Results tagged “tutorials” from Logos Bible Software Blog

If you purchased the Anchor Yale Bible, by now you’ve probably had a chance to install it and explore a bit. Those of you who are relatively new to Logos may be wondering how to get the most out of your new commentaries. In this post, we’ll share some tips that will help you put your investment to good use.

Setup Tips

1. Copy the resources to your hard drive.

It may go without saying, but be sure to copy all of your resource files to your hard drive rather than running them off the CD. With your CD in your drive, go to Tools > Library Management > Location Manager and follow the instructions. Everything will be much faster with the files on your hard drive. AYB will take up 308 MB of disk space.

2. Create a collection.

While it’s not essential to using your new commentaries, creating a collection can provide some additional benefits that you might find useful (e.g., faster, more target searching and more exhaustive results in the Passage Guide). In my opinion, this is a good thing to do for many new products you purchase.

You can either create your own collection by going to Tools > Define Collections > New (see also this video demonstration) or download the one I already created and put it in C:\Documents and Settings\{UserName}\My Documents\Libronix DLS\Collections on a Windows machine or in Users/{UserProfile}/Library/Application Support/Libronix DLS/Collections on a Mac.

3. Make sure your resource association is installed.

A resource association allows your entire series to function in some ways as a single book. That means that if you’re in the AYB commentary on Romans and want to jump to the commentary on Isaiah to look up a related passage, just type in the reference in the Reference Box at the top left-hand portion of the resource window.

If that doesn’t work, it’s probably because you don’t have the Resource Association installed. On Windows, run Libronix Update to get it (i.e., Tools > Libronix Update). Alternatively, you could create your own resource association. (This feature is currently only in the Windows version.)

Usage Tips

1. Explore AYB in “My Library.”

To see all of your Anchor Yale Bible commentaries in My Library, simply type in the series abbreviation, AYB, and all of your other titles will be filtered out. Alternatively, if you created a collection, you can simply select your collection from the Collection dropdown.

2. Use AYB in the Passage Guide.

Since the files for the Anchor Yale Bible are commentaries, they will instantly just work when you run a Passage Guide on any portion of Scripture covered by the series. If you don’t see the Anchor Yale volume(s) show up in the initial list of 15 that appears, be sure to click “More »” to see the rest of your commentaries that cover your passage. One of the cool features of the Passage Guide in is that it will remember your top five favorites on each book of the Bible. So the next time you study a passage in the same book, the commentaries that you’ve used most will appear at the top.

To get even more out of AYB in the Passage Guide, click on Properties, scroll down to the Collections section, and check the box next to your AYB collection.

This will tell the Passage Guide to search all of the other commentaries in the AYB for any mention of your passage, providing you with even more to dig into.

3. Find even more with advanced searching.

If you created a collection, you can also do some powerful searching by using the Basic Search (Search > Basic Search) or the Reference Browser (Go > Reference Browser). Just be sure to limit your searches to your new collection, and in just a second or two you’ll be able to find all of the occurrences of words, phrases, Bible references, and more in your entire AYB collection.

bbPress is free forum software from the makers of WordPress. Though it's not as popular as some of the other options, it's looks to be a nice, simple alternative to more complicated platforms. It also has the advantage of integrating nicely with WordPress.

The latest version of bbPress, 0.9.0.2, does not allow you to edit your theme from the admin panel, and no one has developed a RefTagger plugin yet either. So to add RefTagger, you'll need to do it the old fashion way—via FTP access to your site's files.

Here's how to get it set up:

1. Navigate to your bbPress folder.
2. Open the bb-templates folder, and then open your theme's folder. The default theme is kakumei.
3. Locate footer.php and save a local copy (and a backup copy too).
4. Open the file in Dreamweaver, WordPad or your favorite code editor.
5. Scroll to the bottom and paste the customizable RefTagger code right before the </body> tag.
6. Save the file and upload it back to your server.

You're all set. RefTagger is now transforming your bbPress site.

If you're using RefTagger on your bbPress site, send us an email and let us know!

