Software Study Journal

[mkmurray]

Would someone be willing to take the initiative by starting an open source project with this list as a basis? SourceForge maybe?

Once there is an official spot for this project we can discuss priorities, design, etc., in one concise location (as oppossed to three or four different threads).

[mkmurray]

Would someone be willing to take the initiative by starting an open source project with this list as a basis? SourceForge maybe?

Once there is an official spot for this project we can discuss priorities, design, etc., in one concise location (as oppossed to three or four different threads).

Ok, I just made a personal SourceForge account. Here are the instructions for creating a new project:

Project Registration: Overview

SF.net Services SourceForge.net provides hosting services to Open Source Software development projects. A list of SourceForge.net provided services can be found in the Service Listing site document. Projects are expected to use these resources appropriately; they are made available for use in ways directly related to the project and should not be used for other purposes (we do not host personal home pages, for example). Time to complete Project registration takes between 15 and 30 minutes to complete. Required Information When registering your project, you will be expected to provide a full description of your project, information about which Open Source license your project will use, and the name of your project. This information MUST be provided at time of registration. If you have not sorted out these details, you should do so before submitting your project for hosting on SourceForge.net. Languages The description for your project (the "registration description") must be submitted in English. We cannot accept descriptions written in other languages. Registration Process The registration process is form-driven. You are expected to read the entirety of each page (we provide a number of tips on how to ensure your project is approved the first time) and to fill in all provided fields before moving to the next page. If you fail to fill in a field, you will be returned to the same page (so you can remedy that oversight) when you hit the "Next page" button.
The data entered on each page is saved when you click on the "Next page" button. Should you be unable to complete the registration process, you will be prompted to continue it the next time you return to the registration process. Incomplete registration data is saved for 90 days, no warning is provided prior to purging incomplete registration attempts.
Review Process Project registrations are reviewed by a real human before they are approved. Projects are reviewed during business hours (9AM-5PM, Monday through Friday). Projects are typically approved or rejected within two business days. You will receive notification of our decision via your My SF.net Projects page. Support If you have questions about this process, or about the hosting of your project (i.e. does my project qualify for hosting?), contact the SourceForge.net team by submitting a Support Request. Steps in this process The following steps are involved in this project registration process:

1. Overview (current step)
2. Project UNIX Name selection
3. OSI Open Source Definition agreement
4. Project type selection
5. Terms of Use Agreement
6. Hosting requirements
7. Trove categorization
8. Project description details
9. Project registration details
10. Project descriptive name selection
11. Final review
12. Submission completed

Does anyone want to help write a description and think of a clever project name? And which license we should use?

[thegordo]

I am working on this - but won't probabally be able to create the poject until next week. I am working on quite a few programming projects for school right now. the end of semester projects are swampping me with school work.

as for a name All I can think of right now Scripture Notes

[HansenBK]

A very interesting thread... I too look forward to a computerized scripture study journal. Over the years, I have had several ideas for the functionality of such a program, which I'd like to share with everyone in this forum. For your particular applications, feel free to "pick and choose". I understand it is difficult to have a simple quick program with extensive functionality, so there may not be one single solution.

Here is a (nearly) comprehensive summary of abilites desirable for a scripture study program (some of these are already mentioned in previous posts) which I describe in more detail below:

1) Set reading goals and track progress
2) Easy to enter personal commentary about a verse (or chapter or book)
3) Easy to record audio commentary about a verse
4) Creation of new "topical guide"-esque topics (and supercategories and subcategories)
5) The ability to create new personal footnotes
6) The ability to categorize or "type" footnotes
7) The ability to display related pictures
8) Read-to-me: include (already-available) audio files so the program can read the scriptures
9) Scripture Memorization Tool (e.g. Softlore's Scriptorian)
10) Automatic compilation of materials for preparation for Sunday lessons
11) Verse Comparison Tool (identifies differences between two verses)
12) Searchable by scripture text, footnotes, personal commentary, etc.
13) Highlighting in multiple colors
14) Automatic display of footnotes for the currently active verse
15) Word Processing Ability for writing (linkable) talks, essays, etc.
16) Easily save-able, downloadable/transferable, and even merge-able with other people's scripture journals and/or mutliple-user ability (e.g. for families)
17) Easily printable in desirable formats
18) Scripture Background: single-click ability to see background and contextual information behind a verse (e.g. who is speaking to whom, when, where/map, etc.)
19) Side-by-side display of different passages, including multi-lingual comparisons
20) Inclusion of the scriptures.byu.edu scripture reference database to easily see modern's prophets interpretation and use of particular verses
21) Inclusion of a dictionary for confusing words

Here are some examples of what I mean:

1) I can set reading goals (e.g. 5 pages a day, 10 chapters a week, Bible in a year, or 30 minutes a day) which are tracked by the program. If I fall behind on my goals, a reminder should pop up informing me of my progress and what I need to do to catch up. There could even be a family goal tracker which shows progress of all family members.

2) GospeLink had the ability to add comments to all documents, but I had two main problems with it. First, it was a little slow and it wasn't very easy to just type my comments. Second, it could only associate comments with a single paragraph or verse... I would like to be able to add footnotes at specific places in the verse and also be able to make comments on Chapters or Books as a whole.

3) Even though I'm a fast typer, I think the ability to simply express my comments vocally would be so useful. It would also be great for personal history reasons to record my actual voice about my testimony of such-and-such verse or how reading this chapter helped me make an important decision. This should also be effortless to use...

Hey Tom, I am not trying to push us to fast into something, but don't we have a subversion repo and possibly a jira server public facing for this?

[Odn-p40]

I am working on this - but won't probabally be able to create the poject until next week. I am working on quite a few programming projects for school right now. the end of semester projects are swampping me with school work.

as for a name All I can think of right now Scripture Notes

May I suggest a different name as scripturenotes.com is owned by me and is the name of the project I'm working on.

Oak

[WelchTC]

Hey Tom, I am not trying to push us to fast into something, but don't we have a subversion repo and possibly a jira server public facing for this?

The subversion repo is not public facing yet. Waiting on approval. Also, I don't have a jira server but that would not be too hard. What about Bugzilla?

Tom

[thegordo]

Since Scripture Notes is taken, Then I think a good name for the project might be 'Scripture Study Plus'. If there is a problem with this name let me know. I don't want to take names from other people.

[rmrichesjr]

Regarding the item in the initial requirements list for adding personal footnotes and such, it would be useful to handle notes spanning many verses (or maybe chapters) with anchor points in various verses. An alternative view would be to be able to group notes together. This would be useful for documenting chiastic structures and such.

On another topic, if it would be useful for someone, I have a short Java program that generates a postscript file that shows a one-year scripture reading chart for sequential reading. It's not terribly fancy, but it's a little fancier than hand-drawn on graph paper. The Sundays in a year are listed along the bottom, and page numbers (by hundreds) are listed along the left edge. One's plan/goal can be drawn in one color, and actual progress in another color.

[mkmurray]

The subversion repo is not public facing yet. Waiting on approval. Also, I don't have a jira server but that would not be too hard. What about Bugzilla?

Tom

So does that mean I should wait and see if a Church supported server will be approved for hosting this project?

[WelchTC]

So does that mean I should wait and see if a Church supported server will be approved for hosting this project?

I'd say find somewhere else to host for now. If things change, I'll let people know and you can move your projects.

Tom