So, what’s a widget, and what’s it got to do with a Bible verse?
Watch this video to see how to use and configure Verse Widgets, those handy little icons that appear below the references in the Bible and Verse List panels.
So, what’s a widget, and what’s it got to do with a Bible verse?
Watch this video to see how to use and configure Verse Widgets, those handy little icons that appear below the references in the Bible and Verse List panels.
SwordSearcher has long offered the ability to create your own content in the library. This functionality has steadily been improved with new features and tools. Version 8.2, released last week, improves the editor by live-linking verse references as you type. Up until 8.2, verse references were only linked when the entry was saved. This worked well, but now you can make changes and additions and verify that the references are correct before saving the entry. This and other changes over the years prompted me to update (well, completely re-do) the tutorial video on user modules which you can now watch here.
I’ve put together a short demo/tutorial video for the Word Trees explorer tool that was added in SwordSearcher 8.2. Head on over here to watch it.
SwordSearcher 8.2 is now available.
Be sure to try out the new Word Trees tool — a fun, unique way to see word and phrase connections in the Bible.
If you’re a SwordSearcher user already, go here for your upgrade.
Q2 2018
If you are using a version older than 8.0, be sure to watch the video that shows what’s new in SwordSearcher 8.
New Modules:
Major new features:
SwordSearcher includes a book module called Outlines of the Books of the Bible. A great way to use this book is from the Bible margin, where you can link into the verse’s place in an outline of the whole book.
From any verse in the Bible panel, just click the OutlinesBB margin link to see it in an outline of the book, like this:
This will open the outline for the book, with the verse position highlighted, like this:
That’s it!
What if you don’t see the OutlinesBB book link in the margin?
Right-click the Margin toggle button from the Bible panel, and make sure it is selected in your list of books to include in the margin area:
If you are doing exhaustive research, one of the tools you might use in SwordSearcher is the Full Library Search (found on the search menu). This lets you find words in your entire library, including books and commentaries, with just a few clicks. Here I am going to show you a very small change in SwordSearcher 8.1 that makes it easier to review search results:
After a Full Library Search, you are presented with a list of entries in your library that contain what you are looking for, along with a preview of the first match in the entry, like this:
As you can see, there is a match in Genesis 1:1 in the Ellicott commentary. When clicked, the full entry is loaded in the commentary panel.
Now what is important to remember is that the search results are shown a lot like a web search– you only see the first match in the preview. But there may be more.
So in version 8.1, a small change was made to make it easier to cycle through multiple “hits” in the entry. Now there are two additional buttons on the toolbar for the Commentary panel that appear if you are viewing a search result:
You can also use the keyboard numeric keypad + and – keys to perform the same action. In fact, this has been possible in previous versions of SwordSearcher, but was hard to learn about without reading the manual. These new buttons make it a lot easier.
The buttons also appear when using the Verse Guide so that you can cycle over multiple verse references matching a verse in an entry.
Version 8.1 adds a new option for controlling the alignment of the library tabs. This option is called Static Multi-Row and affects how tabs are placed in the Bible, Book, and Commentary panels.
Normally, a tab control in Windows software holds to a tabbed folder paradigm. This means that the active tab is always “attached” to the contents below it. If there is more than one row of tabs, clicking a tab in an upper row will move the row down so that it is connected to the contents for the tab. This is how it has always been in SwordSearcher in previous versions. This image demonstrates how the top row “moves down” if one of its tabs is selected:
Over the years many users have reported that this behavior can be confusing, especially at first. So in SwordSearcher 8.1, a new option was added to fix tab positions regardless of which is active. This is called Static Multi-Row and looks like this:
The BibIllus tab is active, but it retains it’s top-row position so that it still appears alphabetically placed.
During beta testing, this new option was liked so well by testers that it is actually the new default setting. So to use this, you don’t need to change anything. However, if you would like to change the behavior, the old alignment method is still an option.
Choose Normal Multi-Row to use the previous behavior (which is more consistent with other Windows controls). Additionally, you can choose the Single Row option if you do not want multiple rows of tabs at all.
It can also be helpful to change the color of the Active or Inactive tabs here, so that the active tabs “stands out” a bit more. Experiment with the color settings to see what works best for you.
You can also change the shape of the tabs as well. The default setting of Square Corners is the most compact tab style. See what you like best!
This is always one of my favorite things to do every new year: announce a new SwordSearcher release! Version 8.1 is now available and brings several enhancements and some new library content.
Be sure to read the Upgrade FAQ if you are already a SwordSearcher user.
New Modules:
Improvements:
When you come across a verse that is hard to understand, don’t go straight to a commentary. I know, this may sound like a strange suggestion from someone who makes Bible Software, but just give this a try and see what happens. I am not suggesting that there is anything wrong with reading commentaries — that’s not what this is about.
Try to make a habit of cross-referencing before you do anything else in SwordSearcher. Before you read your favorite commentators or start clicking on links in the Bible margin for topical references, check out some cross-references first. If you already do this regularly then you already know how satisfying this is during Bible study. If you never really did it this way before, give it a shot using the KJV-TSK in SwordSearcher [video tutorial]. It will help you with copious cross-references. Another helpful tool is the Find Related Verses function [video tutorial], which helps you do Bible searches based on the words in a verse you are studying.
-Brandon
Psalm 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
When you do a Bible search, the results are displayed in a Verse List panel. At the top of the panel is a Match Frequency Bar Graph that helps you quickly survey the use of the words over the whole Bible.
Using this graph you can instantly see where the most and fewest verses are, as well as quickly navigate in the search results.
Just experiment! In no time you’ll see how fast and helpful the bar graph is.
And here are some pro tips:
Not seeing the bar graph? It was added in version 8. Please see the upgrade FAQ to learn about upgrading SwordSearcher.