Suggestions for making modules

Share your favorite tips, workarounds and shortcuts for theWord
aaron
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Suggestions for making modules

Post by aaron »

Hello Everyone,

If your considering making a module you probably find the content valuable and feel others will as well. Here are some suggestions to enhance your module and make viewing it more pleasurable and efficient:


Uniformity and Formatting:

If each topic is uniform in structure it will make "visual sense" and users can readily focus on the parts they're there to see.

1. Use a consistent font throughout or use the same fonts (size/type/and color) in similar areas of topics.

2. Consider highlighting and/or centering introductory areas like Titles, Headings and Subheadings.

3. Enhancements like indentation, bullets/numbering and text alignment will add to "readability" of your work.


Features:

Take advantage of the many Linking features in TW. This is key to ease of navigation will make the valuable content more accessible. Linked text can also be edited to remove the underline or alter the color. That way if you have many links in a topic it doesn't appear "cluttered".
For tips on making links see these posts:

http://forum.theword.gr/viewtopic.php?p=2597#2597
http://forum.theword.gr/viewtopic.php?p=2590#2590


Distribution Preparation:

Consider using an acronym or a short word(s) to name your module. This will conserve space in the TW module title bar. A fuller yet concise description can be used in Options/Properties/Description and will be seen by simply "hovering" the mouse over the module Title.

Also in Properties, give your module a Version number. That way, when and if you update it, people can readily discern if they are using the latest version.

In Options/"Settings/Actions":

* Deselect "User module can be edited" so users won't accidentally edit your module (also it saves a small amount of space in the TW module Title bar because of the icon).
* If you want your module to be seen as you've formatted it, select "Use the fonts that are defined in the module"
* Also, perform the Action: "Detect all verse references"
* Finally, perform the Action: "Prepare module for distribution". This will clean up unseen code that was used in building your module.


I prefer using MS Word to format topics since it has extensive search and replace features, then copying that into TW to finalize and make links. For example you can copy many web pages into a single MS Word document then search and replace according to the formatting of the pasted document; then copy and paste each topic into TW.

Please note these are only suggestions and not meant to critique anyone’s work. More importantly, we should enjoy what we do in the Lord and be content.

Aaron
MsLile
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Editor?

Post by MsLile »

I probably sound like a real dummy for asking this, but what software editor does one use for creating these modules? Is Note Pad all right or Word Pad? I'd like to try, but need to know in simple terms where to start beginning my project.

MsLile :?
csterg
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Post by csterg »

Hello MsLile,
you will use TW directly! You don't need any other editor for that job.

You just create a new module (File->New module) and then add topics from the book view (notice the edit icon that appears in the toolbar of the book view for editable modules: from there you can add topics).

Is this what you are looking for?
Costas
MsLile
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Post by MsLile »

Hello back at-cha,

Does this work with Bible.ont too? I was wanting to cut and paste a net Bible or try to at least. Probably will take a century for me to do so, lol. Am I going to far beyond my league?

MsLile :lol:
Heb 6: 10 For GOD is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love.............

"In Him we live and move and have our being...... 'For we are also his offspring.' Acts 17:28
preahkumpii
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Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:58 pm

Post by preahkumpii »

MsLile wrote:Does this work with Bible.ont too?
Hello MsLile,

No, the Bible modules and non-Bible modules are different formats. The non-Bible modules are sqlite files, but the Bible modules are simple text files. If you have Notepad, then you can make a Bible module. For and .ont file (OT and NT) you need one verse per line and you need 31,102 lines for the entire Bible text. Then, at the bottom of the file, you need some additional info for the file that TW3 reads for information for the module. Open one of the .ont files in TW3 program files folder with Notepad and see what I am talking about. Make sure you open one that is complete, like the KJV for instance. If you really want to be quick about it, you will probably need to know some regular expressions to 'clean up' the text a little from formatting. I use Notepad++, and it works for me with that kind of stuff. Costas is a firm believer in UltraEdit :D , but you have to pay for that one. I hope that helps.

Adam
Adam
MsLile
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Post by MsLile »

Thanks Adam.....Wonderful!!! I looked up the program "NotePad++ and downloaded it for my use. It seems to be very user friendly and a good program. I started working on my bible module.....I have a question, are the verses line by line with no space between like vs 1, 2, 3 or vs 1 (skip line ) vs 2 ( skip line ) vs 3 ( skip......) etc. Which way will save me a lot of work? Like I said, my skills are very outdated, going back to the "old" dos if you know what I mean of 20 years ago. Thanks.

MsLile :D
Heb 6: 10 For GOD is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love.............

