Download e-Sword User's Guide PDF v.10.0.6 - 10.1 - Revision 1/20/2012

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Author:
Josh Bond, Sarah Valente

e-Sword Version:
9.x - 10.x

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Press F1 to View the e-Sword Manual if you have e-Sword 10.x installed.

Goal of this Documentation
The goal of this documentation is to explain every e-Sword feature for both the casual and advanced user. This documentation is the product of hundreds of hours of work.

If you have questions about a feature, we hope you can easily find the answers you are seeking by referring to the hyperlinked Table of Contents. If you’re viewing this document in a PDF browser, the Table of Contents is available in the Bookmarks window. The Table of Contents is invaluable for using this documentation.

This documentation uses informal, conversational English, keeping with our goal of real-world use by Christians wanting to learn more about e-Sword. The best way to accomplish our goal is to use conversational English.

Documentation Authors
A concept of this manual was first written in 2003 by Barrie Gordon and Johan Struwig.

Sarah Valente completely rewrote the manual in June 2011. Other than the organizational structure, the documentation Sarah produced bears little resemblance to the 2003 version.

Josh Bond rewrote and reorganized the manual, split in two revisions: July 2011 and November 2011.

This documentation is produced by BibleSupport.com.

Copyright and Distribution
This text is copyrighted only to prevent the documentation from being used for commercial profit.

You may freely copy and distribute this documentation as long as you make do not make any changes or use the documentation commercially, including charging, in any way, for it’s use, reading or distribution.

If you have any questions on this policy, contact Josh Bond at BibleSupport.com.

