User Manual
I. Overview of Program
ScrollTag is a Bible program which enables users to organize all of their notes, markings and tags on Biblical texts. Notes are tagged directly onto Hebrew, Greek, or English words, phrases or entire verses to allow easy retrieval and revision. ScrollTag allows multiple users to do their own work which is automatically saved and safely stored to the database. Notes are assigned tags to allow categorization and searching of information (for example: all notes on the “Deity of Christ” or various grammatical constructions). The notes can be displayed in line with the text, in their own window, or as you pass your cursor over a tagged word or phrase. ScrollTag also provides the tools to mark up and diagram the text including options to color, highlight, underline, insert lines, arcs, icons and other graphics directly onto the text. There are a variety of ways to instantly reformat and display all of the various texts, notes, markings and tags including parallel display, new line per verse, vertical and horizontal spacing, indentation, verse markers and more. Users can also restructure and diagram the text itself by dragging words to new locations on the text. ScrollTag also allows various searches and filters which can be used to find, highlight and mark the text.
II. Getting Started
Login
After you open ScrollTag, the Login window will appear and you have the option to select an existing user profile or create a new user profile. ScrollTag comes with an existing sample user that contains preloaded information that allows you to familiarize yourself with the program’s features before you create a new user and begin your own work. Beginning with the sample user is not required to create a new user but can provide a helpful platform for learning how to utilize the program. To create a new user, simply type in the desired user name at the login and a blank user profile will be created with default information.
All work done within a user profile will be stored to the database under that user name and is accessible whenever logged in to that user profile. There is no need to manually save your work as ScrollTag automatically saves and stores all work safely in the database as soon as it has been entered.
Display Window
After logging in with your selected user, the Display Window will appear. The Display Window can be adjusted quickly with the toggle switches on the Toolbar and on the Lights Panel. The Display Window contains eight different sections (or panels) that are used to view the text and work with it in various ways:
The Text Panel is the main and largest panel found in the center of the screen displaying the Biblical text. You can change the view of the text in the Text Panel by activating the different toggle switches found in the Menu or Toolbars (under Display) or Lights Panel. You can toggle modern translations, original languages, and your notes, as well as modify the spacing, indents, formatting, graphic overlay, and more (for more information and instructions on manipulating the Text Panel display see Section III “Viewing the Text”). The Text Panel will display a view of the Biblical text that corresponds to the book and verse indicators found in the Reference Panel to the right of the Text Panel but will change as you scroll through the text or navigate to another location.
The Reference Panel is the vertically elongated panel directly to the right of the Text Panel that displays the Biblical references corresponding to the text displayed in the Text Panel. The Reference Panel moves in sync with the text in the Text Panel and can be used for navigation by moving the text up or down with your mouse or by using a flicking motion.
The Word Panel is the horizontally elongated panel found directly above the Text Panel that displays basic lexical information on whatever word is selected or currently under your cursor in the Text Panel. The Word Panel will display lexical information from left to right containing the root, a basic lexical analysis, and a brief definition.
The Lights Panel is found on the far right side of the Word Panel and displays sixteen Lights/toggle switches indicating the active display options. These display options affect how the text and other information is displayed in the Text Panel. They can be activated and deactivated by either using the buttons on the Toolbar or clicking the Lights themselves. An activated toggle switch will light up on the Lights Panel with a bright blue “light” indicating it is active and an inactive toggle switch will be “dimmed” to a dark gray. Each Light/toggle switch is a two letter abbreviation for whatever display function it performs; the expanded display function title will appear in a popup as you pass your cursor over the Light.
The Status Panel is the horizontally elongated panel found on the very bottom of the Display Window under the Notes Panel and displays the expanded descriptions of your Toolbar’s Buttons as you pass your cursor over each Button as well as reference information of the currently selected word(s).
The Notes Panel is the horizontally elongated panel found at the bottom of the Display Window above the Status Panel and directly under the Command Line and displays any notes attached to a word or phrase as you pass your cursor over it in the Text Panel. It will display any Tagged words, the Tag designation, and the note attached to the Tag if applicable (for more information on viewing notes see Section V “Notes”).
