[bt-devel] Report on BibleTime 0.3

[Matthias Ansorg]

Hi all,

I'm new on this list and will probably throw in my reports and
proposals from time to time. Additionally, I'm the older brother of
Joachim Ansorg.

First, let me thank you for BibleTime, a very useful bible study tool
and for linux nearly the only one. I do nearly all my bible reading
and bible studies on my notebook with linux.

I did some evaluation of BibleTime 0.3; hopefully this helps to
optimize BibleTime 0.3 so that it gets even more useful and
intuitively.

With love in Chrst Jesus,
-- Matthias

Issues with icons
------------

-- bug (in KDE?) it is impossible to get 32x32 icons visible in the
toolbars (at least 8bpp mode). Or is this done with purpose by the
KDE folks?
-- edit the 22x22 size icons. Thereby, use all the place available
and ensure that the background is transparent.
-- edit the icons for automatic scrolling and verse / chapter
navigation in size 16x16.
-- edit the icons for »(auto) tile | cascade«
-- change the icon for »set key« to a key or a open lock
-- add a closed chain part to the right of the book-with-chain-icons
-- Decrease the amount of colors used in the icons in 8bpp mode
cause of there are interferences with the color choosing of other
programs now that BibleTime makes extense use of the color table's
room. While decreasing, do optimization and use a palette of only a
few colors that way that it produces a nice design effect via
limitation.
-- change the icon for »footnotes« and optimize it (more readable colors)
-- optimize the icon for »strong numbers« (more readable colors)
-- cange the lexicon icon (at least size 16x16) so that its shape
is the same as that of the bible or commentary.
-- change the part of the icon »export bookmarks« where the arrow
hits the paper border.
-- use a doble-circle-arrow icon for »reinit groupmanager«
-- use a press-in icon instead of a hook for the menu item »show
toolbar« cause all other toggle actions use that to.
-- paint appropriate icons for »create new group« and »change group«
-- in the configuration dialog, there are too little icons on the
left hand side (800x600; 8bpp).
-- replace the icon for »edit« in the personal commentary with a pen
and a commentary book in the background.
-- the icon for searchng in modules should be a magnifier without +
and - sign (it's for zooming in this case).
-- choose a single system for inactive icons, alternatively grey
raster (as done in the main menu) or black shaded holes (as done in
the popup menu in the groupmanager). Probably a KDE issue?
-- use the floppy disk icon (which is used for saving in an writable
commmentary) for saving as in the popup-menu in the bible presenter
too.
-- the icons with a »bookmark« and a paper sheet should be changed
so that the V-shape of the bookmark and the arrows are better
recognizeable from normal reading distance from the screen (their
shape should not be the same as the border of the paper sheet).


Issues with (German) translation
---------------------

-- in the dialog »Options | Properties | General«, »use SWORDs
international booknames« could just be »use international
booknames«, cause the user could be irritated by »SWORD« and don't
has to bother about that.
-- in German translation, put underlining for keyboard input to the following entries: »Zeige
Strong Nummern«; »Automatisch kacheln«; »Werkzeugleiste einrichten«
-- there are some problems with German translation in the font
configuration dialog (perhaps use »feste Breite« instead of »fest«).
-- there's a typo in the whatis-text of he button »new window«
-- typo in the dialog »Options | Properties | General« in the word
»Traditionalles Logo«. And why do you say »Du« to the user if you
don't do that all over the program?
-- perhaps it could be best to run ispell over the translation
-- translate the html help pages shown in special
situations (»The first startup of bibletime« and »The module you
selected is encrypted«; the latter page needs a review in its English
version, too).
-- translate »mainToolBar« in the dialog »edit toolbars« into German.


