Linking to scriptures on church website

Discussions about the Notes and Journal tool on LDS.org. This includes the Study Toolbar as well as the scriptures and other content on LDS.org that is integrated with Notes and Journal.
jhardy355
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Joined: Sun May 01, 2011 4:24 pm

Linking to scriptures on church website

#1

Post by jhardy355 »

I use links to scriptures on my own website.
When I type in a scripture reference like Ether 9:22 in the Search window the link I get for that does not take me directly to the verse and mark it like it used to (the old online scriptures were much better):

Here is the link I get for Ether 9:22

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... &clang=eng

It has the wrong ending on the link and only takes me to the chapter. Here is what the link needs to look like:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... ng=eng#p20

This link takes me directly to the verse and marks it. The search engine is not translating the reference into the correct link address.
Sometimes it does but lately it gets it wrong most of the time.
I tried to communicate this through the Feedback page but I get an error message saying my feedback can't be transmitted.
mevans
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Location: California, USA

Re: Linking to scriptures on church website

#2

Post by mevans »

I've found that the overall church search never found scriptures well, but the scripture search on the old scriptures was pretty good. I don't think the new scripture format has that and agree it's difficult.

I notice your post was a while ago. Are you still having difficultly submitting Feedback? You could possibly try a feedback link elsewhere on LDS.org and include the URL of where you are. Also, I've noticed recently that there's a feedback popup on the left side of the new scriptures. You could try submitting your feedback there.
vaughnhhughes
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Joined: Tue Feb 04, 2020 2:43 pm

Re: Linking to scriptures on church website

#3

Post by vaughnhhughes »

This has been the same problem I have been struggling with ever since the Church updated the scriptures web site in the Fall. I have submitted feedback about it and even spoke with the brother in the IT department who owns the Library mobile app. No one seems to know anything about any recovery of this important functionality. Have you heard anything? It is much more challenging to "search the scriptures" in the modern age when I can't put a reference in and get a hyperlink to the highlighted range of verses in the chapter. And I can't find anywhere else that has the LDS standard works available online with this functionality.
jhardy355
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Re: Linking to scriptures on church website

#4

Post by jhardy355 »

I haven't heard anything yet about it. The only way I know how to link to a specific scripture is what I explained above in my previous post , but you have to type in the extra parts yourself manually. (For that reference I should have said Ether 9: 21)
(eg. For multiple verses like Ether 9: 21-22 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... ng=eng#p20)
mevans
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Re: Linking to scriptures on church website

#5

Post by mevans »

One suggestion for searching the scriptures is to use Google. If you want to stay on the church's site, just append "site: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures" to the end of your search.

I often times use Google to find things on the Church's website. It works way better than the church's customized search tool.
brighamshaw
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Re: Linking to scriptures on church website

#6

Post by brighamshaw »

This isn't the thread that I originally intended to post this on, but maybe that's for the best.
Somebody on the thread I read several weeks ago solved the problem by simply asking "What utility does such a link even have."

First allow me to show you my reach-around for generating links to a specific verse or passage, besides manually editing the link in the address bar, as already shown by others.

Then I'll answer the question posed by the moderator/senior member.

First of all, you're going to need to sign into your account. You will need to do this continually throughout the process, and certainly if you close your browser. It's very important that nobody hacks your account and donates money to the church in your name.

Next, go to the chapter with the verses you would like to link to, and simply highlight a random letter or word, it doesn't matter. This will open the menu for adding a note, highlighting, etc. Click the little button that looks like two little links of an awful chain. This is the link function and will open yet another window of the gospel library.

From here you will have to drill down again to your intended verses. That's why I do this all from the chapter I'm working with. You can generate the link anywhere in your scriptures, but doing it from the place your linking to helps you not forget the passage as you repeat it in your head to yourself.

Eventually, with prayer, you'll find the verses you were looking for. simply click on the verse number of each verse you'd like to link to. (note, there is one exception to doing this in the chapter you are linking to. Don't highlight the actual verses you want to link, it has to be somewhere else in the chapter. The servers in Salt Lake don't like it, and it delays The Work from reaching completion for like 10 minutes every time somebody makes the mistake.)

Exit the window, and go back to your actual scriptures, not the special link creating set we all get for free but don't know how to use.