The Toolbar is a customizable bar containing functional buttons that will appear as a horizontally elongated panel above the Word Panel by default but can be moved to fit vertically to the left of the Text panel, vertically to the right of the Reference Panel, horizontally under the Notes Panel, or stuck anywhere on top of the Text Panel by dragging it with your mouse with the very left edge of the bar where there are two parallel lines that act as a grip (Click and hold the lines to drag). The Toolbar can display the functions in the menu to allow quick access to them and are completely configurable. You can customize and edit your Toolbar by selecting the Configure Toolbars button or by selecting that option in the File menu. It is also possible to create multiple Toolbars and move them to the different slots on the Display Window by dragging them (for more information on customizing and editing Toolbars see “Toolbars”). Some buttons are switches that correspond to the Lights on the Lights Panel while others open separate windows or dialog boxes or perform functions within the program. The function title of a button will appear as you pass your cursor over it and an expanded description at the bottom of the Display Window in the Status Panel.
The Command Line is the panel directly below the Text Panel but above the Notes Panel and allows you to enter commands for searches, add your own translation of the text or navigate to different passages (for more information on navigating with the command line please see “General Navigation” and for more information on searches please see “Searches/Filters”). To the left of the Command Line text box there is a square Book Code Indicator button that will display the three-letter Book Code and present chapter for whatever text is currently displayed in the Text Panel but can also be clicked to bring up a Book and Chapter Map popup that can be used for navigation. To the right of the command line there is a three-way Script Button that will change the language script in the text box to Hebrew, English, or Greek as you cycle through it.
Menus
While working within the Display Window at the very top you’ll find a Menu bar containing eight Menus. You can also access the Menus by right clicking on your mouse anywhere in the Text Panel. When you open up the Menus with your mouse it lists the eight menus within which you will find the specific functions available in that category in a popup as you pass your cursor over each category. The Menus are only displayed and accessible while working in the Display Window and provide a menu listing of all the functions you can perform in the Display Window and their corresponding Hot-Key commands. Functions found within the Menus can be utilized without ever accessing the Menus by using the Buttons, Switches, and the Command Line in the Display Window; the Menus just provide another option for displaying and using those functions.
The File menu enables you to go to a specific passage, print, export your current page outside of ScrollTag, switch users, quit, configure toolbars, and edit settings. Because ScrollTag automatically saves all your work, you never have to manually save data within the program but if you want to export your work to another program, the File options allow you to do so with the different export options to a PDF, Document, or Image.
The Edit menu allows you to copy a specific section (a passage window will appear), copy any selected text, to copy a note to the QuickTag 0 button, or to paste any of the QuickTags (0-9) to a selected text.
The Display menu lists the options for changing the text in the Text Panel (for specific information on manipulating the text see “Viewing the Text”).
The Block Diagramming menu allows you to move the selected text when the Position Formatting switch is on (for more information on Block Diagramming see “Block Diagramming”).
The Windows menu allows you to open any of the auxiliary windows including the Morphology, Tag, Lexicon, Note, Filters, Sermon, and Bibliography windows (for more information on the windows see “The Windows” section).
The Notes menu allows you to add notes (Tags) onto a selected text, a verse, a root throughout your current book, or words highlighted by your current filter settings. It also gives you the options to edit or delete any existing Notes.
The Search menu allows you to put information into your Command Line to perform a Search or Filter. The menu will paste the morphology code, root word, or selected text into the Command Line when you have highlighted it with your cursor. (For more information on the Command Line or Searches see the “Command Line” or “Searches/Filters” sections).
The Help menu contains helpful pages that may be used for program operation or other useful information about ScrollTag such as a Quick Reference page, the User Manual, Licenses, and an About page.
