With 4.10 out the door I am able to finally start on a project I have been dying to work on for a couple of years now. I authored the ReadingPlanner for the Palm OS several years ago and have been wanting to get back to it ever since.
When I was being interviewed for my position Drew, the CEO of Olive Tree, asked me what I would work on if I had unlimited resources to devote to that project. Daily reading came to mind almost immediately, and he suggested that one of my projects at Olive Tree could be daily reading.
That excited me but I tried not to get my hopes up to high as I know that real day to day work tends to trump pet projects, especially when you have to generate a paycheck from your work. Simply getting to work at Olive Tree was enough for me but daily reading would be a bonus.
I hadn’t been at Olive Tree a week and the subject of daily reading came up. Stephen mentioned to me that they were seriously wanting me to work on daily reading but we had a few other things to get done first.
Now that 4.10 is out the door that list has grown short enough that it has suddenly become the time to start work on this project, and I am excited to say the work has already begun. I don’t want to go into too many details for what I have planned but I think many of our users will never see daily reading plans in the same way again.
I would like to hear from you as to what you think would make daily reading more useable and interactive. Any ideas on how we can integrate daily reading into the social media? What are some of the limiting factors of traditional daily reading schedules?
#1 by T.C. Judd on November 12, 2009 - 11:58 am
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David,
I never had the opportunity to use ReadingPlanner but after checking the website out, I can say something with similar functionality on OliveTree would be amazing! In fact, I was just thinking about exactly this sort of thing this morning–how to create, import, export, etc. reading plans and/or daily lectionary readings into and out of OliveTree.
I would especially use the ability to have multiple plans simultaneously. For example, I currently use one NT reading plan for Greek study, an LCMS daily lectionary for personal reading, and the NLT Mosaic lectionary for my chapel services.
The ability to create custom reading plan or import currently existing ones available online, etc. would be amazing! An even bigger bonus would be the ability to export or share them with other users, on or off the OliveTree platform…print hard copies, share via social media, publish to websites, etc. I’m dreaming a bit now, but you asked, right? (grin)
I hope you are given sufficient time to devote to this. I can tell from your post it is something you are passionate about.
My heartfelt thanks also for all your hard work at OliveTree making incredible resources. I’ve used OliveTree seriously since ‘03…first on my Palm at seminary as my ‘poor man’s laptop’ and now on my iPod. OliveTree is truly outstanding and has been an indispensable resource for me for years! Thank you!
Blessings,
T.C.
@st_polycarp
#2 by Guntis Bukalders on November 12, 2009 - 1:17 pm
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Wow! Finally! I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for this feature. Current daily reading module (list of links to the Bible verses) is just a temporary solution. I’d like to have it open to the current date (with the possibility to scroll forward or backward) automatically, and be able to open all references with one tap, probably by tapping on the date.
#3 by meverz on November 12, 2009 - 1:28 pm
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This is music to my ears.
This is the single feature I have been waiting for for Bible Reader on my iPod.
Ideally, I would like the option to input my own reading plan, preferably some way to share them between users and download them off the OliveTree site.
But the number one feature for me is please don’t tie individual reading to date. I find I invariably fall behind, so I would rather a system where you check off the reading you have dine, rather than one that tracks them according to date.
#4 by Kelly on November 12, 2009 - 2:52 pm
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I’d like to echo what meverz said. I find readings tied to specific dates end up being condemnatory when I fall behind. I like the idea of a “check off” type system; daily-sized readings you could mark as “read” and then an option periodically (annually?) to reset everything to “unread” status.
#5 by Luke McFadden on November 12, 2009 - 9:39 pm
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I’d love to see this integrate pre-existing plans (one year bible format), as well as offer customizable plans. I’d love to be able to say, creating a reading plan for a single book, along side of a normal reading plan. In my ministry we follow a year long plan, however, in order to create lessons for it, I have to read out in advance in different ways, so having time based and time-free plans would be awesome.
I’d like to have popups for readings, where the iPhone could remind me until it’s complete.
I have an ESV bible reading feed that has audio links, which is nice as my daily schedule is all over the place. More integration of audio into OT would be great. I’d be fine with streaming content, but if there was a way to link directly to audio files, that would be sweet.
I’m interested in seeing what this looks like in conjuction with better note taking.
I’d also like to see some social network pushing through Olive Tree on a side note.
#6 by Phil G on November 13, 2009 - 3:00 am
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Hi.
I think Meverz idea about not linking to specific dates is good. This would enable me to do my daily readings Mon-Fri. On Satudays I like to review the weeks readings and go over any notes I have made that week.
I would also love the ability to compose my own daily readings – e.g read the Four Gospels over 3 months – and have BibleReader make that list for me with the ability to amend it if necessary. Or – I want to read the Four Gospels, 3 chapters a week – bingo! There is my plan!
The other good point (already mentioned above) is not just to have a checkbox but to have it hyperlinked so it actually sends you to the relvant passage(s).
Great project to be working on as mobile devices lend themselves to this soooo easily!
Phil G, South Wales
#7 by John Mark Harris on November 13, 2009 - 10:27 am
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I think being able to be flexible in the reading plan, Only weekdays, every other day, MWF, etc… Also, being able to mix n match what you read through, only NT, only gospels, only Paul’s letters, NT twice and OT once, only the prophets, only NT and psalms, etc… Also, the ability to track progress, how often you’ve read and where, what areas of the Bible have you not looked at in a while, etc… That could get really complex, but really cool. I’d love to look back at an overview of the whole Bible and see what areas I focus more on, and where I need to spend more time… Thanks for getting 4.10 out! I can’t wait to get it on my iPhone!!!!!!
#8 by dctrotz on November 13, 2009 - 10:40 am
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Thanks for all the feedback, feel free to keep it coming!
From everything I have read so far I think you all will be pleased with what we have planned for daily reading. We won’t be implementing everything we want to do at once but in stages. However we are in the planning stage right now and are making sure that whatever we design it is flexible and extensible enough to take on many of these ideas.
#9 by meverz on November 13, 2009 - 4:53 pm
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One more thing I would like to add.
As someone mentioned, hyperlinks to verses is really a must. Without them, it would be a waste of time really. What would push it over the top for me, would be if the link went ONLY to the reading, and at the end of the reading was a link to the NEXT reading.
So, if the plan says to read Genesis 1, Proverbs 1:1-9 and Matt 1,
The first link takes you to Gen 1. At the end of the chapter, there is a link to Proverbs 1. That reading stops at the end of v9, and then you have another link to take you to Matthew 1.
Basically once I start, I don’t need to go back to the menu at all if I don’t want to. It is really annoying to always have to go back to the menu after each and every reading.
#10 by ajl on June 8, 2010 - 11:49 am
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Old thread, but I wanted to add my input.
I’ve been using ReadingPlanner since shortly after David first wrote it on my successive Palms — it’s by far the best planner out there IMO!
So much so, that I actually have an old Palm sitting around to generate the reading plans, as I don’t have a Windows PC to use the desktop version (and I’m not usually near the computer when I want to do my daily reading anyway).
As an iPhone user, I tend to do all my daily reading on that device now — but I still end up going back to the Palm to get the daily readings. I’ve been searching for an equivalent planner (lets you recalculate plans, set any time range/book range, etc.) for the iPhone, and have come up empty. Will daily reading have all the features we know and love in ReadingPlanner?
#11 by dctrotz on August 17, 2010 - 10:47 am
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Wow, thank you for the comments. It’s very humbling to hear from users such as yourself and know that the Lord has used my work.
BibleReader will someday have these features but not right away. We have several other features we are working on in the meantime.
Stay tuned
–
David