot.

whyndell:  Your screenshot of favorites is very helpful.  Thanks for sharing.