III. Viewing the Text
Adjusting your View of the Text
One of the main features of ScrollTag is that it allows you to change your view of the text displayed in the Text Panel on the Display Window. You can modify the information and arrangement of the displayed text using the Buttons on the Toolbar and/or their corresponding Lights/toggle switches (for descriptions of the Toolbar and Lights Panel see the “Display Window” section). Each modifying function will be lit up on the Lights Panel whenever activated and dimmed when inactive. You can activate each function by either clicking the Lights themselves or the corresponding toggle Buttons on the Toolbar. The functions that are able to modify the text in the Text Panel are:
The New Line function (also displayed as NL on the Lights Panel) begins each verse on a new line and will automatically wrap the text (see One Line below) if a verse is longer than the Text Panel can display when activated and will leave the text in a default block form without breaks between verses when deactivated.
The One Line function (also displayed as ON on the Lights Panel) also begins each verse on a new line but will not wrap the text to a new line if the verse is longer than the Text Panel. Instead it will add a horizontal scroll bar to expand the Text Panel to fit the longest verse in the passage.
The Original Languages function (also displayed as OL on the Lights Panel) will display the Biblical text in its original Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic when activated and will hide the original languages when inactive.
The Notes function (also displayed as NT on the Lights Panel) will display your notes in line with and corresponding to the specific text currently displayed on the Text Panel (e.g. if the original languages are the only texts displayed then the Notes function will display notes attached to the original language text but wouldn’t display any notes attached to the NASB text).
The My Translation function (also displayed as MY on the Lights Panel) displays any translation you have entered in line with the other texts and notes in the Text Panel. Your translation will be displayed in a dark blue color by default to differentiate between other translations while viewing them parallel to each other (the color can be adjusted in the Settings window). To insert your own translation of the text: enter into the Command Line the three letter book code, chapter and verse of the verse you want to translate followed by your translation of that verse and press the Enter key on your keyboard (e.g. Gen 1:1 In the beginning God…). You may also overwrite your previous personal translation of a verse by entering the text into the Command Line as normal and select okay when the overwrite window pops up.
The NASB function (also displayed as NA on the Lights Panel) displays the New American Standard Bible translation of the text in line with the other displayed functions in the Text Panel. The NASB text will be displayed in a brown color by default to differentiate between other translations but can be changed in the Settings window.
The ESV function (also displayed as ES on the Lights Panel) displays the English Standard Version translation of the text in line with the other displayed functions in the Text Panel. The ESV text will be displayed in a green color by default to differentiate between other translations but can be changed in the Settings window.
The Filters function (also displayed as FI on the Lights Panel) highlights all the words included in your most recent or manually set Filter (for more information on performing filters see Searches/Filters).
The View function (also displayed as V0-9 on the Lights Panel) saves and activates different combinations of the Lights allowing you to create preset “Views” of the text instead of manually activating and deactivating Lights every time you restart the program to resume your work. You can create up to 10 different Views that are numbered and displayed on the Lights Panel and will appear as V0, V1, V2, etc. when activated. To save a “View” activate your desired display functions on the Lights Panel in the desired passage and press Alt+(the number you want it to be set as. i.e. 0-9), this saves your place in the text and the activated display functions. To get back to a saved view you can either cycle through the View Light (V0-9) on the Lights Panel or by pressing Ctrl+(the pre-saved view’s number. i.e. 0-9). This will retrieve all of the display functions that were active at the time the View was saved as well as the passage that was displayed. View 0 is the default view that the program will open to when starting up. Each view will also save which tags are enabled or disabled for that specific view.
The Position Formatting function (also displayed as PS on the Lights Panel) allows you to move the text for Block Diagramming and also to view any block diagramming that has already been done. For more information on how to Block Diagram and move the text in Position Formatting mode see “Block Diagramming.”
The Outline function (also displayed as OT on the Lights Panel) displays the text according to the outline loaded for that specific passage. For more information on Outline mode see “Outlines.”
The Overlay function (also displayed as OV on the Lights Panel) displays any overlaid graphics on the text when activated and hides the overlays when inactive. For information on how to place Overlay graphics on the text see “Tagging.”
The Verse Marker function (also displayed as VS on the Lights Panel) adds verse numbers at the beginning of every new verse and chapter and verse numbers at the beginning of every new chapter.