Table of Contents


About this User’s Guide    12

About e-Sword 12

Goal of this Documentation 12

Documentation Authors   12

Copyright and Distribution   12

What New in e-Sword 10? 13

Reference Library   13

Search All Topics At Once 13

REFX File Format    13

Support For Pictures   13

New Editor with True Word Processing Power    14

SermonAudio.com Integration 14

STEP Reader Still Included 14

Chapter 1: Getting to Know e-Sword   15

e-Sword Interface Overview 15

e-Sword Quick References: Tooltips   15

Common Tasks Menu 16

e-Sword Hotkey Reference Sheet   16

The Main Toolbar and Main Menu  19

Main Toolbar Icon Summary   19

Maximizing Window Views  21

Bible Books Navigation Tree    21

Introduction to the Bibles Window   22

The Compare Tab   24

The Parallel Tab 25

Introduction to the Commentaries Window 26

Introduction to the Editors Window 27

Introduction to the Dictionaries Window   28

Introduction to the Reference Library   29

Chapter 2: Customizing e-Sword 30

Adjusting the Layout of e-Sword’s Main Screen 30

Maximizing / Minimizing Window Panes With Push Pins    30

Maximizing Window Panes With the Window Menu   31

Making Window Panes Larger or Smaller   32

Window Docking Introduction 33

Docking Windows – Getting Started    34

Docking Windows: Overlapping 36

Floating Window Customization   39

Zoom Feature: A Gift for Old Eyes  40

The Zoom Icon   40

Zooming with the Mouse Wheel 40

Changing Fonts and Sizes  41

Changing Text and Background Colors   42

e-Sword Multilingual Settings   42

Changing the e-Sword Application Language 42

Miscellaneous Display Options    43

Search Options    44

Reset e-Sword Settings   44

Hiding and Uninstalling Resources 45

Hiding Resources    45

Permanently Delete Resources  46

Deleting Editor Notes 46

Configuring Resource Tabs 47

Display Tabs on a Single Row or Multiple Rows 47

Resource Tab Sorting - Advanced 47

Renaming Resource Tabs   48

Resource Tab Conflicts  48

Changing the e-Sword Resource Location 49

Downloading Additional Resources 50

Unofficial Resources   50

Official Resources   50

Installing Unofficial Resources 52

Self Installing Resources 52

Compressed Zip File   52

Raw e-Sword Resources 52

Support for Unofficial e-Sword Resources 52

Chapter 3: The Bibles Window in Detail 53

Navigating the Bible in the Bibles Window  53

Using the Bible Books Window  54

Using the Lookup Scripture Reference Popup   54

Viewing Your Previous Bible Search Results 55

Viewing Your Verse History 55

Searching the Bible - Basic 56

Quick Searching – Context Menu   58

Additional Search Options Wheel   59

Searching Only the OT, NT, and Apocrypha   60

Apocrypha   60

Extended Bible Search - Multiple Translations    61

Search Results   61

Searching the Bible - Advanced   62

Copying and Printing Bible Searches 63

Printing   64

Quick Copying 64

Copying/Printing Entire Bible Passages 65

Copying and Printing from Parallel Mode   66

Working with Strong's Hebrew and Greek Numbers    67

Strong’s Number Basics 67

e-Sword Modules with Strong’s Numbers   67

Viewing Strong’s Number Definitions Without Leaving the Bible Window 67

Viewing Strong’s Number Definitions in the Dictionary Window 68

Searching by Strong's Numbers 69

The Compare Tab   71

The Parallel Tab   72

Split Bible View    73

Analyzing Verses – Passage Theme and Word Distribution   74

Using the Gospel Harmony 76

Displaying Information about a Bible Translation 77

Chapter 4: Highlighting, Marking, and Bookmarking Resources 78

Highlighting Text 78

Marking Text    80

Working with Bookmarks 81

Setting Bookmarks 81

Accessing Bookmarks 81

Bookmark Hotkeys/Shortcuts 82

Bible Markup File 83

Chapter 5: The Verse List Feature – Saving Verses   84

Adding a Verse to Your Verse List  84

Creating a Verse List from a Search    85

Creating a Verse List Manually    86

Updating a Verse List   87

Adding a Verse from a Verse List    87

Deleting a Verse from a Verse List 87

Sorting Verses in a Verse List 87

Viewing Verse References  88

Deleting Verse Lists 89

Chapter 6: Printing in e-Sword 90

Printing in e-Sword  90

The Print Preview Window  90

Printing Bible Chapters    91

Printing Selected Verses and Chapters   91

Printing from the Editors Window 93

Printing from the Commentaries 93

Printing from the Dictionaries Window 93

Printing from the Reference Library Window   93

Printing Bible Reading 94

Printing Daily Devotions   94

Printing Prayer Lists 94

Printing with the STEP Reader    94

Chapter 7: The Commentaries Window   95

Using Commentaries   95

When to Synchronize/Unsynchronize a Commentary 96

Selecting Between Verse, Book, and Chapter Comments 97

Viewing “Next Comment” and “Previous Comment”    97

Viewing Commentary Information   97

Viewing All Commentary Entries – Birds Eye View 98

Searching a Commentary   99

Searching More Than One Commentary Simultaneously   99

Chapter 8: Introduction to the Editors 100

New Editor Features in e-Sword 10 100

Editor Hotkeys 100

Using the Editor – Word Processing    102

Find (Ctrl-F), Replace (Ctrl-R), Go To (Ctrl-G)   102

Spell Check (F7) 103

Thesaurus (Shift-F7)   103

Cut (Ctrl-X), Copy (Ctrl-C), Paste (Ctrl-V)   103

Pasting Formatted Text  (F11 Toggle)   103

Undo (Ctrl-Z) and Redo (Ctrl-Y) 103

Insert Bookmark 104

Insert Hyperlink 104

Insert Table 105

Dragging Table Boundaries 105

Table Properties (Settings) 106

Adjusting Rows and Columns 107

Insert Picture   107

Image Attributes 108

Header and Footer 110

Page Layout    111

Show/Hide Formatting Symbols 111

Font Selection and Size 111

Bold (Ctrl- , Italic (Ctrl-I), Underline (Ctrl-U) 112

Font Color    112

Highlight 112

Format Scripture Tooltip (Ctrl-J) 113

Align Left, Align Center (Ctrl-E), Align Right, Justify   113

Numbering and Bullets   114

Bullets and Numbering Format   114

Decrease Indent and Increase Indent 114

Format Paragraph   115

Border 115

Columns 116

Page Break 116

Save Notes 116

Understanding Where the Editors Read Notes Files. 117

How to Backup Your Notes - Advanced   117

Chapter 9: Journal Notes 118

Viewing Journal Notes 118

Creating a Journal Note   119

Editing a Journal Note 119

Deleting a Journal Note   120

Viewing All Journal Notes – Birds Eye View    121

Searching Journal Notes 122

Additional Search Options Wheel   122

Copying from the Bible to Your Journal Notes 123