Other issues with the UI
-----------------

-- put a point »tip of he day« into the help menu
-- use »previous | following entry« navigation funtions in
commentary presenters (that's more fitting for daily work instead of
verse / hapter navigation). Or, even better, give both possibilities
and make the presenter toolbars configurable (as new entries in the
»toolbar:«-ComboBox where only »mainToolBar« is at the moment).
Additionally, the »previous | next verse« navigation icons in the
commentary presenter have instead already the functionality of »next
| previous entry«.
-- the »(auto) tile« function does not what it is expected to do
because only one window is shown and the rest is out of the sight.
-- the window title of BT 0.3 has the information about program
name and active module twice in it, therefore gets quite long in the
window list.
-- change the order of the entries in the left list box in the
dialog »configure toolbars« to be more intuitively. E.g., copy the
order the entries have in the menu or group similar things together
(such as window operations).
-- there are two buttons in the »configure toolbar« which are all the
time inactive. What are they for? Are they necessary?
-- it would be more intuitively to put »Options | Show toolbar« into
»View | Show toolbar« (and change the German translation
appropriately). That way, all options regarding the visibility of
widgets would be in one menu.
-- it is unnecessary (exception: tables etc.) that presenters have a
horizontal scrollbar, because they show floating text.
-- the handling of the search result tree should be the same as that
of the groupmanager tree (with single clicks). It's more logical for
the user that way.
-- proposal: the popup-menu of the groupmaneger could be replaced by
icons in the main toolbar, that can be moved by drag&drop on one or
more selected items in the groupmanager. You could mark the icons
that are moveable by drag&drop by a shade (as if the square of the
icon would levitate).


Issues with KDE
-----------

-- Use a folder picture without belt for closed groups in the
groupmanager, cause an open group has no belt, too.
-- the function »options | show toolbar« has no effect
-- after changing the toolbar, two toolbars are shown: the
old and the new one.

Issues with Qt
----------
-- BibleTime crashes when you try to maximize a window after you did a manually cascade
action.

Issues with other things
----------------

-- Open a bible, create a bookmark from a verse of it, enter a verse
different from the bookmark and close the presenter. Then open this
bible again and click on your bookmark - the verse shown changes to
that one of the bookmark, as you expect. Try this procedure with
commentaries and it does not change.
-- Open some module presenters so that they show up in maximized
mode. You see that the presenter's icon on the very top left of
BibleTime's window is not updated appropriately, e.g. when a
commentary follows a bible.
-- Open a presenter and close it. Then click on a group in the
groupmanager, click right and choose »create new bookmark«. You'll
see a bookmark to the last module you opened, but it would be more
intuitive if one could only create bookmarks if one presenter is
active.
-- shorten the startup period of BibleTime 0.3, e.g. by removing
debug code.
-- BibleTime crashes, if you try (perhaps more than one time) in mode
»auto tile« to minimize a MDI window.
-- BibleTime crashes, if you try in mode »auto cascade« to maximize
the upper from at least two windows in the MDI area.
-- proposal: it should be possible to use the arrow keys to scroll
with the horizontal scrollbar in the search analysis window. With
such a quick navigation you can get an overview over the diagram.
-- If you press return in the serach result tree and one entry is
highlighted, its group closes after some seconds (which is a too long
time). If the group is closed, nothing happens. It would be more
intuitively if pressing return would cause the appropriate
verse preview to show up.
-- Use the keyboard to enter a bible verse in the combo boxes of a
bible presenter (enter book, tab, enter chapter, enter, enter verse,
return). The verse that shows up is not that which you want. Cause:
Pressing return in a combo box does not show the verse you entered
but increases the entry of the previous combo box by one and then
shows the resulting verse. Additionally, the ComboBox you pressed
return in will be set to the first element (1).
-- when a lexicon shows up, it will give you information about the
book itself. In this case, the combo box on the top should not show
the first entry of the lexicon but should be blank.
-- proposal: if you delete modules in the group manager, they should
be deinstalled automatically. Otherwise round, BibleTime should
recognize and show installed modules. That way, all modules on disk
will be in the groupmanager and you won't have problems with modules
that ly around but the user does not want to see them.
-- proposal: in the dialog »Options | Properties | General« there is
a list of checkboxes. If they are checked, you can possibly choose
more options. Putting these additional options indented under each
check box (horizontally beginning with the text of the label) would
clarify where these options belong to and the border lines with the
title »Choose the logo« would be unnecessary.
-- the dialog »options | properties« has the sections »fonts« and
»font management«. Both sections have the same dialog elements for
choosing the fonts and could therefore be combined together,
resulting in one section »fonts« with a listbox to choos entries like
foreign font modules, [latin font modues], proportional and fixed
width fonts for screen and printer. That change would clarify
BibleTime's options dialog.
-- you cannot stop the showup of »tip of the day«.
-- problems with parallel scrolling, if you click on a verse
instead of using the srcollbar. In this case, the associated
presenter does not show up the same verse (instead the first verse of
the chapter).