Many members use Gospel Library for Windows (GLW) for reading, reference, and multimedia activities, hesitating to do more because they have not yet upgraded to Windows 8.1, and because Windows apps formerly did not have all the features of iOS and Android. With the recent release of GLW, the gap is closing. GLW now shares the same iconography and navigation features as other platforms, and makes use of some very helpful tools native only to Windows environments.

According to Jim Byer, one of the coders for the project, “Gospel Library is meant to be used every day for deep gospel study, inspiration, reference, and teaching.” He is one of over 300 volunteers who are part of a global effort to develop Gospel Library for Windows. He and others do coding, testing, debugging, and building of user interfaces, capitalizing on developments that are bringing Windows mobile and desktop applications closer together.

With that in mind, this begins a two part article on features integrated into Gospel Library for Windows 8.1 that you may not yet know exist, which will enhance your study and use of GLW:

  • If you like the feel of an active digital pen (smart pen) or mouse, either accessory will quickly bring up the floating radial menu from the ellipses (…). Pick a highlight color, then use repeated swipe gestures to mark passages or remove highlighting. Try using both highlighting and underline to make a particular word or phrase stand out within a highlighted passage. GLW now has full support for keyboard, mouse, trackpad, and touch devices.
  • Rich content is available with inline images, videos, and page numbers for magazines. If you are studying a conference talk, a lesson, the scriptures, or a magazine article, and want to annotate, select “Add Note” from the radial menu and use the onscreen template to create an inline note. In “Settings” select whether to expose or conceal your inline notes as a default.
  • You may have used bookmarks before, but you can do more with bookmarks on a Windows device. Create a bookmark from the radial menu. Reposition the bookmark with the “Edit” feature on the radial menu. You can also select “Pin Bookmark” and a small window opens with a prompt to “Pin to Start” which sends the shortcut to your metro screen. The screen shortcut takes you back into your reading instantly. Create multiple bookmarks to return quickly to former selections.
  • “My Collections” is very useful for bringing together custom collections of content. Open a new notebook, give it a name, and right click to bring up the library on the right, or select edit in the upper right corner to open the library. Expand a library category first to show its contents, then drag and drop items into your custom collection. Rearrange to suit. Now study from the custom collection and move effortlessly between the scriptures, manual, and supplemental material using the navigation arrows at the top.
  • The ever-present “Navigation bar” on the left has a new feature called “symantec zoom”, or “pinch to zoom” to expand and contract library menus and eliminate the need to scroll through long lists of expanded content. Use the magnifier icon at the top of the Library menu to perform the same function with a mouse.

All these features capitalize on new programming tools that are helping Windows developers to reuse 90% of the same programming code between desktops and mobile devices, making necessary adjustments as needed. Look for more suggestions to enhance your personal study and use of GLW in part two of this article.


Continue reading at the original source →