The Indent Spacing function (also displayed as I0-9 on the Lights Panel) adds up to nine indents to all of the text (adds indents on the right side when working with Hebrew or Aramaic and adds indents on the left side when working with Greek or English). It is necessary to have indents to view certain overlaid graphics such as arcs with or without words.
The Vertical Spacing function (also displayed as S0-9 on the Lights Panel) adds up to nine spaces vertically in between lines for all displayed text and is used by cycling through the Vertical Spacing Light that will display how many spaces are being applied to the text.
The Highlight function (also displayed as HI on the Lights Panel) will simultaneously highlight all words in the text with a common root in the original language. It will show the correspondence between the English words in the NASB, iamESV, or NIV translations and the original language: either Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic (e.g. in James 1:4-5 the words “lacking,” “lacks,” “λειπόμενοι,” and “λείπεται” are all highlighted together because they all share the same Greek root “λείπω”).
General Navigation in the Text
While using ScrollTag in the Display Window there are multiple ways to navigate the text in the Text Panel. You can use your keyboard to navigate using the Page Up and Page Dn buttons to move a page up or down in the Text Panel or hold the Shift button and use Page Up/Page Dn to move one verse at a time or hold Ctrl and use Page Up/Page Dn to move up and down a chapter at a time (note: chapter navigation will not work when using a filter or performing a search).
You can also use your mouse to navigate by using the scroll wheel on the mouse (if it has one) or you can move the text in the Text Panel by clicking the left mouse button and holding it inside the Reference Panel while the cursor and moving it up or down in a dragging motion; the text in the Text Panel will be moved with the Reference Panel. In the Reference Panel you can also move the text by using a flicking motion with your mouse: as you click and hold your mouse to move the Reference Panel, flick the cursor up or down quickly and then release the left mouse button while still moving the mouse to allow the momentum of the Reference Panel to carry the text up or down. Another way of moving the text with your mouse in the Reference Panel is to double click any verse reference in the panel to bring that reference and its corresponding verse in the Text Panel to the top of the page (this technique will take you to whatever verse you click on and will therefore bring you out of a search and back to a normal text view if you had performed a search and were viewing many different verses from various parts of the Bible at one time).
The Command Line can also be used to navigate to a desired passage by entering the three letter book code and pressing enter. You can also add the desired chapter and verse to specify the location even further. Example: “gen” for Genesis, “gen 1” for Genesis chapter 1, “gen 1 14” for Genesis chapter 1 verse 14, or “gen 1:14” for Genesis chapter 1 verse 14. There is also a book and chapter map that is displayed when you click on the book and chapter indicator button (displays your current location in the Bible by displaying the three letter book code and present chapter) directly to the left of the Command Line. When you open the book and chapter map it will display all the three letter book codes for the Bible and available chapters for each book. When you select a book and chapter in that popup, the program will automatically navigate there.
To Highlight or Select text you can either click and drag your left mouse button over desired text or you can move the cursor using your directional arrows and highlighting by holding the Shift button while moving cursor over desired text. To select an entire individual word you can either double click it or highlight it by clicking anywhere on it with your center mouse button or with your left mouse button while holding the Ctrl key.
IV. Block Diagramming
ScrollTag contains Block Diagramming capabilities that allow you to manually move the text to alternate positions to create or indicate any structural forms in the text. The Block Diagramming mode allows you to move text and arrange it in desired positions to create your own diagram (ex: Chiasm). Block Diagramming can be done both on the Original Languages and the preloaded translations but cannot be done on your own translation or notes. Block Diagramming with ScrollTag can rearrange the positioning of words, phrases, or verses, but it will not place them out of their original order.
To enable ScrollTag’s Block Diagramming mode you must activate the Position Formatting switch on the Lights Panel or the Toolbar (if configured on your current toolbars). This will allow you to move the text and to also view any editing done with position formatting in previous sessions. When the Position Formatting switch is deactivated it will display the text in the Text Panel normally and hide any block diagramming that you have done, it will also disable any of the Position Formatting/Block Diagramming tools (the terms “Position Formatting” and “Block Diagramming” are used interchangeably).
