library window

[danzac]

Small requests

[Helen Brown]

We just cannot get to all the small requests, and still make any progress on the big new developments in the pipeline. On this one, I don't think we heard many seconds, so it was shelved for the time being.

[R. Mansfield]

An extra icon on the button bar (or in the workspace window) specifically to toggle the Library Window on or off might be helpful, too--especially for users more familiar with Windows-based software. I've had a couple of former Windows users ask how to do this. Of course, I point them to the Window menu, but I also see the desire for a quick access button.

[DanG]

We just cannot get to all the small requests, and still make any progress on the big new developments in the pipeline. On this one, I don't think we heard many seconds, so it was shelved for the time being.

 

Many of these same ideas came up in a discussion about 20 days ago in which David Lang responded, "Making the find feature of the Library more flexible is on our list of things to do."

 

See "Searching the Library Window" here: <http://www.accordancebible.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3035>

 

Without the suggestions in this forum and the one referenced above, the Find feature in the Library Window is a great idea but not very useful.

[RobM]

An extra icon on the button bar (or in the workspace window) specifically to toggle the Library Window on or off might be helpful, too--especially for users more familiar with Windows-based software. I've had a couple of former Windows users ask how to do this. Of course, I point them to the Window menu, but I also see the desire for a quick access button.

 

I suppose this could be somewhat useful. However, I would suggest learning the key stroke to toggle the Library Window on and off. The key stroke is option-cmd-1 (listed in the Window menu). Which at first glance seems like a lot of keys to push. But I have found it is very easy to do with my left hand (non-mouse hand which is almost always on the keyboard any way). I use my thumb to depress the option and cmd key (since the two are right next to each other, it is easy to do), then, without twisting or stretching my hand I tough the '1' key.

 

This also applies to the Resource Palette (option-cmd-2), Instant Details (option-cmd-3), Highlight Palette (option-cmd-4), Text Palette (option-cmd-5), and Character Palette (option-cmd-6). Granted, the higher the number, the more one has to pivot one's hand around on one's thumb. But I very quickly got used to using these key strokes and use them almost as naturally as I use the standard Mac keyboard shortcuts like cmd-q, -w, -c, -v, -x, -z, etc. (which are also in Accordance for various other features and functions).

 

Another thing, I am not sure why one would want/need another icon on the Resource Palette (I assume you mean "Resource Palette" when you say "button bar") to get to the Library Window. The Resource Palette is essentially another form of the Library Window. If I wanted to toggle the Library Window on and off I would also like to have the Resource Palette off due to redundancy and precious screen real estate, which was the point of the Resource Palette to begin with: to give instant access to all modules that one has while also taking up as little screen space as possible.

 

If the problem is finding modules lost among other modules, you may consider adding folders and dividers to further organize and group like modules together (folders like, for example, "devotional," "scholarly," "theology," "Old Testament," "New Testament," "Graphic Tools," etc). These folders and dividers would then be reflected in the Resource Palette.

 

I guess I personally feel that these things are already streamlined enough and that adding buttons and icons would only make the screen feel more cluttered (like Windows).

[DanG]

If the problem is finding modules lost among other modules, you may consider adding folders and dividers to further organize and group like modules together (folders like, for example, "devotional," "scholarly," "theology," "Old Testament," "New Testament," "Graphic Tools," etc). These folders and dividers would then be reflected in the Resource Palette.

 

There are two difficulties with using folders to find your modules. First, you'll have a folder with the same name in several different Tool categories (like I already do). This might be ok for organization, but not very helpful for finding a module you can't remember the name of. This could be helped by being able to put modules under a different Tools category than the module's default, but that creates other problems. Maybe you could create an "alias" of a module in the Library Window in order to have the same module listed in a couple places, but that seems like a messy solution. Second, if you only have one kind/type of a module in a certain Tool category then you don't want to bury it inside a folder i.e. BAS Pictures in my only graphics module under General Tools.

 

Here's an example of why finding modules in the Library Window needs to improved:

 

I opened the Library Window and typed in "Bibl" thinking that it would find "Bible Lands PhotoGuide" and "Accordance Gallery of Bible Art" and "Holman Book of Biblical Charts, Maps, & Reconstructions" and "Biblical World in Pictures" BUT it only found "Bible Art" because it's the only one of those modules whose actual Module Name BEGINS with "Bibl".

 

I couldn't remember that the module, "Biblical World in Pictures" is actually named "BAS Pictures", so after trying to search for "Pict" and "World" and anything else I could think of, I began the search through my entire Library Window manually. I found it at the bottom of my General Tools. The only clue that it might be the same thing as "Biblical World in Pictures" was the word "Pictures" in the title.

 

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been stymied by this.

 

In order to find anything in the Library Window with the Find field you must know the name for the module that Accordance uses, not the actual name of the book/module. So, for instance, in order to find the following modules, I must memorize the name used by Accordance as in the examples below.

 

Bible Lands PhotoGuide = PhotoGuide 3

Accordance Gallery of Bible Art = Bible Art

Holman Book of Biblical Charts, Maps, & Reconstructions = Holman Charts

Biblical World in Pictures = BAS Pictures

 

So here's an idea: How about being able to search by title (real title), title (Accordance's), author, or partial match of any of combination of those.

[DanG]

I think the modules should have their full names in the library window, with the module name in parenthesis at the end. It makes the actual names searchable.

 

Agreed. I have over 400 modules, some of which I use very seldom (obviously!). For those, it is sometimes difficult to identify from the module names what the module really is. As a result, I tend to use those modules even less.

 

Earlier today, someone wrote in another forum about how to increase the usefulness of the modules for the casual user. I believe he was in software marketing. I thought he had some good ideas about how to do just that. This discussion definitely ties into what he was saying.