WordPress is one of the most popular and powerful blogging platforms. It comes in two flavors: the hosted version (i.e., WordPress.com) and the self-hosted version (i.e., WordPress.org). This tutorial addresses how to add RefTagger to a WordPress.org blog since it is currently not possible to add it to a WordPress.com blog. WordPress.com bloggers, jump to the bottom to find out how you can help to change that.

There are two ways to set up RefTagger on your WordPress.org blog: (1) use the plugin or (2) set it up manually. The plugin is the best option since it keeps the code separate from your theme, which allows you to change themes without having to reinstall the code. It also enables you to keep up to date easily with future changes and feature additions to RefTagger with WordPress's simply one-click plugin updates. But some of you may prefer the control of the manual route or may just not know how to find your WordPress files via FTP.

So take your pick with either of the below methods.

Method 1: Using the Plugin

To use the plugin, you need FTP access to your site's files—at least for now. With WordPress 2.7, you will be able to browse and install plugins right from the admin panel!

If you're like me and happen to be using WordPress 2.7 Beta 2, adding a new plugin like RefTagger is amazingly easy.

1. Simply navigate to Plugins > Add New (i.e., http://yoursite.com/wp-admin/plugin-install.php) and search for RefTagger. RefTagger should show up as the top search result.
2. Click "Install" on the far right, and then click "Install Now" in the window that opens. It takes just a second or two to install, and then you're taken to a screen where you can activate it.
3. Click "Activate Plugin," and then navigate to the RefTagger page under the Settings menu to customize it, if you'd like.

If you're playing it safe and running WordPress 2.6.3 or earlier, here's what you need to do to set it up.

1. Go to http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/reftagger/, and click "Download." Save the zip folder, and then extract the contents.
2. Fire up your favorite FTP program. (FileZilla is a nice free option.) Then navigate to the place where you installed WordPress. It's probably in a folder called "public_html" or "www." Locate the "wp-content" folder, and then open it. You'll see a "plugins" folder inside. Open it, and then copy the RefTagger.php file that you extracted from the zip folder into that folder.
3. Log in to your WordPress admin panel, and then go to your Plugins page. Find RefTagger in the list of inactivate plugins, and then click "Activate."
4. Navigate to the RefTagger page under the Settings menu to customize it, if you'd like.

Method 2: Adding the Code Manually

1. Log in to your WordPress admin panel, navigate to the "Design" page, and click on "Theme Editor."
2. Find your theme's "Footer" template, and click on it to open it.
3. Scroll to the bottom, paste the customizable RefTagger code immediately before the </body> tag, and click "Update File."
4. Navigate to the RefTagger page under the Settings menu to customize it, if you'd like.

WordPress.com users, are you feeling a little left out? We want to help, but there's only so much we can do. The good folks at WordPress.com are willing to consider adding built-in support for RefTagger, but they need to see that there is enough interest. One of the things that they look at is the number of times that our plugin has been downloaded and installed. If you have friends using WordPress.org, encourage them to download and use the plugin.

Finally, a word to those of you who create WordPress themes or help churches and ministries get websites set up with WordPress: please consider adding RefTagger as a standard part of your theme or site set-up process. It's a great way to improve the service you provide to people—at no cost to you and with very little effort.

Joomla! is one of the the most popular Content Management System software. It’s a great choice for church and ministry websites, and I’ve seen many build some sharp sites with it.

Setting up RefTagger on a Joomla! site is quite easy.

There are the simple steps to getting it up and running in no time:

1. Log in to your admin panel (http://yoursite.com/administrator/).
2. Hover over the “Extensions” tab and click “Template Manager.”
3. Click on the name of the template that you are using. The default with Joomla! 1.5.2 is “rhuk_milkyway.”
4. Click the “Edit HTML” button at the top right.
5. Scroll to the bottom of the code and paste in the customizable RefTagger code from the RefTagger page right before the </body> tag.

That’s it! RefTagger is now working on your entire Joomla! site!

vBulletin is perhaps the most popular forum software on the market. If you've been to a forum site, chances are you've been to a vBulletin site.