Copying from Other Windows to Journal Notes   124

Copying the Entire Text  124

Copying an Excerpt 124

Importing and Exporting Journal Notes    125

To import a file:   125

To export a Journal note:    125

Managing More than One Journal Notes File - Advanced  126

Creating a New Journal Notes File 126

Opening a Journal Notes File 126

Changing Where e-Sword Reads Journal Notes - Advanced 127

Chapter 10: The Study Notes    128

Viewing Study Notes    128

Creating a Study Note 129

Editing a Study Note    130

Deleting a Study Note 130

Viewing All Study Notes – Birds Eye View  131

Searching Study Notes    132

Additional Search Options Wheel   133

Copying from the Bible to Your Study Notes   135

Copying from Other Windows to Study Notes 136

Copying the Entire Text  136

Copying an Excerpt 136

Importing and Exporting Study Notes 137

To import a file:   137

To export a Study note:  137

Managing More than One Study Notes File - Advanced 138

Creating a New Study Notes File    138

Opening a Study Notes File    139

Changing Where e-Sword Reads Study Notes - Advanced    139

Chapter 11: Topic Notes   140

Viewing Resources: Topic Editor or Reference Library? 140

e-Sword 9 Users: Can’t Find your Topic Notes? 141

Viewing Your Topic Notes   141

Creating a Topic Note 142

Editing a Topic Note 143

Optimizing Topic Notes Files with Images  144

How Image Bloat Happens 144

Removing Image Bloat   144

Deleting a Topic Note 144

Searching Topic Notes 145

Additional Search Options Wheel   146

Copying from the Bible to Your Topic Notes    148

Copying from Other Windows to Topic Notes 149

Copying the Entire Text  149

Copying an Excerpt 149

Importing and Exporting Topic Notes   150

To import a file:   150

To export a Topic note:  150

Managing More than One Topic Notes File - Advanced 151

Creating a New Topic Notes File 151

Opening a Topic Notes File 152

Changing Where e-Sword Reads Topic Notes - Advanced 153

Reference Library (.REFX) Files 154

When to Use Reference Book Files 154

Why Convert to Reference Book Files Then? 154

How to Convert Topic Notes to Reference Book Format 154

Chapter 12: The Dictionaries Window 155

Using Dictionaries   155

Topics List and Performance   155

Quick Lookup Inside the Dictionary 156

Viewing Your Dictionary Search History 157

Viewing Strong’s Number Definitions in the Dictionary Window 158

Strong’s Number Basics 158

Searching a Dictionary 159

Searching More Than One Dictionary Simultaneously    159

Chapter 13: Reference Library 160

Viewing Resources: Topic Editor or Reference Library? 160

Why Can’t I View Topic Notes Files in the Reference Library?   160

Opening the Reference Library    161

Reference Library: Background, Foreground, Resizing   161

Viewing Resources in the Reference Library   162

Filtering Resources in the Reference Library   162

Searching the Reference Library - Basic 163

Additional Search Options Wheel   165

Searching the Reference Library - Advanced 167

Extended Search - Multiple Reference Books 168

Search Summary 168

Paste Into Topic Notes 169

Highlighting Text 169

Chapter 14: The Bible Reading Plan    170

Opening Bible Reading Plans 170

Using Bible Reading Plans 171

Previous Reading and Next Reading 171

Incrementing the Reading Plan Progress Bar 171

View Chapter as Paragraph   171

Changing Bible Reading Plans   171

Creating a Bible Reading Plan 172

Show at Startup   172

Chapter 15: Daily Devotions 173

About Daily Devotions 173

Opening the Daily Devotions   173

Using the Daily Devotions   174

Show Devotions at Startup 174

Chapter 16: Prayer Requests    175

Opening Prayer Requests   175

Viewing Prayer Requests 175

Adding Prayer Requests 176

Editing or Deleting a Prayer Request   177

Managing Prayer Request Files   178

Creating Prayer Request Files   178

Loading Prayer Request Files 178

Show Prayer Requests at Startup   179

Chapter 17: Scripture Memory 180

Opening Scripture Memory 180

Viewing Verses to Memorize   180

Adding Scripture Memory   181

Editing or Deleting a Memory Verse    182

Testing Memory Verses   183

Associate Reference Test   183

Fill In The Blanks 184

Word Position 184

First Letter   184

Managing Memory Verse Files    185

Creating Memory Verse Files 185

Loading Memory Verse Files   185

Show Memory Verses at Startup 186

Chapter 18: Sermon Audio   187

Starting Sermon Audio 187

Listening to a Sermon 188

Learning More About the Speaker or Sermon 188

Using the Audio Player   189

Listening to Sermons On Different Verses  190

Sorting Sermons By Heading   190

Adjusting the Width of Heading Columns   190

Chapter 19: Sermon Illustrations 191

Unlocking Sermon Illustrations    191

Opening Sermon Illustrations   191

Viewing and Copying Sermon Illustrations 192

Filtering Sermon Illustrations   192

Adding Sermon Illustrations 192

Editing or Deleting a Sermon Illustration 193

Chapter 20: The Graphics Viewer   194

Opening the Graphics Viewer 194

Viewing Graphics 195

Selecting Graphics within the Graphic File 195

Panning Graphics    195

Resizing Graphics   196

Chapter 21: The STEP Reader 197

About STEP Books 197

Opening The STEP Reader 197

Viewing STEP Books   198

Pasting Into Notes   198

Searching STEP Books   199

Chapter 22: Searching e-Sword Using Regular Expressions    200

Regular Expressions    200

Conventions Used in this Chapter  200

Lesson 1: Case sensitive; Characters found anywhere   201

Lesson 2: Literal vs. Special Meaning Characters  201

Lesson 3: Word Boundaries 202

Lesson 4: Dot Character 203

Lesson 5: Brackets “[]” 204

Lesson 6: Range of characters “-”  204

Lesson 7: Caret “^”  205

Lesson 8: Word Characters “\w” 206

Lesson 9: Non-Word Characters “\W” 207

Lesson 10: Pipe Character  “|” and Parenthesis “()”    208

Lesson 11: Digit “\d” 209

Lesson 12: Quantifiers "*", "+", and "?"    210

Lesson 13: Curly brackets “{}” 212

Lesson 14: Beginning Verse Anchor “^”   212

Lesson 15: Ending Verse Anchor “$”   213

Lesson 16: Putting It All Together with Useful Examples   214

Example 1: Verses Starting/Ending with a Specific Characters 214

Example 2: Finding Words Beginning/Ending with Specific Characters 215

Example 3: Finding Verses Only If They Contain Two+ Specific Words.    216

Example 4: Finding “Wildcard” Verses References.    217

Example 5: Finding a Verse with Words in Proximity to other Words.   218

Reference Information on Regular Expressions. 218