You should see the awful little chains next to your randomly marked word in the chapter heading. click on it and it will open in the sidebar. right click on that link and "copy the link".

Now you can paste it into your blog or hide it in an email.


Now, as for the person's question as to why you would ever need this functionality this side of the Millenium.

The simple answer is "the same reason the church uses this functionality in their posts."

But without resorting to comparisons, I have a blog that I frequently attempt to link to the church website and yes, specific scripture passages. The reason I do this is because I want to and feel like it. But the utility of it is not only an elegant way to provide additional insight to something I said, but a way to trick my friends.

You see, my friends don't like to read the scriptures. So if I say something like "whore of all the earth" in my post, I don't want them to have to read the entirety of 1 Nephi 13.
If they follow a link to that, or any chapter of any book really, they'll never click on a link again, and that's not fun for anybody.

The thing is, I like to put little "easter egg" links in my posts - everything from playlists to scriptures to Youtube to Wikipedia, to yes, even the Book of Mormon.

I'm not the greatest missionary, but wouldn't it be great if the church's website was? I'd love to be able to send my friends to the actual Book of Mormon or Bible, and not bible hub or worse, Wikipedia.

Unfortunately, sometimes in the process of adding links to my texts, I become so frustrated and lose the spirit to such a degree, that all I really want to do is break the Word of Wisdom and watch Youtube and listen to Spotify.

I hope this helped.

Hey, the guy asked.

Ares Grafeipapoly
egjimbutler
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Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2021 1:56 pm

Re: Linking to scriptures on church website

#7

Post by egjimbutler »

The following syntax worked for me when I was logged-in to my account:

Code: Select all

https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/[standard_work]/[book]/[chapter].[verse_range]?lang=eng
where
  • The standard_work value is one of the following: "ot" for Old Testament; "nt" for New Testament; "bom" for Book of Mormon; "dc-testament/dc" for Doctrine & Covenants; and "pgp" for Pearl of Great Price
  • Chapter and verse are simply the numerical values desired
Here is the completed syntax for the John 21:15-21:

Code: Select all

https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/john/21.15-21?lang=eng
Hope it works for you.
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sbradshaw
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Re: Linking to scriptures on church website

#8

Post by sbradshaw »

egjimbutler wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 4:09 pm The following syntax worked for me when I was logged-in to my account:

Code: Select all

https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/[standard_work]/[book]/[chapter].[verse_range]?lang=eng
You'll want to change the "abn" to "www" – I think the "abn" subdomain is for A/B testing and could stop working at any time. It also doesn't correctly open to the Gospel Library app when you're on a mobile device.

Instructions for deep linking to Gospel Library content (website or app) are now part of the online documentation for Gospel Library – see this page:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/mobile-applications/deep-linking-in-gospel-library?lang=eng

Hope this helps!
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
BrianEdwards
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Location: Michigan

Re: Linking to scriptures on church website

#9

Post by BrianEdwards »

Instructions for deep linking to Gospel Library content (website or app) are now part of the online documentation for Gospel Library
This is my new favorite post! I was unaware of this help doc, and am glad it's fairly complete in what it describes. For example, the difference between calling out verses, and where you scroll to, and combinations of including or not including each of these options. Especially for newbies to all this type of functionality, the help doc seems like it will really be helpful! ;)
italyrm
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Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2023 4:19 pm

Re: Linking to scriptures on church website

#10

Post by italyrm »

the thing about this link

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... g&id=p1#p1

is that it only works on the website, and only to anchor the page to that verse and put a "highlighting" line to the left of the verse(s). If you are trying to do anything downstream with this..... natural language processing, create plans etc it is not useful as the url still passes the entire webpage to beautiful soup or any web scraping package.

Is there a way to only pass certain verses for processing or are the URL calls only intended to look nice on a webpage but not be useful for anything downstream?

My ultimate use case would be to return an object which is only the verse(s) of the chapter I included in the url to then be able to share/do text processing on.

And my frustration is that URL I shared does not only return 1 Nephi Ch1 v , it returns the whole chapter and that is not what I want, nor what I expect when I formatted the URL. The URL only changes the CSS of the returned webpage - and that does not add utility for those looking to truly share one verse, groups of verses or develop tools to help futher understanding of the scriptures.
Last edited by italyrm on Mon Apr 17, 2023 7:12 am, edited 2 times in total.
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