"In Him we live and move and have our being...... 'For we are also his offspring.' Acts 17:28
preahkumpii
Posts: 318
Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:58 pm

Post by preahkumpii »

It is like this:

Code: Select all

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was...
The first verse is the first line of the text document. There are no verse numbers or anything like that, which is why there must be exactly 31,102 lines of Scripture in order for the verses to display properly (for an ONT file). There are more advanced things like tags and such, but this will get you started. Looking at the KJV module will give you nearly all the tags and such.

Adam
Adam
Jay Fuzzell
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Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2009 1:04 am

NotePad++

Post by Jay Fuzzell »

Hi Adam,

I read the response you provided to MsLile on creating a Bible module and also downloaded NotePad++. It's a great tool, and I really appreciated the information you provided. What I especially like is that you can record a macro with this text editor. When you are doing something repetitive, this can save you a lot of time.

Jay
preahkumpii
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Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:58 pm

Post by preahkumpii »

Hello Jay,

I actually started using UltraEdit instead of Notepad++. There is one simple, but very important reason. UltraEdit supports multi-line regex. Most of the others do not. That means you can do search and replace for more than one line. It is very helpful when editing a Bible module. Again, though, it costs. Yes, the macros are great. See this thread for another tool that may help.
Adam
PastorDave
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Post by PastorDave »

preahkumpii wrote:
MsLile wrote:Does this work with Bible.ont too?
I use Notepad++, and it works for me with that kind of stuff. Costas is a firm believer in UltraEdit :D , but you have to pay for that one. I hope that helps.

Adam
Adam, please forgive my stupidity, but I have a question about NotePad++.

I downloaded the program and unzipped it and it creates two folders.

ANSI

UNICODE

Both folder appear to have the same files, at least at a quick glance. So which one am I supposed to use? Both have the program in them. Do you know, or did you just use the installer?

I don't wish to use the installer to replace NotePad, until I am comfortable with it replacing NotePad.
csterg
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Post by csterg »

PastorDave wrote:
preahkumpii wrote:
MsLile wrote:Does this work with Bible.ont too?
I use Notepad++, and it works for me with that kind of stuff. Costas is a firm believer in UltraEdit :D , but you have to pay for that one. I hope that helps.

Adam
Adam, please forgive my stupidity, but I have a question about NotePad++.

I downloaded the program and unzipped it and it creates two folders.

ANSI

UNICODE

Both folder appear to have the same files, at least at a quick glance. So which one am I supposed to use? Both have the program in them. Do you know, or did you just use the installer?

I don't wish to use the installer to replace NotePad, until I am comfortable with it replacing NotePad.
Notepad++ does not replace notepad. It's just the name of the program.
Use the unicode!
Costas
PastorDave
Posts: 200
Joined: Sun Jun 28, 2009 12:15 pm

Post by PastorDave »

csterg wrote:
PastorDave wrote:
preahkumpii wrote:
MsLile wrote:Does this work with Bible.ont too?
I use Notepad++, and it works for me with that kind of stuff. Costas is a firm believer in UltraEdit :D , but you have to pay for that one. I hope that helps.

Adam
Adam, please forgive my stupidity, but I have a question about NotePad++.

I downloaded the program and unzipped it and it creates two folders.

ANSI

UNICODE

Both folder appear to have the same files, at least at a quick glance. So which one am I supposed to use? Both have the program in them. Do you know, or did you just use the installer?

I don't wish to use the installer to replace NotePad, until I am comfortable with it replacing NotePad.
Notepad++ does not replace notepad. It's just the name of the program.
Use the unicode!
Costas
Actually, if you go to the web site, thereis an install available for download that does just that. :)

But do you know which folder I should use (see above)?
csterg
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Post by csterg »

PastorDave wrote: Actually, if you go to the web site, thereis an install available for download that does just that. :)
Well, i didn't go so i didn't know :)
But do you know which folder I should use (see above)?
No, i just installed it with the default installer on my PC and seems fine,
Costas
ErikJon
Posts: 431
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 11:24 pm

Re: Suggestions for making modules

Post by ErikJon »

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Very nice suggestions!

It may be a little late for my reply today, but below is mine, anyway.

Here is a link to a very DETAILED article on formatting modules for distribution, with a slight emphasis on typographical aspects. It is a work in progress. I hope you don't find any contradictions regarding what you suggested above.

Tips & Software for creating, formatting, converting modules
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6817&p=37047#p37047




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I'm an Independent Baptist running TheWord portable v 5.0.0.1481 from an external 500GB hard drive with over 1,900 modules installed and loaded in my current module set. I'm using 32-bit Vista Ultimate SP1 with a 2.7gHz processor and 4GB RAM.
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