To move the text in Block Diagramming mode you can use the center mouse button to select and move individual words (an entire word will be highlighted when you click it with your center mouse button or with your left mouse button while holding the Ctrl key). When you move a single word all the text following it will follow your formatting move until you manually move them to alternate positions. You can move a word anywhere after or below its original predecessor to create your own diagram (in Block Diagramming mode you can change the position of words but you cannot rearrange their original word order or break words into pieces). If your mouse does not have a center button, you can hold the Ctrl button and then your left mouse button to select and move words in the same way. If you prefer to use the directional keys on your keyboard you can do so by selecting a desired word then hold the Ctrl key while moving the word using your directional (arrow) keys. After highlighting a word you can also move it using the green Block Diagramming arrows found in the Block Diagramming menu or on your Toolbar (if configured on your current toolbars). A word can also be moved back to its original position at any time by manually dragging or moving it there or by pressing the Word Clear button (after you highlight the word) found on your toolbar or in the Block Diagramming menu.
V. Notes
One of the main features ScrollTag contains is the ability to take notes on the text you’re studying. Notes in ScrollTag are tied directly to a specific selected text or a verse in general. This allows you to align and attach your notes directly onto a word, phrase, or verse. The action of attaching a note to a selected text or verse is called “Tagging.” You can tag a note onto the original Greek and Hebrew text as well as onto other translations in ScrollTag. After you have attached a note to a word or phrase or any selected text, the note you’ve attached to it will show up in the Note Panel at the bottom of the Display Screen as you pass your cursor over the Tagged text in the Text Panel. You can also display your notes in line with the Biblical text in the Text Panel by activating the Notes light (NT) on the Lights Panel or the Display Notes button in the menu or toolbar. Because notes are “Tagged” directly onto a selected text (Heb, Eng, or Greek), you must have the Tagged text or translation turned on in the Text Panel to view the notes attached to it in line with the text.
When attaching notes onto the text you also have the ability to format the text you’re taking a note on with coloring, highlighting, and graphic overlays as well as formatting the actual note you’re placing on the text (for more information on formatting on and in a note see “Adding Tags” under the “Tag Window” heading in section VI).
There are a number of different ways to display the notes you have made in the program. The first way is in the Note Panel at the bottom of the Display Window; your notes will automatically show up here if you have made a note on a word, phrase, or selected text (but not whole verses) as you pass your cursor over the text in the Text Panel. Another way to view your note is in the Display Window itself under the line of text that contains the note. To view the notes in this way you must make sure the Biblical text your note was taken on is displayed and turn on Notes (in the Menu, Toolbar or Lights [NT]). Another way to view the notes is to open the Notes Window (in the Menu, Toolbar or Hotkey [F8]).
To add a note to a text, highlight whatever word, piece of a word, phrase, or section you wish to Tag with you left mouse button or by holding the Shift key while moving the cursor with the directional arrows. After highlighting your selected text you can Tag it by clicking the “Add Note on Text” button (in the Menu, the Toolbar, or Hotkey [Ctrl+A]). If you don't have any text selected, the note will be added to the word under your cursor. This will bring up the Tag Window which allows you to create and add Tags. You also have the option of making a note on a whole verse in general by placing your cursor in a verse and selecting “Add Note on Verse” (in the Menu, Toolbar, or Hotkey [Ctrl+T]). In addition, you can also make a note on all the words of the same Original Language root in an entire book by highlighting a word with the desired root then pressing the “Tag Root in Current Book” button or Ctrl+N. You can also Tag all the words in a book that have been highlighted by a Filter that you have run; after running the Filter press the “Tag Filter in Current Book” button or Ctrl+Shift+N. When adding a note to the text, all of these actions will open the Tag Window which allows you to create or edit notes (for more information on adding notes see “Tag Window”). You can also delete or edit an already existing note by placing the cursor anywhere in the noted text and either pressing the Edit Note button on the toolbar (also Ctrl+E) to edit the note or the Delete Note button (also Ctrl+D) to delete the existing note.