Do you administer or moderate a vBulletin site that has biblical content? Why not add RefTagger? Your site will instantly become much more useful for your readers, and the immediate access to the Bible will no doubt have positive effects on your site.

Here are several possible benefits to consider.

RefTagger . . .

• promotes citing the Bible more carefully.
• encourages citing the Bible more frequently.
• makes reading the Bible easier.
• keeps people at your site longer.

TheologyOnline is a nice example of how RefTagger can really enhance a forum site.

By following these brief steps, you can have RefTagger up and running on your site in just a couple of minutes.

1. Log in and navigate to your admin control panel (e.g., http://www.yoursite.com/forums/admin/).
2. Click on "Styles & Templates" in the left column to expand it, and then click on "Style Manager."
3. Locate your style in the list (i.e., the one with the checkbox checked), and choose "Edit Templates" from the dropdown box.
4. Locate the "footer" template in the list on the left, click on it, and then click "Edit" under "Controls."
5. Scroll to the very bottom, paste in the customizable RefTagger code, and click "Save."

That's it. Your Bible references are now interactive and far more usable for your readers.

If you frequent a forum site that still has plain old bare Bible references, perhaps it's about time to contact a moderator or the site administrator and let them know about RefTagger.

Get more help setting RefTagger up on your site at the tutorial section of the RefTagger page.

I thought that when you were studying a word in BDAG (for instance) and you hit the right arrow your next lexicon would open up to that word, if the lexicon contained it. When I hit the right arrow from BDAG I get another lexicon (TDNT) but it opens up to some random page. Am I doing something wrong or is this not possible? Thanks for any suggestions Sounds like the active index in BDAG is page number, not topic so when you right arrow LDLS goes to the same page in the next resource. The active index icon is near the current reference box on the resource toolbar and looks like a page. -- Clif

Movable Type is probably the most common platform for corporate blogging and happens to be the software that we use to power our blogs. It's also used by many for personal blogging.

Adding RefTagger to a Movable Type blog is can be accomplished in just a few minutes. Here are the steps you need to take to get RefTagger up and running on MT 4.21, which is presently the latest version.

1. Navigate to your admin panel (http://yoursite.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt.cgi or something similar).
2. If you have more than one blog, select the blog you want to add RefTagger to first from the main dropdown menu at the top left.
3. Hover over the "Design" tab, and click on "Templates."
4. Scroll down to Template Modules, and click on "Footer." (If you don't see anything under Template Modules, then you're probably using an outdated template. Considering updating to a new one, or see the additional instructions below.)
5. Scroll to the bottom, and then paste the customizable RefTagger code right before the </body> tag.
6. Click "Save."
7. If you have more than one blog, repeat steps 2-6.
8. Publish your changes.

You're good to go. RefTagger is now working on your entire site—no matter how many years you've been blogging.

If you're using MT 3.x or a pre-MT 4 template that lacks built-in support for template modules, you'll need to add the RefTagger code to the following templates. Repeat steps 4-6 above for each of the following templates:

1. Main Index (under the Index Templates)
2. Category Archive (under the Archive Templates)
3. Date-Based Archive (under the Archive Templates)
4. Individual Entry Archive (under the Archive Templates)

If you need help, don't hesitate to send an email to reftagger@logos.com and let us know.

Over the weekend I got an email from a forum moderator in Australia who convinced the admins to add RefTagger to their site. He requested that we provide some instructions specific to phpBB, which is popular free forum software.

So for all you phpBB forum users out there, here's how to add RefTagger. (You need to be an admin to do this, so if you're not, just pass these instructions on to the guys who control the site.)

1. Log in and navigate to your admin panel (http://yoursite.com/adm/).
2. Click on the "Styles" tab at the top, and then click on "Templates" in the left sidebar.
3. Find your template, and click "Edit."
4. Click the drop-down and select "overall_footer.html" under the "overall" section.
5. Scroll down to the bottom of the code and paste the customizable RefTagger code from the RefTagger page right before the </body> tag.
6. Click "Submit."

