Visual Markups. Suggestions & an Illustration

I love reading in version 4. The tones down colors. The font, the background, the fluid resizing, and the potential that we'll have columned formats make me even more excited to purchase more resources in the future that I may otherwise have just purchased in book form.

But then as I read I inevitably try to highlight and get all frustrated. Despite all of the high-powered search, keylinking, report generating features of Libronix, the #1 thing that we do with a library is read it. The search features get me to the resource I want to read. And when I'm reading, it's just me, my pen (in digital form this is the notes and highlighter), and the Holy Spirit.

PBBs & Visual Markups

Even if a book that I was going to read significant portions of was available in PBB format, I would purchase it from Logos if available so that I could mark it up. This is why I bought the John Owen Library and the Jonathan Edwards library and am in on prepubs of numerous public domain works. Not being able to mark up books was the fatal flaw in my mind of PBB format. And now that flaw has been introduced into my entire digital library. Visual markup is the basic, bottom of the barrel kind of stuff that appeals to the broadest crowd. It has been what has hooked a great number of my friends who I recommend Logos to.

So I beg you guys, sooner than later, please bring back the rich visual markup tools that we enjoyed in v 3.

Suggestions When Markups Are Implemented

Now onto suggestions for Markups

Right-Click Menu

Keeping with the simplicity and clean feel of version 4, make the visual markup options avaialable from the right-click menu. I have wished for this functionality in version 3, and I think it would fit with version 4 very well.

Visual Markup Overlays

There are times when visual markups are desired over a text and there are times when they're not. I have invented complex markup schemes for passages or books that I have spent a lot of time studying. In version 3, these chapters are a rainbow of color and other markups. This has proven extremely helpful for me understanding a text. Yet there are times when I have wished I could click a button and those disappear.

There are other times, when I am reading big chunks of Scripture I am highlight things like "God's Grace" or "God's verbs" or "prayer". I don't always want these on my text, but I have been able to get a birds-eye view of these themes of scripture this way. I would love to be able to apply or remove a particular visual markup overlay to the text.

Finally, in case there are problems with the import of version 3 highlights, keeping all of these in a separate layer that can be applied or removed would potentially minimize annoyance if there were any resources where these overlays did not transfer. We all survived the implementation of the improved visual markups of v3 when some of our v2 markups were mangled. We will survive a few misplaced notes or misplaced markups. But please attempt to import them.

Visual Markup Sharing

If the overlay suggestion is taken, then these visual markup overlay files could be shared or submitted as homework assignments. I am faculty at our Grace Bible Institute - where Libronix is a mandatory resource - and I have given assignments involving visual markups. It would be great if these files could be "turned in." This is not as high on my list of suggestions as the previous two.

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Comments

TCBlack

So I beg you guys, sooner than later, please bring back the rich visual markup tools that we enjoyed in v 3.

I'm with you on this Jacob. I read like you do, with a pen/highlighter in hand. My paper bibles are marked, underlined, arrows flying every which way.

Lacking markup of some form, I have a hard time reading.

Bob Pritchett

I think we're getting the message that many of you want visual markup... :-)

How important is it to have the full customizability of markup in 3.0? How do you feel about the first version of markup coming with just a set number of style palettes, all hard-coded into the system? (All font colors, all background colors, various underlines and formatting, etc.)

Or did you do a lot of custom style development?

spitzerpl

How important is it to have the full customizability of markup in 3.0? How do you feel about the first version of markup coming with just a set number of style palettes, all hard-coded into the system? (All font colors, all background colors, various underlines and formatting, etc.)

takes a small negative of 4.0 off my plate. The big negative is the lack of assurance of importation from 3.0. I'm not casting judgment though, just voicing my concern. I don't expect you to speak much on it as I'm sure it takes a lot of discussion with developers to make it happen and I would rather you only make promises and comments after you know you can deliver.

J.R. Miller

I can tell you why I never used it.. no way to print and review my bookmarks. In a book, I can flip through the pages, find my marks, and move from there. I did not find a super fast way to do it. Now I could be wrong, and I don't even have v3 running, but that, for me, would be what I would need to use a mark-up system I doubt I would use or create a special system, but a few basic colors to highlight with would be good. Then again, I know I am not the base of folks you are asking, so I will let the real markup-experts answer now :-)

Rich DeRuiter

Or did you do a lot of custom style development?

I did some custom styles to highlight certain important themes, underlying key Greek words (especially where different Greek words are translated by the same word in English λογοσ vs. ρημα, e.g.), tracking pronouns with antecedents (very helpful in parts of the 1st chapter of Ephesians, e.g.), and to highlight some theologically or practically significant verses -- especially ones that make me nervous or uncomfortable. Some of that I can do with notes, and would probably create a note file for just that if necessary.

How do you feel about the first version of markup coming with just a set number of style palettes, all hard-coded into the system? (All font colors, all background colors, various underlines and formatting, etc.)

That would be enough for me. The background images just made it hard to read the underlying text. The rest was pretty cool, and a great distraction when I was supposed to be doing in depth study. ;-)

Oh and I don't need printing capabilities for visual mark-ups. I don't know why I would ever want to. Apparently others want this, but I can't think of any reason I'd want to.

Robert Pavich

I'm with Rich...AS LONG AS there are A LOT OF STYLES AND COLORS TO CHOOSE FROM!!

Also, the printing thing...that would clinch the deal for me!

I do the same thing; read / highlight /read more / highlight more.... [:D]

spitzerpl

I do the same thing; read / highlight /read more / highlight more....

Have you ever tried Highlighting the whole book and then un-highlight the passages you don't like? :-)

Pam Larson

I have only ever used the "highlighter pen" style. I like having the different colors, but I could live with just one color. I would prefer if the markup color and the notes color were not the same. Right now using notes as a workaround I'm stuck with yellow for both.

DominicM

I have only ever used the "highlighter pen" style. I like having the different colors, but I could live with just one color. I would prefer if the markup color and the notes color were not the same. Right now using notes as a workaround I'm stuck with yellow for both.

pam if you click on the yellow color square in the notefile, you can change the color already

Pam Larson

Cool! Thanks.

Lynden O. Williams

Thanks. If I type a text in the notes, when I clik it, can I make it hyperlink to open my Bible?