Any plans to update journal functions?

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.
rcs.ctr
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Any plans to update journal functions?

#1

Post by rcs.ctr »

Hey Guys!

I know we have the journal function in the LDS account. Do we have enough people using the journal function in order to update the functionality of the journal section?

Some user stories I would like to see (feature request)
- As a user, I want to be able to mass update my tags all at once, so I can add / delete multiple at a time.
- As a user, I want to be able to select multiple entries at a time, so I can organize my notes better.


The idea and functionality is pulling from the word press idea of managing tags and our content.

Just a thought, Thanks guys !!!
mevans
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Re: Any plans to update journal functions?

#2

Post by mevans »

Welcome to the forum! This is primarily a user-to-user support tool, although we sometimes get participation from people who actually work for (or volunteer for) the church.

One of the church service volunteers who frequents this forum indicated that she has heard the notes/journal is due for an update. We don't know what that update might be or when it might occur (it could be next week or it could be 5 years from now). The church rarely lets us know about its plans in advance.

There is a "Feedback" link at the bottom of most pages on lds.org. I suggest you submit your suggestion using that link. It is the official method to communicate with the church.
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sbradshaw
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Re: Any plans to update journal functions?

#3

Post by sbradshaw »

As a minimum, I'm sure they will be updating the page to fit in with the new LDS.org layout and allow it to work on small screens. Beyond that, I'm not getting my hopes up too much yet.

A couple of other common-sense changes that are overdue with the LDS.org study tools would be:
– Bringing functionality that already exists in Gospel Library to the web (for example, adding links).
– Supporting highlighting, etc. in languages other than English.
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
Consensus1
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Re: Any plans to update journal functions?

#4

Post by Consensus1 »

I have been plugging along and making notes on the Book of Mormon verse by verse for five years or so. Recently, one of my inactive children had a DUI and decided to start reading the scriptures for the first time in his life. I offered him my scripture journal of the BoM so I could "read it along with him" by availing him of my notes. But it didn't print out a journal that I could readily share. The notes weren't available chapter by chapter starting with 1 Nephi 1. In fact the notebook was backwards, starting with the most recent scripture I annotated, much later in the BoM.

I would like to make the journal more usable/shareable. Sequence is one thing. Also, textual sophistication so that I can format the notes, differentiating between paragraphs in an entry, fonts, text style like italics, underline, bolds, colors, working links, inserted images, and any copy and paste that enhances the writing. Suppose I wanted to provide a volume of notes for just the BoM or the O.T.? How to make it well organized and appealing as a missionary tool, so to speak?
lmcguire
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Re: Any plans to update journal functions?

#5

Post by lmcguire »

Consensus1,

Good ideas. I also like the idea of a shareable export, where things are in the same order as the books of scripture (with a reference, the highlighted text, my tags, and my notes - if any).

In the meantime, you might try downloading the notebook, with highlights, journal entries, and details, as an XML file ("Backup (XML)"), then opening that in MS Excel, and once in there, you can sort it - though it may be a little tricky since alphabetical order wouldn't give you the books in sequence, and there's nothing to indicate the sequence of books in scripture. But I would think you could use some simple logic to make your own such sequence field. (Not the ideal, perhaps, but better than nothing.)

FWIW,

Liz
PS: Sorry about the DUI, but glad it's leading to good changes.
mevans
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Re: Any plans to update journal functions?

#6

Post by mevans »

There are many things you can highlight besides the scriptures, so maybe it needs a general ordering mechanism, but I'm not certain what that would be?
lmcguire
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Re: Any plans to update journal functions?

#7

Post by lmcguire »

MEvans,

I would think ordering the same way the content is ordered would work:

In the "Scriptures" collection, the books appear in a certain order; within each book, the sub-books appear in a certain order; within each sub-book, the chapters appear in certain order.

In the "General Conference" collection, each conference appears in a certain order, within each conference, the talks appear in a certain order.

In "Teachings of Presidents", each book appears in a certain order, in each book, the chapters are in a certain order.

...you get the idea - if my highlights followed that order, it would be expected and better than random. Even if the collections appear in random order, but the books / volumes were in the expected order (1 Nephi, 2 Nephi, then Jacob, not 3 Nephi), that would be better than how it is now.

(If I were at home, I'd open the database and look, but I have to believe this sort order / sequence is already a part of the database, we just need it to be part of the export from the Notes tool, too.)

FWIW,

Liz
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sbradshaw
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Re: Any plans to update journal functions?

#8

Post by sbradshaw »

Maybe someone could invent a highlighter robot that turns pages in a physical Book of Mormon and holds a set of highlighters to mark passages based on what it reads from the database. :)
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
mevans
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Re: Any plans to update journal functions?

#9

Post by mevans »

sbradshaw wrote:Maybe someone could invent a highlighter robot that turns pages in a physical Book of Mormon and holds a set of highlighters to mark passages based on what it reads from the database. :)
Or maybe the church can introduce custom-printed scriptures. You can order a set and it comes with everything highlighted from your LDS Account with all the notes you typed being printed in the margins.
lajackson
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Re: Any plans to update journal functions?

#10

Post by lajackson »

mevans wrote:Or maybe the church can introduce custom-printed scriptures. You can order a set and it comes with everything highlighted from your LDS Account with all the notes you typed being printed in the margins.
Now I like that. Trouble is, every time I go through the Scriptures, I highlight different things.
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