You're done. With just a few minutes of work, RefTagger is now doing its thing on your entire site! It doesn't matter if your site is new or 10 years old or whether you have hundreds or millions of Bible references. You'll see the results instantly on any page you navigate to on your site.

If you frequent a forum that has lots of Bible references, why not contact the admins and ask them to add RefTagger? We're happy to provide instructions for other platforms as well. Just let us know: reftagger@logos.com.

A while back someone sent me a question about how to use the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary to the fullest.

Any good ideas on where I can go to learn how to most effectively use this dictionary in my study process? Is there a way to integrate it into the Bible Word Study selection?

Any help would be appreciated!

I sent this user some tips, but thought this might be worthy of a blog post—especially since it’s back-to-school time and we are currently offering a 30% discount on this wonderful resource. Just use coupon code YALE to save more than $60!

Setting Up Your Keylink Preferences

First, you should set up your keylink preferences. Go to Tools > Options > Keylinks and select “English” from the “Data Type” drop-down menu. Then find the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary in the list of resources in the bottom window and “Promote” it to the top. Prioritize it wherever you’d like. If you want it to be the first resource that Libronix looks to, move it to the top of your list.

This allows you to double-click on any English word and have quick access to the AYBD entry, if there is one. (You’ll need to set AYBD as your first keylink destination or set your keylink preferences to open several keylink destinations at a time.)

This also allows you to see AYBD entries in the Bible Word Study report.

By the way, if you don’t have the updated Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary resource (formerly Anchor Bible Dictionary), you can get it by running the resource auto-update script or by downloading it directly from our FTP server.

Creating a Parallel Resource Association

You may also want to set up a custom parallel resource association of all of your Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias. This allows you to jump from the entry on “Jericho,” for example, in the AYBD to the one in other Bible dictionary like ISBE or the New Bible Dictionary by simply hitting the right arrow key. Make sure the active index is set to “Topics.”

By creating a custom parallel resource association, you get to control which resources Libronix looks to and you get to put them in whatever order you’d like.

Watch the Video!

For more tips, see our training video on Using the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary in Logos Bible Software. It’s embedded below. If you’re reading this in your email inbox or your RSS reader and don’t see the video, visit the blog post to watch it.

To add this resource to your Libronix digital library, visit the product page. And make sure to use coupon code YALE to save 30%!

MediaWiki is the open source wiki software behind Wikipedia and the lesser known Theopedia, which is now powered by RefTagger. (See an example at http://www.theopedia.com/God.)

A couple of weeks ago I downloaded and installed MediaWiki so I could test it out with RefTagger. It worked very nicely.

Here's one method for setting it up via FTP access to your site's files:

1. Use an FTP program like FileZilla to navigate to the folder where you installed MediaWiki.
2. Open the "skins" folder.
3. Locate the file for the skin you are using. The file for the default skin is MonoBook.php. Save a local copy, and a backup copy too.
4. Open the file in Dreamweaver, WordPad, or your favorite code editor.
5. Find the </body> tag and paste the customizable RefTagger code from the RefTagger page right above it.
6. Save the file and upload it back to your server.

You're done. RefTagger is now transforming your MediaWiki site.

For help with other sites, see the tutorials section on the RefTagger page.

Over on his Exegetica Digita blog, Mike Heiser has been doing some tutorial videos on the Andersen-Forbes syntax resources.

• The Hebrew Bible: Andersen-Forbes Analyzed Text
• The Hebrew Bible: Andersen-Forbes Analyzed Phrase Marker Analysis
• A Systematic Glossary to the Andersen-Forbes Analysis of the Hebrew Bible

These resources are included in the Original Languages Library and higher (Scholar’s, Silver, and Gold). If you don’t have one of these base packages, visit http://www.logos.com/upgrade to see your upgrade options.

If you’re interested in learning how to put these resources to good use, let Mike show you how in these five videos.

• Morphological Databases vs. Syntax Databases: Understanding the Difference | 4:46
• Finding Andersen-Forbes Database Resources in Libronix | 2:17
• Creating an Andersen-Forbes Workspace in Libronix | 3:14
• Finding Words in the Andersen-Forbes Database | 11:46
• Using Morphology, Semantics, and Source Tags in Lemma Searches in Andersen-Forbes | 9:34

For more Andersen-Forbes videos, see the Syntax section on our Videos page.

Drupal is popular open source Content Management System (CMS) software. Many churches and ministries use it.

A few days ago I got a request from an individual who wants to add RefTagger to his Drupal site but isn’t sure how to get it set up, so I thought I’d provide a quick tutorial.

Unfortunately, Drupal doesn’t allow you to edit the code of your themes from the admin panel, at least not that I can see. But if you have access to your site’s files via FTP, you can add RefTagger very easily.

Here are the simple steps you need to follow:

1. Use an FTP program to navigate to the folder where you installed Drupal.
2. Open the “themes” subfolder, and then open the folder for the specific theme you are using. (The default theme is Minneli, which is a subtheme of Garland, so you’ll find the file in the “garland” folder.)
3. Locate the page.tpl.php file, and save a local copy (and a backup copy too).
4. Open the file in Dreamweaver, WordPad, or your favorite code editor.
5. Scroll to the bottom and paste the customizable RefTagger code before the </body> tag.
6. Save the file and upload it back to your server.

That’s it. RefTagger is now transforming the content of your Drupal site!

If you’re using RefTagger on your Drupal site, please let us know. We’d love to see how you are putting it to use.

For help with other sites, see the tutorials section on the RefTagger page.

A few days ago someone asked if we would make it possible to use RefTagger on a Blogger blog. I was happy to let him know that RefTagger works very well with Blogger, and I explained to him two ways to get it up and running on his blog in just a couple of minutes.

It occurred to me that not everyone who has a blog is used to messing with code and editing template files, so I thought I’d do a brief tutorial here on the blog.

If you use Google’s Blogger and would like to add RefTagger to your site, here are two methods for setting it up.

Method 1: Adding a Page Element

Perhaps the simplest way for beginners to get RefTagger up and running is to add a page element. From your Blogger dashboard, click “Layout.” You’ll be taken by default to the “Page Elements” tab. Click “Add a Page Element” at the bottom of the page (not the one in the sidebar), and choose “HTML/JavaScript.” Leave the title blank, and paste in the customizable code that you get from the RefTagger page. Then click “Save.” Blogger should add the new page element to the bottom of your layout page automatically. If it appears in your sidebar, simply drag it to the very bottom of the footer. If you make any changes, make sure to save it before leaving the page.

When you’re done, your page should look something like this:

Method 2: Modifying Your Template File

The alternate method is to manually add the code before the closing body tag in your template file. From your Blogger dashboard, click “Layout.” Then click “Edit HTML.” Scroll all the way to the bottom of the code and paste in the customizable code that you get from the RefTagger page right before the closing body tag (i.e., right before </body>). Then click “Save Template.”

That’s it. RefTagger should now be up and running on your Blogger blog.

If you have any trouble or would like to see a tutorial for another blogging platform, leave a comment on this post or send an email to reftagger@logos.com.

A friend of mine recently emailed me the following question:

I’ve been sorting my library into collections and (several times) I’ve come across duplicate books with slightly different titles, e.g., (1) NBATLAS (New Bible Atlas) and (2) New Bible Atlas (Authors listed).

Any suggestions on how to eliminate these duplicates? I have tried the “Remove Duplicate Resources” function, but this function doesn’t seem to treat these occurrences as true duplicates.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

My friend is a very sharp guy, so I figured if he has had this question, there are probably many others who have as well.

When you see what appears to be two copies of a resource, you are probably simply seeing alternate titles for the same resource. That's why Tools > Library Management > Remove Duplicate Resources won't do anything. This feature is built into Libronix to make it easier to find titles in My Library, but not everyone wants to see multiple titles for their resources, so we allow you to turn this off. To set it to show only the primary title for each resource, click Tools > Options > General > Interface and check the box next to Use Only Primary Resource Titles in My Library.

Now you should see only one entry for every resource. Hope this helps!